Paul Davis

After finally finishing my book I decided it would be nice to let some of the people in it be the first to know about it.  More than a few years have gone by since my camera captured them live on stage.  A little research was certainly in order.  Looking for the whereabouts of Paul Davis I was sad to find out that he is no longer with us.  

"Paul Davis who played in Bonnie Hayes and The Wild Combo and The Yanks went into a coma after complications with his elbow caused by Carpal Tunnel and he was pronounced dead on Sunday Morning Nov 10, 2007" - Ginger Coyote - Punk Globe Magazine.

Gossen Luna Pro

Finally I score a Luna Pro on Ebay!  It seemed like every time I found a nice one to bid on, I got out bid at the last second by some antique dealer or collector.  I think they try to buy low and sell high, you know?  That's cool but I wanted one to actually use for photography!

As I've implied elsewhere, I am pretty much shooting with Pentax M Series lenses from the 1970s.  The quality is just awesome.  The problem is that the K10D exposure meter does not work after you take the initial reading.  I always have to take the shot and then check the histogram and adjust from there.  That is okay, but sometimes leads to missed opportunities.  Photography is mostly about capturing a moment in time and in many cases those moments are short.

Well, my Luna Pro arrived today and it is one beautiful piece of equipment.  I can see why antique dealers want them.  To be honest, one of the reasons I wanted this particular meter over any other is kind of silly.  Its because I like the little sun and moon symbols on the dial  :-)

Using M Series Lenses on a K10D

PENTAX:  "Pentax K-mount, M-series and S (screw) mount lenses without auto-aperture control (an “A” setting on the aperture ring) can be used in Manual exposure mode using stop-down metering and manual focus. This is the exposure mode which will give accurate exposures when using these older lenses on our digital SLRs. If older lenses without an "A" setting on the aperture ring are used in Av (Aperture Priority) Mode, an exposure error may occur. "


Up until today I had a hard time believing the above statement.  Whenever I use manual mode I have to do some compensation.  If I use the reading the "green button" comes up with, my images will come out overexposed.  I have to adjust my exposures using a histogram to guide me.  I have read posts on several sites from people having similar results.  If I shoot in Av mode the exposures are right on (contrary to the above statement).  The problem is that when shooting in Av mode, you are shooting wide open no matter which F-stop you select.  


I thought it odd that the exposures can be so far off in manual mode.  A little research shows that the problem is easily resolved by changing a custom setting:


Go to Custom Settings

 Step down to Green button in Manual
Press the right arrow and select Tv Shift
Press OK
(This setting allows easy and accurate exposure metering using older lenses without an "A" setting on the aperture ring. When the Green button is pressed in Manual exposure mode, the lens "stops down", the camera's meter measures the light passing through the lens, and an appropriate shutter speed is automatically set based on that measurement).

By default this setting is on "Program Line."  Change it to "Tv Shift" and the problem is resolved.  For those of you new to this, here are all the settings you need to change:

Press the Menu button

Go to Custom Settings
Step down to Green button in TAv & M (K10D/K20D).
Step down to Green button in Manual (K200D)
Press the right arrow and select Tv Shift
Press OK
(This setting allows easy and accurate exposure metering using older lenses without an "A" setting on the aperture ring. When the Green button is pressed in Manual exposure mode, the lens "stops down", the camera's meter measures the light passing through the lens, and an appropriate shutter speed is automatically set based on that measurement).

Step down to Preview Method
Press the right arrow and select Optical Preview
Press OK
(This setting enables the camera to "stop down" the lens to a selected aperture when the On/Off button is rotated clocwise).

Step down to Using aperture ring
Press the right arrow and select Permitted
Press OK.
(This setting allows the camera to operate with older K-mount or S-mount lenses that do not have an “A” setting on the aperture ring).

If Shake Reduction is enabled when using an older lens, you will need to manually select the closest matching focal length from the Shake Reduction (K10D) or Input Focal Length (K20D/K200D) menu. Press the Menu button, step down to Shake Reduction (K10D) or Input Focal Length (K20D/K200D) then press the right arrow. Scroll left and right to select the closest match for the focal length lens you are using. Press OK, then Menu.

