What's your latest acquisition?

Depth of focus is indeed very slim for a 100mm (or more) lens at f2.8 and is still not exactly huge at f8. But it can be done with practice. Slow and steady, camera and lens held securely and comfortably, breath slowly and hold breath to minimise body movement between focusing and pressing the shutter button (think Olympic target shooters and archers). Use whatever steadying device is at hand (I've even used a family member's shoulder, but only possible once and then they object). A monopod can help (tripod is ideal, of course). And don't forget 'catch-in-focus' - adjust the focus slowly, shutter fires when subject is in focus. And don't expect perfection every time! We each have to find out what works for us. Most macro shooters - including me - use manual focus with an f2.8 lens. I use a weird combination of moving back and forth while moving the focus ring at the same time. It works for me, but I can't explain why and certainly couldn't teach it to anyone!

Keep at it, you'll get the hang of it eventually .

Steve

One very important point is to check the viewfinder dioptre adjustment. Some photographer try to change it till the subject looks sharp, but the correct method is to point the camera at a blank wall or sky, even defocus the lens. Then adjust the dioptre until the etched lines in the viewfinder are sharp and the display in the viewfinder is sharp. Then our eyes will be relaxed when looking at the focusing screen and judging the point of focus will be easier.

Live View is even more accurate. Press the centre OK button of the four way controller and the view will be magnified so very accurate focusing can be achieved. A half press on the shutter release will restore the full frame image. This works even better when using a tripod,

Perseverance and experimentation are the answer

Steve and John have both given excellent advice. I have found that when first going back to my film era Pentax-M and Pentax-A manual focus lenses the results have been disappointing. After some trial and error I came to the realisation that my technique had changed over the years of using AF lenses and bodies with IS, so going back to the drawing board and working more slowly and taking advantage of my DSLRs wide iso range to use faster shutter speeds started to produce acceptable results - from there with more practice results (and enjoyment of the process) things have steadily improved.

M series lenses are as you say things of beauty, so stick with it, it will be worth it in the end

Thank you Steve, John and Stephen for the good advice ( and encouragement).
I will persevere as I am very happy with the output from my M series 50mm f1.7 so am expecting results at least equally as good.
Need to get the Zen breathing sorted ☺

I much prefer the HD FA 35/2 but I can see the draw of the 35/2.4 as a super-light standard prime.

The KP is such a good-looking camera.

Lately I've given some thought to a drone but diverting funds from my LBA and also the regulatory aspects of flying a drone both put me off.

That's quite a month!

I've actually used it a lot for real work, mainly creating orthomosaics of excavated trenches using Metashape. But I've had some fun too...!

SMC Pentax DA* 16-50mm f/2.8 SDM - I guess this is probably one of most notable lenses ever made to divide opinion. I've been curious about this lens for a few years and final decided to buy a copy to see for myself.

It's early days, but I can see why people originally questioned the star rating regarding its sharpness wide open, however I feel it's still more than usable at f/2.8. Stopping down to f/3.5 sees a vast improvement and using the lens between f/5.6-8 yields superb results.

Bonus is that the SDM is still working on this copy, but bought it in the knowledge that if it does fail at any point conversion to screw-drive is always an option.

I have the da*16-50 on loan at the moment and having taken around 150 photos on Saturday only one was not up to standard.

A very underrated lens.

I only sold my DA* lenses because my only Pentax DSLR is the K-1..I don't think I had the best copy as the images from my D-FA 24-70 are more satisfying.

Just received my 16-50 f2.8 SDM back from a screw drive conversion (thank you Haris). A little backfocus adjustment on the K3 and it works superbly. An absolute bargain.

Just bought a Pentax A 20/2.8 from eBay.

Described as having a small amount of fungus. It has arrived and I can't really see any fungus but there's definitely a strong bit of haze near the rear. This is a common issue with this and the FA20 so I'll give it a good clean and see how it looks.

The aperture is also a little slow so that'll be cleaned up too.