Made the decision

Dory Breaux DP · March 11, 2007

I have finally made up my mind that, even though it may be really expensive, I'm just going to take the plunge and pick up a K-3 off of eBay once I get my bikey (bike) working correctly. I most definitely have enjoyed working with video, but its time to on to film. I'm gonna start out just making like 10 or less bike films (almost called it video there, oops! I'm going to need to get used to that) over the summer and even look into developing the film myself. My mom has done quite a lot of darkroom work and we have a pretty good setup for her 35mm stills, witch she doesn't use any more cause of going digital. Old person goes forward, young one goes back (in format time anyway), whats up with that? I'll definitely get my first reels processed at a lab though, no doubt about it. I've been doing a lot of research (more then normal) and it seems that eventually I may be able to talk some bike and ski companies into paying for the costs of the film... that would be very cool. I know I will sometime in the next few years move up to a "bigger," more "bad ass" camera like a Arri SR series or the S/B, but I think it will be fun to just learn on a K-3 shooting shorts and whatnot. Maybe once I get a good amount of shorts I'll put them together and try to sell them somehow... I'll see.

So, I'm here to stay (unless someone literally hands me a XL2 or a DVX100 or something of the like and says "go make a movie") and hope it will be an enjoyable one. Can any of all yall recommend any good online reading material as to the subject of 16mm?

Thanks,

Dory

Robert Houllahan · March 12, 2007

I have finally made up my mind that, even though it may be really expensive, I'm just going to take the plunge and pick up a K-3 off of eBay

The K-3 can be a really good camera and very cheap to run, B+W 100' film can be had for around $20 and processing will be less than that, shoot a bunch and get it all transfered at once to save a bit. More expensive than a DV tape but a XL2 will set you back at least $3k you can buy a whole pile of stock, process and xfer for that.

-Rob-

Dory Breaux DP · March 12, 2007

Haha, I can find color daylight loads for like.. 16 bucks a pop. But yeah film was born into my blood haha!

Yeah man it isnt as expensive as I thought it was going to be. I can find color 100ft loads for 16 bucks a peice, so I am not too worried about that. I think film was born into my blood...

Patrick Cooper · March 12, 2007

"I think film was born into my blood..."

I hope that won't cause blood contamination.

Kidding!

Good luck on your venture into 16mm film. I have a K3 too and Ive just recently run my first negative film through it. Actually, a few years ago at a flea market, I picked up a pile of out of date B&W 100ft 16mm films for $3 each - that was the reason why I later picked up the camera.

Edited March 12, 2007 by Patrick Cooper

Dory Breaux DP · March 12, 2007

Actualy it already has I think... haha

But man thats quite a score!

Dory Breaux DP · March 12, 2007

Hey, has anyone had any experance with the K-2? Seems to be mostly the same except for the color...

Herb Montes · March 13, 2007

Hey, has anyone had any experance with the K-2? Seems to be mostly the same except for the color...

I have a K2 in my collection. It can't use the 100' daylight spools like the K3. Instead it uses preloaded 100' magazines you load yourself with 16mm film on a core. It uses special magazines, not the Kodak kind. This makes the camera a little smaller than the K3. My K2 has a bayonet mount for the zoom lens and has the same functions as the K3. The K1 which is not as common is similar to the K2 but has a prime lens instead of a zoom.

Dory Breaux DP · March 13, 2007

On the K-3, is it preferable to have the pentax screw mount or the m42 bayonet?

Patrick Cooper · March 14, 2007

M42 is the official name given to the 'pentax screw mount.' So there is that option or the bayonet mount option. I think the choice of which one to get really depends on what sort of shooting you plan to do. As you probably already know, when a lens designed for a larger film format is mounted on to a camera designed to expose a smaller film frame, you will only be using the middle of the lens - hence you will get a significantly narrower angle of view. So with an M42 screw mount, most still photography lenses will give a telephoto effect. Even if you use a moderate wide angle lens like a 28mm or 20mm lens, the angle of view that you will get with the K3 will not be much different than a 'normal' standard lens. And even if you get hold of a super wide angle lens like a 17mm, this will only become a slight wide angle when mounted on the K3. M42 wide angle lenses that were designed specifically for the 16mm format are almost non existant. Basically your only choice if you want a really generous wide angle in this mount is the Peleng 8mm. I bought the K3 with the M42 mount because I planned to use this camera mainly for filming wildife. So the extra magnification that i get when mounting still photography lenses really comes in handy. And of course for this sort of filming, I have limited use for a wide angle lens...so that wasnt really a big consideration.

On the other hand, if you need a variety of short focal length lenses for your filming, then the K3 with the bayonet mount would be more suitable. I believe there are a number of lenses (both wide angle and telephoto) that were made with this mount.

Dory Breaux DP · March 14, 2007

M42 is the official name given to the 'pentax screw mount.' So there is that option or the bayonet mount option. I think the choice of which one to get really depends on what sort of shooting you plan to do. As you probably already know, when a lens designed for a larger film format is mounted on to a camera designed to expose a smaller film frame, you will only be using the middle of the lens - hence you will get a significantly narrower angle of view. So with an M42 screw mount, most still photography lenses will give a telephoto effect. Even if you use a moderate wide angle lens like a 28mm or 20mm lens, the angle of view that you will get with the K3 will not be much different than a 'normal' standard lens. And even if you get hold of a super wide angle lens like a 17mm, this will only become a slight wide angle when mounted on the K3. M42 wide angle lenses that were designed specifically for the 16mm format are almost non existant. Basically your only choice if you want a really generous wide angle in this mount is the Peleng 8mm. I bought the K3 with the M42 mount because I planned to use this camera mainly for filming wildife. So the extra magnification that i get when mounting still photography lenses really comes in handy. And of course for this sort of filming, I have limited use for a wide angle lens...so that wasnt really a big consideration.

On the other hand, if you need a variety of short focal length lenses for your filming, then the K3 with the bayonet mount would be more suitable. I believe there are a number of lenses (both wide angle and telephoto) that were made with this mount.

I need both wide angle and telephoto. I guess nothing over 100mm max, I probobly wont even need that. I guess the stock lens is pretty good though?

Patrick Cooper · March 15, 2007

The stock zoom lens has a reasonable zoom range but it is not very wide at the 17mm end. The quality of the optics seems to vary a bit amongst different samples. My K3 stock lens is quite sharp and crisp (good but I wouldnt say fantastic) whereas some individuals have reported that their K3 stock lenses are not that great. So there seems to be a bit of luck involved when buying a K3. The camera bodies too seem to vary a bit in quality though mine is quite reliable - it hasnt let me down yet. According to one source, the later K3s (with English writing) are supposedly more consistent in quality.