Hin's Photo Corner

It is a sad post to compose as I have always loved my stylish Pentax K-x White. Out of my frustrations with Memory Card Error and Pentax Customer Service during the long repair time, I had resolved to put it up for sale after repair. And I have since sold my beloved white K-x with a stylish red bag. My white K-x is well loved by me and I send the new owner the red bag for free.

To be fair with CRIS and Pentax Customer Service, they did quite a good job in addressing not only the memory card controller issue, they also addressed two cosmetic problems that I reported to them when I sent my K-x in for service. CRIS fixed the broken chrome strip and they replaced the missing red label in the SR logo. Though the wait was long for 5 1/2 weeks, I felt quite satisfied with the repair and have since regained confidence with both CRIS and Pentax. The unexpected longer wait was mostly attributed to back-order of parts from Pentax Japan and it took about 4 weeks for parts delivery from Pentax Japan to CRIS. And I truly hope what happened to me doesn't happen to another Pentax user and that Pentax Japan can take note in improving the back-ordering of parts from Japan to other countries.







Some Farewell Notes On K-x

• I absolutely love the white K-x in terms of style. When I see the Pentax K-r with a partial black body, I find the K-x to be more attractive especially on the white color model.
  
  
• It is a great traveling camera with lighter weight and compact form factor. It works wonder in traveling especially when you mount it with small Pentax limited primes as in 15, 21, 35, 40, 43, 70, 77.
  
  
• Ever since I got my K-x as a second body, I actually use K-x as my main body and leave my K20D at home. Its high ISO, good image quality, quicker AF makes it a delight to use.
  
  
• Its clean high ISO images in 1600 to 3200 win it hand down over my K20D.
  
  
• Price! I don't think one can fault its price for a budget camera that can serve well like its other bigger Pentax brothers in K10D, K20D, K7, K5 and K-r.
  

Related

• Pentax K-x Memory Card Error
• Pentax Customer Service
• Pentax K-x White Arrival
• Pentax K-x In Traveling
• Pentax K-x At National Night Out
  
• Hin's Camera Gear
  

I have recently grown to love the use of mono-pod for hiking and use with heavier lens. I bought a cheapo Dolica mono-pod and I had purchased also a Manfrotto 3229 and the combo seems to help me to make better use of my heavier gear






I did the shooting on not-so-nice noon setting when the bunnies preferred to hide in the shadows. But I did get more keeper shots with the 30A















Notes & Impressions:

• The mono-pod does help in the shooting as I find myself with stability that I don't have before
  
  
• I don't feel as strained on my hands in the shooting with 30A
  
  
• Mono-pod is more portable and I find it easier to use over tripod especially in terms of framing the shot.

• While the Manfrotto 3229 works well for me, I would have liked to upgrade the mono-pod with better build material and shorter length when collapsed
  

Related:

• Oktoberfest
• Tamron SP 80-200mm f/2.8 adaptall-2 30A
• Licking One's Lens
  
• Tamron PK-A adaptall-2 adapter
• adaptall-2 articles
• Hin's Camera Gear
  

If you have visited this blog page often, you should note that it is not my style of blog post with negative tone. But I feel obligated to report what happens to my Pentax K-x White that was sent to CRIS for repair under service warranty.

Here is the recap of rough time-line on what happens to my K-x in repair service with CRIS and Pentax USA.

• 8/21/2010 -- broken at 9 months of beautiful service
  
• 8/31/2010 -- shipped out to CRIS with USPS priority
  
• 9/2/2010 -- arrival in CRIS
• 9/8/2010 -- parts back ordered from Japan
• 10/1/2010 -- parts arrived in CRIS, repair started
  
• ETA unknown in each call
• 10/11/2010 -- repaired camera arrived at my home from CRIS
  

I call about once a week and I am calm and as polite as I can be in each calls. If any of you are interested to know which Service rep to avoid, please PM me as I talked to 5 different reps and there is at least one rep to avoid. And in each of steps, I was not given any ETA on the repair. The back-order of parts from Japan to US is likely by ship as it took close to a month to ship from Japan to CRIS.

