Digital SLR Photography. Some good articles, but like all mags it'll start repeating itself after 12 months or so.... A lot of Canon- and Nikon-inspired/funded sections, so it can read like a marketing ploy at times.

For all the skills of its designers and engineers, Pentax has an unenviable task. It must incur similar costs to Canon and Nikon in developing its cameras/lenses, but cannot sell comparable quantities, even of a model that can demonstrate its superiority in some respects. It has neither the marketing budget nor infrastructure to match. Of course there are many companies in like positions in their own fields, but those that tend to prosper have a strategy for survival and growth, distinguishing themselves by developing niches or by technological innovation. Pentax's changes of ownership will not have helped its continuity of planning. But Ricoh had a purpose in buying it and we can hope (but not assume) that it remains interested in 'our' part of the spectrum.

Wonderful ... I've cancelled the eBay listing.

Not owning a zoom, I have to take the mid path and, much as I like my DA15 and DA70, keep the FA31 1.8. Not a dilemma, then, more a sadness at the loss of two lenses I love to use.

Yep, I experienced lock-up a short while ago. The battery had been fully charged and I was switching from (or perhaps to) continuous focusing when it happened. Impossible to know if coincidence or not. The most vexing sort of fault - one that can't be replicated at will, only at the camera's convenience.

I've recently briefly tried this lens (on loan). It seems likely to be serviceable as an all-weather, multi-purpose lens -- but in terms of image quality, it isn't terribly impressive (I'm no pixel-peeper, but ...). That might be fine for some purposes -- were it not for the lowest offer price in the UK, which does not reflect the lens's limitations. Even at the lesser US price, it is expensive. Second-hand, maybe....

Overwhelmed with good advice. But it's a good feeling: I have plenty to investigate. I do like the size/weight of the K5 and I don't want to encumber it with an overlarge/heavy zoom. I worry more than a bit (as Womble above) about ending up with a good lens - say, a 50-135 - and yet finding myself leaving it at home because of its bulk, and perhaps because it doesn't quite offer all the focal lengths I like to use. After some research into the suggestions above, I feel a trip to SRS coming on: trying out a few lenses literally for size may help clinch it. V grateful to you all.

Thanks both! Very helpful.

I've always had a prejudice against zooms, which I blame on the only one I've ever owned: a kit zoom that came with a Canon EOS I bought in the 80s. I thought I'd enjoy 'zooming', but the quality was drastically inferior to the fixed lenses I'd used on my earlier Practika. So when I bought a K5 body this year, I went for two fixed lenses: a 15 da ltd and a 70 da ltd. I like their compactness and the 70 in particular produces beautiful images. But it can be a faff in some circumstances to carry/change lenses. I'm not really interested in long-range zooms, but is there a moderate one that would give me the quality of the lenses I have, reasonable speed, reasonable weight, and a minimum of compromises?

I'd appreciate your views ...

Thanks

In the UK, the Sale of Goods Act in many ways offers as much or more protection than a retailer or manufacturer's warranty. It is the retailer's responsibility to remedy any fault occurring within a reasonable period -- the definition of reasonable depends upon the nature of the goods but can extend to five years. I wouldn't eg hesitate to ask for a repair from the retailer should my K5 develop a fault in, say, its second or third year. Of course you have to have some faith/expectation that your retailer will still be in business, and also be sure that they are subject to English law (Amazon.co.uk, eg, despite the 'uk' in its web address, is not -- which doesn't make pursuing a claim impossible, just more difficult). This is why the selling of warranty extensions can be a bit of a scam. So, a five-year warranty is really more or less the expression of a legal requirement -- even so, nice(and rare) to have it placed up front.