What's the best thing you've gained from 20 years of Pentax Forums?
Best of Pentax Forums Newsletter August 6, 2026
What’s the best thing you’ve gained from 20 years of Pentax Forums?
By the time Pentax Forums was founded on September 6th, 2006, I’d already been a professional Pentaxian for a quarter century. So naturally I haven’t looked up things since (checks history) this morning, when I wanted to know if the HD Pentax-DA 1.4x Teleconverter is a good fit for my HD Pentax-DA 55-300mm F4.5-6.3 ED PLM WR RE, since my son has gotten serious about bird photography. (I’ve decided to try out my SMC Pentax-M* 300mm F4 with my Rear Converter-A 2x-S first, in what is sure to prove a futile effort to fight GAS.)
What’s the best thing you’ve gained from two decades of Pentax Forums? A rare lens? A review that led you to the right equipment? A forum post advising you against a disastrous purchase? Vote in this week’s poll, and let us know in the comments how you do that voodoo you do so well!
Elsewhere in this week’s newsletter, Pentaxian builttospill is pulling the rope on his Houghton Triple Victo; Site Supporter hjoseph7 gets a thrill from his Spotmatic F; and Senior Member Angus_M89 reviews the Asahiflex Ia.
If you’ve been forwarded this newsletter, please take a moment to join the almost 1,600 Pentaxians who have subscribed to our free curated compendium of the hundreds of great images and post shared each week in our Pentax community. Please let us know your thoughts here in the comments and on our Pentax Forums, and have a perfect Pentaxian week!
Threads of the Week:
Restoring a Houghton Triple Victo, Half-Plate Camera, from 1899
August 3, 2026 • Vintage Cameras and Equipment • 4 replies • 194 views
builttospill said — Restoring this view camera has been a bit of a challenge but I really enjoy using it to take photographs. You pull a rope to take the picture! Read more »
This is how you can view PEF files in Windows
August 4, 2026 • Digital Processing, Software, and Printing • 0 replies • 219 views
Wubs said — Hello everyone! I saw a few older threads where people were asking about how to view PEF files natively in Windows. You can install IrfanView, or you can install the official “Raw Image Extension” from Microsoft available on the Microsoft Store …Read more »
My thrilling Photo Shoot with the Spotmatic F...
August 2, 2026 • Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras • 3 replies • 265 views
hjoseph7 said — Today I decided to put some film in my Pentax Spotmatic F which had been sitting around in my closet collecting dust. I decided to use some Arista B&W ISO 200 film with 24 exp. I didn’t want to waste a whole can of 36 exposures, in case something went wrong. Read more »
Pentaxian User Reviews
Pentax Cameras
Asahiflex Ia
Reviewed by Senior Member Angus_M89
Review Date: July 22, 2026 Recommended | Price: $35.00 | Rating: 10
Pros: Build, simplicity. Cons:
The year is 1953 and eventually 11,500(ish) of these were made. The body is all metal, some standard leather coverings and two viewfinder options. If you understand that this is the second iteration of what will be Pentax’s entry into the SLR field, you will appreciate the camera.
A turning shutter winder with film counter, a lift and turn shutter speed dial, a waist level viewfinder with magnifier, sports finder and re-wind knob adorn the top. Underneath just a re-wind lever and tripod mount. Everything you need to take a photo.
The pace of digital photography leaves a lot of the process behind. This camera and the associated Asahi-Kogaku lenses slow it back to basics.
Find a scene, open the aperture, use a light meter, set your dials, focus, reset aperture, re-frame and fire. It is slow, deliberate and methodical.
Build quality is good. It is very simple to service and replace a shutter curtain in several hours. Lubricating a few spots gets a 73 year old body firing again smoothly. Tension is two small dials turned to increase or decrease.
It does what it needs to do and best of all no electronics to make it a paperweight. When you assess it for what it needs to do, it’s a 10/10. Will you be taking snapshots on the fly, absolutely not. Will you take time to think about each shot, absolutely.
Comment of the Week:
Loyal Site Supporter BertieK on Pentax K-3 AI: Preorder or Holy Water? The Best of Pentax Forums July 30 Poll: My K-3iii Mono & DA 16-50 PLM already has great horse eye auto focus
What’s the best thing you’ve gained from 20 years of Pentax Forums?
The Best of Pentax Forums August 6 Poll
By the time Pentax Forums was founded on September 6th, 2006, I’d already been a professional Pentaxian for a quarter century. So naturally I haven’t looked up things since (checks history) this morning, when I wanted to know if the HD Pentax-DA 1.4x Teleconverter is a good fit for my HD Pentax-DA 55-300mm F4.5-6.3 ED PLM WR RE, since my son has gotten serious about bird photography. (I’ve decided to try out my SMC Pentax-M* 300mm F4 with my Rear Converter-A 2x-S first, in what is sure to prove a futile effort to fight GAS.)