I call Pentax Service today and see if I can extend my warranty through Adorama recent extended +2 year warranty for $29 but that won't work with Pentax as it needs to be purchased within 90 days from initial purchase.

When I talked to different service representatives, I was confused on who is responsible in stocking parts between Pentax USA and CRIS. As far as I can tell, Pentax USA pretty much relies on CRIS and the history of repairs. And it is my assumption that K-x may not be stocked as heavily as K7 or previous cameras with longer history of repairs.


Summary of Pentax Customer Service:

• From what I have gathered, CRIS seems reasonable in repair as long as parts are in CRIS or available in Pentax USA. A usual repair in warranty will take about 4 to 6 weeks. The most problems happen when parts are not stocked properly in USA.
  
  
• There is no email or any courtesy call and you are pretty much left in the dark.
  
  
• Absolutely no ETA is given when you approach Pentax Customer Service. A ballpark figure was given for 4 to 6 weeks assuming the parts are available.
  
  
• If parts are not in CRIS or Pentax USA, it will take about 4 weeks to order from Japan to US. The 4 to 6 weeks repair cycle may become 8 to 10 weeks
  
  
• I have talked to 5 different representatives and I only feel encouraged by two of the five reps that I have talked to. In general, I don't really get a sense that the customer service is helping me with my problems. It is problem reporting instead of customer care.
  
  
• If one is serious into buying a non-black color cameras as in Pentax K-x or Pentax K-r, I will caution to think again if you are not living in Japan. Parts ordering from Japan to US are done likely by ship. In my encounter of parts order in CRIS, it took 4 weeks to order parts from Pentax Japan.
  
  
• If you want to think of a 2nd Pentax body as a backup or traveling body, think again not on K-x but rather a used copy of K10D, K20D or even a K7 as they are more durable to last longer and more dependable as a 2nd body
  
  
• No extended warranty will help you if you bought the camera used, Pentax service will only service the owner under the invoice. If you have to buy a used camera, make sure you get buy-in with the seller for the remaining warranty usage in case something totally breaks in the warranty period
  
  
• Your best warranty will be doing your due diligence in getting a good used digital body as in Pentax K10D or Pentax K20D that can go between $300 to $450.

Related

• Goodbye to Pentax K-x White
• Pentax K-x White Dead with Memory Card Error
• Why I Love Pentax
• Pentax K-x White Arrival
  
• Hin's Camera Gear
  

It does not give me the slightest pleasure in reporting my dead Pentax K-x White. It has the persistent memory card error no matter what card that I have put into the camera SD slot. I have tried seven different individual SD memory cards of four different brands in Sandisk Extreme III 4 Gig, PNY Optima SDHC 8 Gig, Transand SDHC 8 Gb and Kingston SDHC 4 Gb. All of the memory cards are working fine in my Pentax K20D.

I call up Pentax Customer Support with toll free number 1(800)877-0155 last Thursday and I was mislead by the representative in waiting for her email instruction. It was likely my fault in not confirming the email twice with her. On 2nd call to Pentax Customer Support today on Monday, I was glad to talk to Matt who was courteous and responsive. Instead of email, Matt outlined the critical information that I need to package my dead Pentax K-x to send in.

Here are the rough steps to follow for servicing my K-x under warranty. The address is actually the physical address of CRIS camera service

1. Package it for shipment to this address, I will be using USPS priority with $500 insurance
   
   Pentax Service Department
   250 North 54 Street,
   Chandler, AZ 85226
   
   
2. Provide proof of purchase as in an invoice or email notification on purchase. In my case, I will send in my Paypal invoice with Beach Camera. It is utmost important that the invoice has the name of the owner and the date of purchase for warranty service
   
   
3. Provide a brief note on the problem. I am using this blog page to describe my problems with dead Pentax K-x white in NOT able to read any SDHC memory cards.
   
   
4. Provide contact information as in phone contact and email. I will need to include them in the printout of this blog page

My problem is simply that my Pentax K-x white can't read any memory cards that I have used. The same set of cards work fine on my Pentax K20D in both reading and writing.


It goes as if something get damaged in the card reader in the camera. Matt from Pentax Customer Support offered me the suggestion on camera "reset" and I tried that option but the "Memory Card Error" still persisted. I am in my wit's end on troubleshooting the problem. It appears like a hardware failure.