SMC Pentax 200mm F4 M Series Lens

Earlier this year I spent a lot of time on Ebay trying to buy one of every SMC Pentax M Series lens I did not already have.  I never finished that project as some of them rarely ever come up for sale (the 20mm for example) or the specifications of a particular lens are too close to one I already have (28mm F2.8 vs 28mm F3.5).

After buying several of them, I became enamored with the 40mm Pancake lens and never bothered using anything else for months on end.  I still love that pancake lens but its time to move on!  I put the SMC Pentax 200mm F4 on the camera yesterday and took a few shots in the backyard.  Pretty remarkable.

The lens is fairly light and compact for a 200mm telephoto lens.  Combined with the K10D's image stabilization feature, I was able to shoot some decent photos without a tripod.  The flower pictured above is one such shot.  Keep in mind, this is a low resolution version of the original.  The original was a jpeg (not Raw).  ISO 100, F4 at 1/45th of a second handheld.  From what I've read, this lens is very sharp and conrasty once you start stopping down.

Use Once & Destroy

I met The Rock City Angels in South Florida during their "Glam" period. I used to publish a local music paper (Gold Coast Live!) and promote bands. RCA quickly became one of my favorite local bands. I decided to interview them and give them the cover at one point. The band was growing in popularity and seeking a record deal. Bobby Durango (known as "Bobby St. Valentine" at that point) decided he was tired of playing in front of the same basic audience all of the time. Bobby and the band decided to head for LA. Right before they left, they were "discovered" by Ann Boleyn of New Renaissance Records. Rumors were flying that she signed them and their demo would soon become an album.

Shortly after the band left I received a letter from guitarist Jimmy James saying the the band signed with New Renaissance. After that the band just seemed to have disappeared. Jimmy eventually landed back in South Florida and had a new band called Romeo Cowboy. As for the Angels, who knew.

Eventually word got out that RCA signed a deal with Geffen Records. We waited and waited. Finally an an album surfaced in Peaches (the local record store). The album was Young Man's Blues.

After the release of Young Man's Blues the Angels seemed to vanish again. The internet evolved and I eventually made contact with bassist Andy Panik. Andy filled me in on everything that happened since we left off in 1986 (I think it was 1986). Andy told me that the band recorded a new CD called "Use Once & Destroy" and encouraged me to contact Bobby Durango and try to help them get a deal. We launched a Rock City Angels website and did what we could to promote the band.

Bobby sent me a copy of the demo and I thought it was killer. The problem was it wasn't finished. It was raw and Bobby wanted to go back into the studio to "sweeten" it up. He wanted to re-mix, add some horns, and whatever else he heard in his head. A few other people who heard it said it was fine as it it was and started pushing to just release it. I sent it to a few labels hoping to find one who would pay to for the additional studio time and get it out there. Most of them liked it but the bottom line was "send it back after its finished and then we will talk." Time was flying by and it was becoming another "Chinese Democracy."

To make a long story short, I no longer had time to devote to this cause. I let rockcityangels.com expire (as well as a few other websites I ran - nothing personal, just time issues). About two or three months after the site expired Bobby wrote to me telling me it had expired and we needed it back as Use Once & Destroy was finished and soon to be released! Go figure! (and too late as some domain reseller had grabbed the name)!

I finally got around to getting a copy of Use Once & Destroy and listening to it. (I was content with the demo after all). Wow!!! I love this cd. I am so glad that Bobby stuck to his guns and held off on releasing it until it was the recording he meant it to be.

Ok, what does this have to do with photography? Well, when listening to the new cd in my car an analogy popped into my head. My camera (Pentax K10D) is set to underexpose slightly and not to sharpen anything. The original images look a little dull at first. I eventually work on them adjusting levels, curves, contrast, whatever and each image takes on a new life. This is the best way to describe the difference between the Use Once & Destroy demo and CD. The cd is like a photograph that has been tweaked in Photoshop. So when you read all these interviews with Bobby when he mentions that he was being pressured to release the demo as is, you can understand the difference in terms of photography.

A Tribute to Bobby Durango