Hi all,

Just to say, I have one of these superb and rare original K series lenses on evil bay at the mo...and lots of other nice K items..

Cheers Steve. (bongonut)

Hi John,

I did enjoy the show. The stands with used gear seemed very busy, which is nice to see, probably because it is so hard to find any shops with it nowadays. One thing that was good, was some digital work is starting to look more natural finally..I may eventually jump ships, but it is still not good enough yet.

I am a former retailer amongst other things, which is why the shoddy display came to immediate attention. It just gives Pentax an image of amateurism, which is just what the Pentax brand does not need...I would suggest staff need changing.

Cheers...

Hi all,

If Pentax REALLY is serious about competing with the big boys and not going the way of Minolta, then why was their stand at Focus on Imaging so small and so poor? I was shocked at the cheap and 'thrown together' nature of the stand. Why pay so much to stand at the NEC and then have such awful product displays?

In complete contrast Lee Filters, a very small company who surely must have a fraction of the budget of Pentax UK had a much larger and far more professional stand with superb product display. I think the Pentax UK sales manager should have some serious questions asked of him (or her)

What do others think?

Cheers Steve.

Hi,

I would be VERY wary of any LED lights. Just recently our low voltage bulb in a reading lamp went and I tried an LED replacement as the power consumption was so much lower...the bulb cost about £7 pounds and was absolutely rubbish. It was hardly any brighter than a candle...hence the low power consumption. It went right back to Focus diy.

Cheers Steve.

Hiya,

"Does any one know of any other camera company that has such a loyal, informed and helpful bunch of users?"...

YEP.....Contax & Carl Zeiss. I use these and the users are quite fanatical and just as helpful as the Pentax crowd on here. My 'lot' infest the www.contaxinfo.com site.

Of course we are a bit limited with buying NEW Contax's...at least for a while.

Cheers Steve.

Hiya,

I was responsible for most of the info on the "fascinating" Zeiss thread a few months back (thanks George)...I use Contax & Zeiss and have researched the recent history for a while now, after becoming frustrated with the dearth of info and so much incorrect 2nd hand info.

If anyone has any Q's re Zeiss just ask, I might have an answer..

Cheers Steve.... by the way, the summation by George is just about spot-on.

Hiya..

George...great listing..you should do more..made me chuckle.

Just proves how good and bad listings can shape the final outcome. I am forever amazed how awful some photos are on camera listings..even dealers are damn awful, check out Jessops listings for one.

Cheers all.

Hiya...

Buying from the USA...unbox the lens, put it in any bag, do not declare it as it is just a lens you bought from the UK..wink...put the box and paperwork in a jiffy bag and send it to yourself using the USPS...US post service....job done...

Hiya,

The two biggest USA dealers seem to be B&H and KEH...you could check out their prices at : bhphotovideo.com and keh.com

If you buy over there make sure the lens has a warranty valid in the UK...i.e a worldwide one, not just a US one. Autofocus lenses are much more prone to faults than old mf ones. Also do not write of recent Sigma lenses, a lot of them are superb. I use a Sigma 50mm macro on my 1stD and it is super.

Cheers Steve.

Hi,

To achieve near a 24mm lens view (35mm format) on your DSLR you need an 18mm lens or wider...

To get anywhere near the quality of your Pentax KA lenses you need to buy an older Pentax wide prime or a recent zoom. The Pentax SMC-K 18mm f3.5 is very scarce and would cost about £300-350 ish. The SMC-K 17mm f4 would cost approx £170-200 and the SMC-A 16mm f2.8 about £250-350. I have seen the current DA 14mm sell for as low as £270 on ebay.

I guess the best bet is the current 16-45mm. There is one privately advertised in the AP this week for £200.

Hope this helps, cheers grumpy Steve.