Folks,
Meet Tom Murray, a friend who at my recommendation bought some Pentax K-x
cameras for a high school photography class.
Tom,
Meet the Pentax Discuss Mailing List, aka PDML, an often friendly, and usually
knowledgeable group of photographers, many of whom use Pentax gear.
Tom asked me for advice on buying more gear for the high school photography
class he teaches, in Fremont, CA (The Bay Area). His background is in painting
IIRC. I told me that if he sent me budget, and what they had already I'd pass
his email address and info on to the list for suggestions, leads etc. I've
cc'd Tom to make it easy to reply directly to him, or to make sure that you can
cc him in a reply to the list. For the record his email is
[email protected]
On Mar 19, 2012, at 10:12 PM, Tom Murray wrote:
Thanks so much Larry!
We've got roughly 8 grand to work with.
That should be enough to get the attention of pretty much any camera salesman.
We have 10 Pentax K-x cameras. Two are at Pentax for repairs (LCD screens
died.)
I highly recommend getting K-r bodies. They aren't much more expensive than
the K-x, have nearly identical controls, and several significant improvements
in features and performance. They've also been recently discontinued, so
there's a good chance that anybody that has them in stock will be motivated to
sell them at a deep discount, especially if they can sell a bunch at one time.
Locally, both Fry's and San Jose Camera carry Pentax. I'd try at least
contacting Pentax USA to see if they have any sort of schoolroom discount on
gear. If you have the time, there are great deals on used K-x and K-r cameras
on craigslist, but if you're looking at getting another 10, that could be
problematic.
The kit lenses are fragile and soft. I'd rather just by k-x bodies but I don't
see them on Amazon sold separately from the kit lens.
The students enjoy the 50mm f1.7 lenses the most. It surprised me how quickly
they preferred the prime lenses.
It is good to know that there is indeed hope for the younger generation.
I'd like to use more prime lenses at wide to moderate zoom and macro.
Talk teachers around the area. The Pentax K1000 used to be the defacto
standard school camera. It is quite possible that there are dozens of K1000s
with lenses gathering dust in school closets around the bay area. While it is
the lenses that you're interested in, it may be entertaining, and educational
to have the students shoot a roll or two of film. Especially on cameras where
they have to think about focus, metering, and the fact that pressing the
shutter is going to cost them $.50 each time.
It's also quite possible that some people on this list have second tier lenses
that they'd be willing to sell at a bargain price. Likewise, it would be worth
checking the pentax forums on dpreview.com, flickr.com, and pentaxforums.com
Write up a piece that you're using Pentax cameras in your classroom and that
you are looking for inexpensive, or even free, gear.
Note that even the old M42 (screw thread) lenses will work with an adapter,
though they're a bit tricker to use. I can show you how the next time we see
each other. I've had Spotmatics with 50/1.4 lenses given to me.
We've got some studio lights and umbrellas, a muslin backdrop. Buying a roll
of seamless paper. I have continuous lights, no strobes.
I'd like the students to be able to get some better studio portraits. (No
available window light.) I don't have softboxes.
I've bought a fair amount in cheap lighting and backdrop gear from
ephotodiscounters in burlingame. They've got their own website, also stores on
IIRC amazon and ebay. I usually just drop by in person, and talk with Isabel,
who is very nice. They are also often quite willing to deal a bit if you are
buying a reasonable sized order, ask nice etc.
One nifty thing they have are little "strobe bulbs" for about $20 that screw
into regular light sockets, and are optically triggered. Add $10 for a clamp light and
you've got a handy little strobe.
You should also try contacting Paul C Buff. They make very good, relatively
inexpensive lighting gear (Paul C Buff, alienbee etc.), have tremendously good
customer service, and might be willing to cut an educational discount on a
couple of lights.
I've had sort of decent luck with inexpensive radio triggers ($10 for each
xmitter or receiver) that I've bought off the net.
Maintenance of the cameras is a big issue. Any cleaning kit recommendations?
I've got a rocket blower, and also a cheap sensor blower that doesn't have the
fins that helps the rocket blower stand up on the desk. I find that the lack
of fins makes it fit more easily in my camera bag. I also have a couple of
lens pens that seem to do a good job on cleaning the lens, viewfinder etc.
It would probably be worthwhile if you could get someone from a camera shop to
come in and give a lecture on camera care and cleaning. Though it may be better
if the kids didn't think that was something they should try. :-)
There is all sorts of debates on whether UV filters are good or bad. If kids
are using the lenses, they're probably well worth it for protection.
Have one off-camera flash.
Any "dumb" flash, that doesn't have too high of a voltage across the contacts
would be good.
The canonical reference for learning to use speedlites is the strobist
http://strobist.com
He charges a fair amount for his set of instructional DVDs, but it's worth
asking for a discount. They'd be very good material to have. You folks could
watch them at lunch or something.
We use Photoshop CS 3... a bit out of date. Would Lightroom, Aperture or
another system make that much difference in a classroom?
I highly recommend Lightroom over PS. LR4 just came out, is reasonably
inexpensive, and I know they have student discounts, they may well also have
school discounts. Even if not, the new price is quite reasonable, especially
if you only need a couple of seats.
Hopefully, other people on the list will have good contacts, or maybe even gear
that they're willing to part with inexpensively. You've already got most of my
spare k-mount lenses.
<http://www.tommurraystudio.com>
--
Larry Colen [email protected] sent from i4est
