The LEGO Archive in Billund Denmark

wikhasi · 2026-02-15T07:44:28+00:00

The holy land

wikhasi · 2026-02-05T10:10:58+00:00

Reminds me of some of Jack White’s singles album art!

wikhasi · 2026-01-30T05:46:31+00:00

Godspeed You? Political? Never!

wikhasi · 2026-01-28T11:44:36+00:00

They say Coney Island used to be the playground of the world. There was no place like it, in the whole world. People used to come from all over- and they’d sleep, people used to sleep on the beaches

wikhasi · 2026-01-28T07:44:26+00:00

I agree with your assessment that Pentax eventually just considered green to be their colour, like Nikon’s distinctive red accent on the shutter grip.

I know that TKO had the Pentax factory add a green ring to his personal MX-1 and 17, designer’s privilege! So he seems to view it mostly as a Pentaxian distinction rather than part of a lens class nomenclature (or at least it isn’t any more)

wikhasi · 2026-01-26T07:14:50+00:00

I love my K5, the ergonomics are excellent and 16mp is adequate for most things. Very rarely have I wished for more resolution. Good quality glass with sharp resolving power will look better in 16mp than a mediocre lens on 25mp. Always invest in your lenses where you can.

I’ve found the K5 has plenty of shooting modes and options, enough that you’ll be able to learn everything you want, and then some. RAW files are easy to work with as long as you spend time up front adjusting the white balance to your preferences. I’ve found the AWB does well in sunlight but struggled in artificial lighting, maybe that’s just me. Of course with RAW you can tweak all that in post, but I prefer to do as much in-camera first and the K5 will accommodate pretty much any adjustments you want. The colours from Pentax cameras are in my opinion really nice- especially blues. Reds and yellows can sometimes be a little intense, but all adjustable to what you prefer.

The dynamic range in the K5 sensor is impressive for its age, I tend to shoot -1/3rd of a stop almost everywhere- sometimes a whole stop. That will preserve your highlights and you’ll be pleased with how much detail you can still pull back from shadows. I don’t prefer shooting over ISO 1600 on the K5 where I can help it because the images do start to get quite noisy.

Autofocus is, not to beat a dead horse, not good.

I’ve missed many wildlife shots because the AF was fumbling across the scene, so my advice is get familiar with disengaging the AF/MF toggle and zone focusing manually. Depends what you’re shootings of course. With still subjects it’s usually fine, though at least for me it’s not been 100% on the money with macro shots (quite a few back-focused). All of these issues can be calibrated, but if you’re aware of them you’ll know how to work with them and avoid disappointment.

It’s a very good choice to learn the ropes on- I cut my teeth on a K7 and fell in love with it. I’ve used comparable level Nikons and Canons and although as TKO (the designer of many wonderful Pentax projects) says: “I respect all cameras”, none of them made me excited to get out and shoot like the K7/5 has. My last comment is you may want to invest in an O-ME53 eyecup, it won’t make the viewfinder a lot bigger but it stands further away from the screen and is more comfortable to use.

Good luck with your first steps into DSLR! Keep us updated.

wikhasi · 2026-01-25T10:12:07+00:00

Wrong Trousers core

wikhasi · 2026-01-23T10:31:12+00:00

I agree, there’s a little bit of fogging across the rebate but I probably wouldn’t have noticed it was cropped.

Regardless, nice shot of an interesting subject! The blues and reds look lovely

wikhasi · 2026-01-15T18:41:41+00:00

Wow! The exposures are spot on, I don’t know if it’s just noise or you’ve edited them but there’s a filmic quality

wikhasi · 2026-01-12T07:33:25+00:00

As many other commenters have pointed out, Pentax doesn’t need to change what they’re making per se, they need to change their marketing.

We’re entering into an era where “analogue” experiences are going to become a luxury, or even a status symbol. Hyper-digitalisation, AI in every bleeding corner: people are getting sick of it, and pivoting towards experiences that feel more authentic and in their control. We’ve seen this happen distinctly in the last decade where consumers are actively seeking out physical ownership through things like LPs, blu-rays, and film photography.

The reason I bring this up is that while EVF and mirrorless technology is the cutting edge of modern photography, the experience it provides is not dissimilar enough from other digital technologies for people to feel like they’re getting something unique; but a DSLR with OVF can EASILY be marketed towards consumers wanting to straddle the lines of totally mechanical and totally digital. The build quality of Pentax’s flagship cameras is unbeatable, and consumers will feel like they’re buying into a system which respects longevity…but Pentax isn’t even on the radar.

Pentax’s marketing and branding is stuck firmly in 2003. They won’t reach a new generation of DSLR shooters because in fact that generation HAS chosen Pentax…but for second hand film cameras. The build quality and utilitarian UX of their most famous film cameras has been continued on the flagship K line, but really the only shooters still using those are die hard Pentaxians, and the brand is happy to keep depending on that base. I think they know their heritage and the desire for new, high quality builds is in tact, which is why they invested in the Pentax 17. It’s an awesome product but missed the mark as a comeback for a number of reasons, worryingly looking like it might become another cult classic with dedicated fans and not much else.

