Pentax E50 Options

[treetop]

A member asked me if I had looked into this camera yet and I hadnt Daryl over at Real Deal is pretty excited so I decided to get one to try out. The hack isnt all that tough I do have a warning as I accidentally touched the flash capacitors solder points and not only did I get a good shock but I also smoked the flash so I am on my second camera already and made one for the junk pile. The static and high voltage must have blew one of the sensitive flash components Bummer
Well I got it in a cam and will get it out for some testing tomorrow I did have it out last night and I had a poor choice of settings and the results were disappointing. I think I found a better choice of settings now that should take advantage of the high iso and it looks like the flash may be strong The refresh wont be needed all that often and it is pretty quick too. So I would say so far it looks like it may be a neat option.

I made the snorkel out of a old Tylenol/ asprin bottle and it turned out pretty darn good and was pretty easy to do


inside

[yetinme]

I tried to get one of these in and Broadway photo sent the wrong one. They SUCK!

Anyway, I have an E60 that I will play with and hopefully get a E50 too. Kind of nice to see a couple good cameras this year.

Mark

[treetop]

Mark
I still want to do some testing but it does appear that it may work good. Nice size and 2 aa batteries
I have some pics of the hack

By leaving the Shutter and Focus seperate the camera will function normally outside the cam. Also leave the Insulator tape over the left side of the switch board and you wont be exposed to the flash capacitor



Closeup of the hack



I soldered the Hack Common directly to the negative battery post This would also be the spot to solder the external battery negative if you add externals. The External Battery Positive would connect to the Positive battery post shown in picture



And I join the Shutter and The focus wires right in the SHUT screw terminal

This post has been edited by treetop: Dec 8 2008, 11:41 PM

[predator 1]

Was hoping you'd give one of these a try soon! Cam looks and sounds promising so far...Looks good Dave!

Pred

[yetinme]

Nice document Dave! I have one being overnighted and due here tomorrow. I may tear up this E60 too and see if it is the same. I thought about returning it but don't want the hassle with Broadway Photo again. They are really a pain!

Mark

[swampsnyper]

Treetop,
I got a pentax optio M20. Seems pretty similar to yours. Can't seem to get the front 1/2 of the cover off. Seems like the lens is holding it. Any suggestions. Looks like it will make a good camera. I'm sure I'll have some more questions once I get into it more.

[predator 1]

Hey Dave...any grinding required for the vertical 1040? If not it looks to fit pretty well. What did you use for your pipethrough?

Pred

[treetop]

The camera drops right in I even added a small strip of 1/8th neoprene to tighten it a bit as the snorkel I made has a close fit. I had it out the other night and I did get some pictures and they turned out reasonabally well. It may just be the settings I used I dont fully understand what fstop and stuff will work best I had it set to KIDS mode The settings show the picture was taken with F2.8 and I guess a 1/50 shutter speed I think there may be something better to use but havent figured it out yet. The flash is decent I was just hoping for more?


Oh the pipe through I have some clear hard lexan tubing I have it with a 5/16 and also a 3/8th inside diameter Makes a pretty fit and its cheap



This post has been edited by treetop: Dec 12 2008, 08:23 AM

[predator 1]

Yeah I hear you there...flash is not bad...

This is just one of those cams where I'm "teeter'n" on the fence weather to try one right away, or wait a bit. I think we've all been spoiled by the pic qaulity and performance of the earlier Sony's (P32, P41 S40 S600), that's it's tough to compare some of these new cams...especially when you can still get them fairly easily and for a bit cheaper than the newer ones...but I guess nothing ventured nothing gained ;)

Do you sell those lexan tubes on the BF site?

Pred

[treetop]

I fooled with it some more and may have found a setting I like it will have to wait for dark to see though Ill post a few pics when I get them
The tubes I never added them but I guess I could they would be pretty cheap

[jgreg]

I went to best buy website is a e50 the same as a m50? The m50 was 8 megapixel. Does anyone know where to buy on at a reasonable price.?

Thanks Jim

[treetop]

Jim needs to be a E50 I see them ata few sites B & H Photo has them for 125 I trust them see them cheaper but not sure of the seller
I still recommend you hold off a little Give me another week and I should have some better facts about testing I set it out in night scene mode and the iso on auto In this mode the only way to get the flash on is set to force flash so it will flash day or night I should have some deers from it tomorrow

[jgreg]

Thanks I appreciate the heads up

Jim

[pypredator]

If you only use a 3 wire servo(power,shutter,ground) are you saying that out of the case the camera won't behave as normal? Or is this to speed the camera up when connected to a control board? Excellent pictures for us to work with, thanks for taking the time to help us all out. Great job on the snorkle as well.

Also, do you guys know if the E40 is the same hack and if it will work?

This post has been edited by pypredator: Dec 13 2008, 05:54 AM

[treetop]

Normally when you depress the shutter button half way the focus trys and focus then when it is fully pressed it shutters With the pentax you have to have the focus closed to get the shutter to work that is why you need to connect these 2 together when used in a cam Daryl did his by permanently bridging it I did it so it will only be jumperd when connected to the servo connector.
Your welcome on the hack pics 212 was right the s40 sure takes good closeups and is perfect for these hack pics. The snorkel was easy to make and best of all it didn't cost a dime.

Ohh No deer came by last night Kinda like my hunt this morning

This post has been edited by treetop: Dec 13 2008, 01:25 PM