The Pentax DA 18mm-135mm f 3.5 WR is much better through the entire range. Although you were primarily interested in the wider end of both lenses; the Pentax still wins. But when going to telephoto the Pentax advantage is considerable. Those apertures at 135 and beyond with the Tamron pose focus issues in almost any Pentax camera body; unless under ideal lighting conditions.

Plus there is always the WR factor with the Pentax.

[quote][i should stop buying film cameras, but they are just so nice!/quote]

I agree.

The quality of film cameras such as the Pentax LX or some of the Ricoh models is simply incredible; the Nikon f5 and F6 could also be added to that list.

Even the 80's generation Pentax glass is remarkable. I've very surprised that not more Pentax glass isn't upgraded from 80's benchmarks and specs, then added to with AF and a few more bells and whistles

iPhone issues easy to address: regardless of how many mp a sensor is, it's the size of the sensor.

As for Fuji... They are doing quite well, but also limiting themselves. There are not all that many lenses, flash is severely limited, etc...

Just generally questioning...

Drop me a note and/or message here on what type of dslr bodies (even medium format) one is looking for. I've personally "ran across" three Pentax used medium format bodies within about the last month or so.

Two of the used were both mint condition Pentax 645d's; the third was an "almost new" Pentax 645 with about only about two hundred pics on it - through an estate sale. The Z sold for less than one half of it's new listing price

To further explain the "it is" and "on what basis"

Stop by any camera shop which happens to sell full frame or any school which has photography classes and/or majors. Even the math department in most schools can very clearly prove it.

But if one were to take ANY Pentax 16mp sensor and then line it up with ANY full frame sensor of about the same MP, such as the Nikon (approximately) 16mp full frame sensor... The results are staggering.

Even by the numbers alone; published throughout the internet and on the camera manuals, scores, etc... But better than any numbers are the results; on most any subject with little exception.

Sure cameras such as the Pentax K3 do not offer full frame but are a cropped sensor; which also magnifies to about 1.5x. This is actually great for telephoto, especially extreme telephoto. But at the opposite extreme of the spectrum, the wider the angle the worse the result. One is trying to "make up" or compensate for that 1.5x math in the optics. The result doesn't work so well optically, even with the best lenses on the market.

To further compare sensor size, such as full frame to cropped sensor... Imagine any type of image magnification, whether on screen or perhaps eventually printed. There's where the math thing comes into effect again, The smaller the sensor the more it has to be enlarged in the final result.

The result is quite obvious to most any photographer, and even to the client. It's almost like trying to take a billboard sized photograph with a pocket camera

Take a look at the price points. The prices when Pentax releases items such as the K3 and the exact price at when it is released. Compare that to the price of the "entry level" Nikon full frame.

Sorry but it is far from myth when full frame almost always produces better results; not myth - scientific fact.

Full frame = Better image capture with any lens, but more so with wider angles. The math is really quite simple.

I can answer that one quite specifically.

When it comes to photography gimbal heads relating to the Beike company name...

The Chinese made good were "once" considered as knock off products, and in some countries (to this very day) they are also considered as forgeries. In some instances with the Beike gimbal heads (on some of their models) they were copied literally from Wimberely models which cost in excess of five times as much.

Some claim that the knock off Beike models actually work better, but only to a point.

It really depends upon the amount of weight the product is supporting, In which case it's basically a gamble.

I've actually had tripod support products fails with over 5k++ of gear on top of them. Guess what though? The company whose product failed actually completely reimbursed me, and then some -quite outstanding customer service.

I'm not sure if I would trust the weight ratings of a product with the Beike name on it; especially to gear that is not easily replaceable

The sensor choice should be interesting. Given the release date and also the fact that 16mp sensors are no longer being produced??

If you don't mind me respectfully asking...

What kind of server hardware and software specs?

I'm a dual citizen of both the United Kingdom and also the united states. I've had quite interesting dealings with government agencies such as the TSA. The TSA has had many instances where they have not permitted tripods or unipods onboard airplanes. The TSA is the enforcement end; naturally this also occurs on board varying carriers.

It even happens in certain areas of certain cities.

Here is but one example...

http://washington.org/press/DC-information/faqs-media

In certain areas of Washington DC one has to have a permit to use tripods in certain areas. There are many other areas where one will get stopped for using one. Btw these areas in DC set to expand considerably