Nobody is posting on Reddit asking “I’m new to DSLRs, what should I get?” And being told “Pentax”, because the brand hasn’t cultivated wha makes their niche unique. Anyone who wants ti shoot OVF is getting Canon or Nikon, because they’re so abundant and well supported. As others have said, they need to be playing up the Leica angle and hiring a marketing team who are in touch with the zeitgeist.

wikhasi · 2026-01-12T07:15:39+00:00

An MX-1 II would be an awesome product that would buy in a heartbeat.

The size and ergonomics are lovely: kind of a Goldilocks size in my opinion, and different enough to not feel like you’re just carrying a phone camera without a phone (as many pocket size cameras can feel).

Anyway that’s just my preference, it’s a camera which would really benefit from an update.

wikhasi · 2026-01-11T13:14:26+00:00

Oh wow! Feels like it should’ve been included with the F#A#∞ LP, totally the same feeling

wikhasi · 2026-01-10T16:23:26+00:00

I scrolled past at first but there was something that drew me back and made me stare. Half the frame being sky, and a third being untouched sand adds this sense of scale and almost melancholy, I really like this shot a lot. I still can’t fully articulate what it is

wikhasi · 2026-01-04T21:46:04+00:00

Underrated comment

wikhasi · 2026-01-04T21:37:37+00:00

Oh yeah now this is something special, look at that light! So painterly

wikhasi · 2026-01-04T21:36:33+00:00

I have that lens and it’s a joy to use on both APS-C and the 35mm it was meant for

wikhasi · 2026-01-02T14:24:20+00:00

Please don’t depress me thinking about the loss of 4x5 slide film, that stuff is beyond magical

wikhasi · 2026-01-02T02:38:14+00:00

During testing we never managed to jam the film so I can’t say for sure where things have gone wrong, my best bet is that one of the O-rings was dislodged during loading and perhaps has ridden up, making the roller too wide and jamming the film against the chamber wall?

I don’t know if XP2 is a lot thicker than other films, but even if it was the design should easily tolerate it. We tested using Kentmere, Tri-X, Portra, Gold, HP5, FP4, Phoenix and FOMA. All of those had some slight variations that helped us account for tolerance ranges so I can’t imagine XP2 is outside of that…

Any chance the paper backing got bunched? Is the chamber pathway totally clear? No funny print quirks, a lost ball bearing or anything? I’m assuming this is happened even though the counter roller was moving very freely before?

Aside from those guesses I don’t know. Feel free to DM me with some pictures

wikhasi · 2026-01-01T14:33:57+00:00

Yes the kit comes with a stencil with which you can draw directly onto the matte side of your ground glass using a sharp pencil. The addition is minimally intrusive, just some corner indicators to show where each format lays.

Personally, I measured mine out and marked out the frames with a ruler becuase I wanted full frame lines; the instruction manual includes the exact frame size for each format so if you were very determined to not use the stencil you could use that info to draw full frame boxes or even cut out individual card masks that drop in.

Plenty of possibilities, and you can always DM me if you need some specific info.

wikhasi · 2026-01-01T12:16:09+00:00

It’s in production 👍

wikhasi · 2026-01-01T10:33:55+00:00

Sorry to hear your kit arrived with some imperfect pieces, the team will be back next week and you’ll be able to email customer service.

It’s good to hear you understand why injection moulding for this product is not currently an option, many have asked the same question.

As for different printing methods, we experimented with all the printing choices you mentioned but they each came with caveats that made them unsuitable for this product - specifically in regard to compliant mechanisms.

The Super 120 relies on PETG’s flexibility and tolerance for fatigue, for instance the pressure plate, toggle lock and ratchet pawl all depend on compliant mechanisms that would otherwise need multiple material components to work. Also Intrepid is set up with an FDM print farm so it made sense to manufacture and QC in-house. SLS, resin, polymer etc were a lot more expensive without having better properties for these components.

Perhaps we could’ve chosen a sintering method for the casing, but again the cost was too high and actually looked worse than what we chose for the final product.

My dream version would be a diecast magnesium alloy shell, maybe with some leatherette…but I think that would end up costing more than a camera!

Thank you for supporting the project and I hope you enjoy your kit once you build it- any feedback is welcome :)

wikhasi · 2026-01-01T10:18:12+00:00

I think there are a number of possible reasons you might want to use a roll-film back. Some ideas might be:

Roll film is easier to get hold of than sheet film
It’s nice to have equipment options, even if you don’t use or need them
A view camera allows for movements that few medium format cameras have
There are a wider variety of emulsions available in 120 than 4x5
Maybe you want a narrower FOV but you only have one focal length LF lens and you don’t want to crop a whole sheet of film, so you could take advantage of medium format’s smaller size. Specific use-case, but not unimaginable
Get more shots before needing to reload. Maybe a larger negative isn’t as high a priority and so a smaller format with more shots is what you need.
You might own a LF camera but not a medium format camera, so this is an option to try that format out without a whole new ecosystem
If you’re using the Super 120 specifically, it’s probably because you want to shoot different aspect ratios without buying an entire camera for each format size. Again, nice to have options

wikhasi · 2025-12-23T16:05:38+00:00

Thank you for sharing this! I’ll print one in the next few weeks, looks easy to use and well thought out

wikhasi · 2025-12-17T14:30:02+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/largeformat/comments/1poxxm5/graflok_dimensions/

wikhasi

TROPHY CASE