While I am explaining the problem, there are also two complaints on the physical appearance of my white K-x after nine months of usage. Though it is free from smudges and dirt after months of usage. The white K-x does has its cosmetic problems in having a chrome line worn out easily as you can see in this picture on the chrome line below the shutter release which has lost partially the metallic chrome strip in various spots under the shutter release. And the broken chrome line has become somewhat sharp edges for me to hold the camera.


And another minor cosmetic but critical issue to me is the lost of the red SR label in front. The combination of red SR label is the best recognition of Pentax SR feature that is built into the Pentax body and I really missed that label on my white K-x. I think I lost it after 6 months of usage. The red SR label is at the bottom and it appears as white in the following picture


I truly hope that Pentax Service Department can help me fix my Pentax K-x White and that I get to use it once again without issues. I was informed about 4 weeks of service time and I will send the camera out on August 31, 2010 and I hope my loyal readers cheer me up while my beloved Pentax K-x White is in service.


Update:

• 8/21/2010 -- broken at 9 months of beautiful service
  
• 8/31/2010 -- shipped out to CRIS with USPS priority
  
• 9/2/2010 -- arrival in CRIS
• 9/8/2010 -- parts back ordered from Japan
• 10/1/2010 -- parts arrived in CRIS, repair started
  
• ETA unknown in each call
• 10/11/2010 -- repaired camera arrived at my home from CRIS
  

Related:

• Goodbye to Pentax K-x White
• Pentax Customer Service
  
• Pentax K-x White Arrival
• Pentax K-x White and smudges
  
• Pentax K20D
• Why I love Pentax
• Licking One's Lens! What? Really!
• Alexa and Mozilla Rank of TechTheMan
  
• Hin's Camera Gear
  

I was fortunate to have my neighbor organizing Nation Night Out on August 3, 2010 and it was our 2nd time with Rolando and his band members playing sensational music for the event. Food in potluck style from my dear neighbors were outstanding. I fell for the guppy syndrome in not able to stop eating. But of course, I never forgot capturing those memorable moments with my digital cameras. The outstanding food could wait but not the photos and short video clips. I had two cameras on my shoulder with Pentax K20D and Pentax K-x White.


The music was simply fantastic and Rolando played it along with two of his extraordinary band members on the base guitar and the percussion with hand drums. Rolando music is rhythmic with rich heritage of Latino music and his classical guitar and vocal live performance made the night an enjoyable, enviable and memorable night in Davis Square neighborhood. I couldn't ask for more and I felt short in not having a proper video camcorder clip as I was relying only on the short video clip from my Pentax K-x White. I should have invested in a proper camcorder for future similar events.



I have become an instant fan of the band's music and I have gone to Rolando Morales's website and signed up for his newsletter.

The National Night Out started out on the food tables where my neighbors tried to stomp us with their best recipes and best take out food of different ethicnicity for the party. And they did it with style in decoration and a touch of homey feeling with flowers in a wonderful garden we all enjoyed visiting.




But as the night progressed with dimmer lighting and the food pictures started fading into the wonderful music, my attention and photos all turned to the center stage of musical talents in the event. The performance went with character of deep vocal voice, and the rhythmic beat by the drums and base guitar add dimension to the music. I loved the classical guitar played by Rolando, my heart went mellow with his music and I have since become the fan of his music.





And the wonderful music made it truly a memorable night for me and my neighbors. And I actually regretted not buying one of Rolando's music CD on display for sale that night. Thanks to his website on Audio/Video, I can still sample some of Rolando's recent music in MP3. I look forward to visiting one of his live performance events where he has his full band playing.


As everyone started packing for the night and my last photo still pointed towards Rolando where he was packing for his equipment on stage. It was such a romantic night and I would miss it until the next meet up with Rolando and his wonderful music.