Pentax Forums has become such a required resource it’s hard to describe what being a Pentaxian was like before — mostly shelves and shelves of manuals, and never the one you needed…
And then there’s the Photographer’s Marketplace, the photo contests, the weekly challenges…
What’s the best thing you’ve gained from two decades of Pentax Forums? A rare lens? A review that led you to the right equipment? A forum post advising you against a disastrous purchase? Vote in this week’s poll, and let us know in the comments how you do that voodoo you do so well!
This poll closes August 12.
And here are the results of last week’s poll:
Weekly Photo Challenges
Weekly Challnge #749 - Young
Posted By: noelcmn: Thanks to Andy (Gump) for choosing my entry as the winner in last weeks Challenge. This weeks challenge is “Young” . You are free to interpret it whichever way you choose, from young animals, plants, people, or just someone who is old but behaving as if they are young (such as one of the example images posted below). A selfie of yourself when you were young would be really cool. The song “Forever Young” was heard on the radio yesterday, and that gave me the idea. The challenge will close Tuesday 11th August 2026 at Midnight in your time zone.
And here is one of noelcmn’s example photos for the challenge:
A Walk Down Memory Lane
Clackers: The master of dad jokes, beginner tips and Pentax cameras
On his life in photography, Australia, nicknames, and giving back
By cjfeola in Pentaxian Profiles on Sep 4, 2023
A blind man sits down at the bar and figures he’ll break the ice with the bartender by asking “Wanna hear a blonde joke?” In a hushed voice, a man beside him says, before you tell that joke, buddy, I think it is only fair, given that you are blind, that you should know our bartender is blonde, our bouncer is blonde, I’m a 6’4” black belt, the man sitting on the other side of me is 6’2, 250 lbs, and a rugby player. The guy sitting next to you is pushing 300, 6’6, and he’s a wrestler. We’re ALL blonde. So you think about it mister, do you really wanna tell that joke?” The blind man sat for a second, thinking over the odds and then replied “No, not if I have to explain it five times.”
A dad joke! On Pentax Forums! It must be Clackers, our 2023 Otis Memorial Pentaxian! Except this is no Beginner Tip; Clackers has written so many beginner tips articles, and they have proven so popular that we decided we needed to interview him and share just what makes Clackers clack!
PentaxForum Front page stories July 30-Aug 5:
Announcing “My Place” - Our August 2026 Photo Contest
Win prizes in our official monthly photo contests
By PF Staff in Photo Contests on Aug 1, 2026
We’re herewith announcing our monthly photo contest for August. The theme for this month is My Place. For this month’s contest we solicit a photograph which illustrates the place where you live. The restriction or challenge is, that the image be taken within a mile (1.6 km) from your home as the crow flies. Other than that, you can pick any subject.Good luck!
First prize is a $50 gift card to B&H Photo, second prize is a one year forum account upgrade, and third prize is a box of photo paper form Red River. Submit your photo for the August contest
World Pentax Day (Week): September 5-13, 2026
A celebratory event for PF’s anniversary!
By PF Staff in Giveaways and Events on Aug 2, 2026
Pentax Forums turns 20 on September 6th! To mark two decades of this community, we’re making it a full week: Saturday, September 5th through Sunday, September 13th is World Pentax Week. It’s once again time for the Pentax community to come together and collectively paint a picture of the world through the “eyes” of Pentax cameras. Just go out and shoot on one or more of these days, and upload your favorite photos to the collective gallery! Click here to upload | View the event gallery
Pentax Forums 20th Anniversary Giveaway Preview
Prizes: K-3 III Monochrome, 8-element 50mm Takumar, and more
By PF Staff in Giveaways and Events on Aug 3, 2026
Pentax Forums turns 20 on September 6th, and we’re marking it with the coolest giveaway in the site’s history. Simply posting on the forum earns you entries, and the more days you join in, the more prizes you become eligible for, and the higher your odds of winning each drawing.
The giveaway runs from Wednesday, September 2nd to Wednesday, December 30th, 2026.
That’s a full 120 days. We’ve set the start and finish a little wide of the month boundaries deliberately, so that wherever you are in the world, your local calendar gets the whole run.
The Prizes
Each item has a particular historical significance both to the forum and to the Pentax community. The items pictured are the actual prizes, not examples!
Pentax K-x (Silver)
FA 100-300mm (Silver)
FA 28-80mm (Silver)
Special T-shirts and account upgrades
This is a preview announcement, so the final prize line-up and the exact thresholds below are still subject to adjustment.