Me to..... totally agree, I'd hate to admit to the Mrs what the true value of the kit is !!

And I bet Portraiture isn't much cheaper when you add it all together, particularly if you have Studio lights and all the stuff that goes with that !!

Hi Peter

Defiantly yes, plus it makes the keeper selection easier, who wants 50 shots of a jet where its moved 50 feet on each one at the same angle / trajectory

For me, selective bursts of 3 to 5 RAWS and track the jet with BBF whilst its in sight

I wouldn't say Pentax Autofocus tracking is non existent, I agree its not as good as Canikon, but decent shots can be had with experience, Back Button Focussing ( BBF ) does help with the keeper rate.

I shoot a fair few jets on the Mach Loop and when the target is small, light grey and coming straight at you at 500mph+ your keeper rate is probable 1, as they get closer and turn to give a better target, the keeper rate also goes up.

You will still hear Canikon users shooting continuously for the 5 seconds the jet is in view giving them 80 to 100 shots of each pass, I in the meantime will selectively do probably 2 or 3 short bursts prob with 10 - 15 shots of a passing jet.

K1 - Sigma 100 - 300 F4 @ 150mm - F7.1 - ISO 800

Yep, when I've used my 14mm, I've not bothered with any filters, if you've not got the filter adaptor, I may be open to parting with mine !!

I also have a Samyang 14mm and from memory, there's a filter adaptor available or if your lucky, comes as part of the package and it uses fairly big gel filters, which are expensive !!

Thanks Mike, here's a portrait from one of the few times its been out of the box.

K1 - 1/1000 sec F1.4 ISO 200




The bokah is stunning, but I also have a 645 150mm F2.8 which I use more for my portrait work as the K1 is used for action based opportunities.

I've not used the Powerex batteries, but have had and still use several sets of 4 Eneloops, recycle time is short and sweet, particularly in flash guns and on occasions have left them for 6 months or so, and they are still almost fully charged with decent recycle times.

I've a Sigma 85mm F1.4 available, superb for portraits on APSC or FF, boxed with all acceasories and very little use, its advertised on here for a fair bit more than your budget, but if you can extend that, I'll come the other way, PM me if your interested.

Hi Karlo,

I'm planning a loop visit on the 8th of May on Cad East, providing the weather's ok.