Related:

• Yahoo! Music On The Green with Kate Earl
• Pentax K-x Videos in San Diego Seaworld
  
• Pentax K-x White
• Pentax K20D
• Pentax DA* 50-135mm f/2.8
• Pentax DA 15mm f/4.0 limited
  
• Hin's Camera Gear
  

I have recently forced myself to decide few lenses to go. My 70mm and 40mm limited are the ones to go. I am contemplating on 21mm as I like it for street shooting and people shot but I am tempted to try the crazy thing in Tamron 10-24. I wish someone have tried it on Pentax and tell me all about it. I don't trust reviews on test chart and soft this and sharp that. I like user real photo experience. It is not urgent as I love to keep my 21 as long as I can afford it. Having both the 15 and 21 is a blast for wide angle needs. And I have the funkiest liking on 10-17. So my wide angle needs are as complete as I think it is with 15, 21 and 10-17 for the fun factor. But you all know me in wanting to try out the unthinkable in Sigma 10-20 or Tamron 10-24 and swap with the 21. I know I am going backward with Justin.

Now on the 70/77 story. The 77 is insane every time that I use it. I shoot some shots wide open in many instances, it is still a reasonable shot. Fringing seems like a character that happen more in 77mm than the 70mm. But 77 is keen o sharpness and surreal color that make a picture pop over the 70. Its speed in f/1.8 allow me to go insane in indoor shots.

Here are few shots on a Goose feather. After a big crop, I can see the detail and I think it is really sharp. I hate Photography as an exact science like RH measurbation on image quality.

All shots taken with Pentax K-x and Pentax FA 77mm f/1.8 while the wind is blowing quite heavily on a clothing hanging line. Shame on some of the shots that are over exposed

#1 The set up
with cloths drying line and wood clips

And this cat shot that I have no time to frame the shot. As soon as I open the screen door, I get about two shots with one that look down at the cat and I kneel down next for the head shot and right after the shutter release, he turns and heads upstairs. It is a giant cat.

Again, I love the depth and the soft and very smooth off focus rendering, it helps to isolate the subject of focus greatly though I rush into the shot without much thinking.




Impressions & Notes

• As I have noted before. Color and sharpness is outstanding in FA 77mm f/1.8 limited.
  
  
• The fast speed in f/1.8 makes the 77mm limited all more of a great value when it comes to indoor and low light type of shooting. The bokeh in wide open is awesome but I do notice light falling off in wide open aperture. Care has be taken in using wide open aperture wisely.
  
  
• The FA77 and DA 70 limited are not keen on close up. But the sharpness in both lens can help you as a macro lens in cropping huge. In the test shots with the white goose feather, I did a large crop close to 85% crop and it surely looks like a macro shot
  
  
• Cyan color fringing are noticed in high contrast areas. It is unfortunate and some Pentax folks in community prefer the DA 70 limited because of the frequent fringing. I treat the fringing as a character in the lens as the color from FA 77mm offers surreal quality not matched up by the 70 limited. If fringing is a concern, go with 70 limited which also excels in sharpness and color and it has the quick shift focus that is absent in FA limited lens series.
  
  
• I thought often about the field of view after crop factor that adds up to roughly 115mm. It is outstanding in half body portraits but one has to zoom with feed. In actual shooting with outdoor portraiture, I actually like my DA* 50-135mm f/2.8 due to the zoom flexibility. But in terms of prime quality, color and sharpness, and compactness, few can match up with the 77mm limited
  
  
• Among the FA and DA limited, my favorite is the FA 77mm limited for its surreal color, great sharpness, and awesome speed in f/1.8 when I need to push and balance with ISO and hand-holding shutter in demanding situation
  

Related:

• Pentax FA 43mm f/1.9 limited
• Pentax K-x White
• Pentax FA 77mm f/1.8 limited Insanely Good
• Pentax FA 77mm limited vs Pentax DA* 50-135mm f/2.8
• Pentax DA 70mm f/2.4 limited
  
• Hin's Camera Gear
  

I have just finished my vacation trip to New Zealand and I will have a more thorough reports on the limited lens and K-x on the trip. The DA 15mm limited is quite outstanding in the trip. I have 15/21/35/70 and a long zoom with Tamron 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6. In hindsight, I could have done it with only 15/35/70-300mm and K-x. The 21mm works better on street shooting, night scenes, portraiture with landscape as background and indoor while the 15mm really takes over in landscape and scenery.











