Be kind to Pentax

[gstark]

For those of you who didn't remember, today is Be Kind To Pentax Day.

Enjoy.

[DaveB]

So you're referring to the thread about the old Pentax film bodies over in the Film and non-Digital Imaging forum. My first SLR was a Pentax Spotmatic SP, with 35mm, 50mm, and 135mm lenses. They did have a certain charm.

But Pentax today seems a different creature. Just this afternoon I happened to be in a Ted's store and found this horrible beast (snapped through glass with the Canon A470 that I'm playing with at the moment [it saves DNG files]).

It takes all sorts. But do I really have to be kind to today's Pentax?

[Manta]

Good lord Dave, that thing needs to be hit with a stick. Make it go away!!!!!!

(I'm guessing they could take the glass out of that window and nobody would steal it)

[gstark]

Dave,

Is that the camera that you keep with your Pontiac Aztec, or perhaps the Toyota Rukus?

I do agree that the old screw mount Pentax cameras had charm-plus.

This one though ... clearly not quite the camera you need when you're wanting to not be noticed.

[it saves DNG files]

The new Canon PHD?

Cool. I guess that might be something that we may see becoming more the norm, and I think that's a good idea.

[DaveB]

[it saves DNG files]

The new Canon PHD?

Cool. I guess that might be something that we may see becoming more the norm, and I think that's a good idea.

Nope, just a plain old PowerShot that was introduced in Jan'08. I've loaded up CHDK and now (as long as I have the right SD card in there) it powers up ready to take DNG files, and a whole lot of other nice tweaks. It's still limited by a tiny sensor, and not really competition to something like the S90 in terms of image quality, but it's certainly a lot nicer to use than as it was delivered by Canon.
This camera cost me $80 on eBay including delivery, and it's just an experiment to see whether this software will be useful on a couple of projects that are in the pipe...

If there's any interest in CHDK I'm happy to talk about it in a new thread rather than this Pentax thread.

Good lord Dave, that thing needs to be hit with a stick. Make it go away!!!!!!

I think someone already did. The Ugly Stick!

[aim54x]

Those japanese have strange taste...I would however take a stormtrooper white version of that camera....or a Ferrari red (only if it was IR converted though)

[photomarcs]

Ahh.. stormtrooper white it is for me

Now put an old school MF Pentax lens on that white piece and I'm happy.. haha

[gstark]

Normal operations have resumed, and with the example camera that was in the image that DaveB posted yesterday, we may resume being (and most deservedly so) unkind to Pentax.

Thanks for the info on the DNG , Dave. Most interesting. You're effectively loading a ROM image (or a patch) from the SD?

[DaveB]

Thanks for the info on the DNG , Dave. Most interesting. You're effectively loading a ROM image (or a patch) from the SD?

An extension to the firmware, yes. The processors inside these cameras are effectively ARM CPUs, so we compile the program with standard compiler/assembler tools.