My crew of lens include 15/21/35/70 limited plus the Tamron zoom. I love the 70mm limited but it is the least used lens in the trip. It just happens that in my trip to NZ, my shots mostly goes for the landscape and hence the less use of 70mm in the trip. The 70mm is sharp and does wonder in portraiture. I tried using the 70mm on sunset photos but I later find the longer zoom to be more flexible. The 70 flare control though good can not match up to the 15mm. The 15 has the crown for best flare control.

All in all, the limited lens are a joy to bring in the trip. Small, compact and big on image quality. And I balance it out with a longer zoom on the Tamron. The DA 55-300mm would have been an excellent choice, so is the Sigma 70-300mm, to mix with limited to round out a focal range of 15 to 300mm in traveling. I need the long zoom as some part of my trip involved butterflies and birds from New Zealand.


Related

• Mirchi Cafe with Pentax DA 15mm f/4.0 limited
  
• Pentax DA 15mm f/4.0 limited purchase
• Tamron 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD in Traveling
• Limited Lens in traveling
• Pentax K-x White arrival
• Hin's Camera Gear
  

My Access 35-70mm f/2.5-3.5 is in R/K mount which works with Ricoh xr-p film camera. I find the Ricoh pin retractable but the pin sticks out too much that it is found to jam in my Pentax K-x body. I have altered the lens to remove the Ricoh pin in order to use it in my Pentax body. The zoom is actually quite good when I tried it on b&w film with Ricoh xr-p.

When I test it on Pentax K-x, it is just a beautiful and functional short zoom. Its close focus is 1:2.7. It is unfortunate that it overlaps with my Tamron SP 35-80mm f/2.8-3.8 that I have decided to sell it to others.








Impressions & Notes

• Very surprising zoom lens with good performance throughout
  
• Color is vivid and good contrast
• Close up quite useful in 1:2.7
• Two touch zoom
• Ricoh P pin needs to be removed for Pentax digital bodies. P pin will jam AF/MF switch connector on Pentax digital bodies
  
• Focus Throw a bit short for precision in manual focusing
• Size is smaller than Tamron SP 35-80mm f/2.8-3.8
  
• Filter size is 58mm, solid construction.
  

Related

• Ricoh P pin and R/K mount
• Tamron SP 35-80mm f/2.8-3.8 adaptall-2 (01A)
  
• BW400CN film experience with Foto Express San Jose
• Access P-MC 70-210mm f/3.5 in R/K mount
• Hin's Camera Gear
  

I got this lens in a package of used Ricoh xr-p body. It is in Ricoh R/K mount that works in (P) programmed mode in Ricoh xr series of camera. It has the notorious Ricoh pin that can jam a digital Pentax bodies. Though the Ricoh pin is retractable, it does stick out too much and will jam onto the AF/MF connector on the Pentax bodies. It will work like a K mount lens on a non-AF Pentax film bodies.

It is quite easy to remove the pin and the zoom lens will just work like a regular manual K mount lens. I use it in M mode and do stop-down metering with the green button on K20D. In Pentax K-x body in M mode, (+/-) Av button acts like the green button with a easier access location.

The lens looks almost identical to the Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5 by Tokina, the version 2 in the first three versions recommended by Mark Roberts. The filter size 62mm, the lens barrel, and the weight looks like the same lens to me



I test it out with Pentax K-x and performance closely resembles what I like about the Tokina Series 1 zoom.










Impressions & Notes

• It is quite good in sharpness
• Constant f/3.5 throughout the zoom
• Contrast can be better if a hood is added
• Close up is about 1:4 but I have not confirmed
• No zoom creep, 1-touch zoom, 62mm filter size, zoom quite easy to handle, good for MF
• Lens is small and lightweight as compared to v1 and v3 of Vivitar Series 1 zooms made by Kiron and Komine
• Good control of CA/PF in short experience with the zoom
  

Related:

• Access P-MC 35-70mm f/2.5-3.5 in R/K mount
  
• Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5 by Tokina
• Ricoh P pin and R/K mount
• Comparing Vivitar Series 1 zooms
• Tamron SP 70-210mm f/3.5 adaptall-2 19AH
• Pentax K-x and M42 lenses
• Pentax K-x White
  
• Hin's Camera Gear