A Z1P is pretty much as good as it gets, I have two and although I have a K3 and a K5iis. I still pull out the Z1P when I want to re calibrate my understanding of resolution.

Particularly with Macro using the Pentax 100 mm and a Sunpak ring flash, we have a bit to go with digital still.

Clearly I don' t need 2 if you are interested let me know

Regards

Daronlquote:3496ace15f="Lancer3397"]My other half is hankering to take photos the old fashioned way. with film.

now while she's looking at really old fashioned fixed lens camera bodies, the old style vertical with two lens built in stuff, I'm trying to persuade her to go for pentax,

for a start we can share old lenses and I've got a 50mm M 1.4 she can use for starters.

but I know nothig about pentax film bodies. what's a good one to get?

there happens to be a camera shop in leeds that is selling a number of different pentax camera bodies for £60 down plus has a nice selection of lenses. but I don't know anything about the bodies.[/quote]

FYI - These binoculars are great but are considerably less expensive at Microglobe (more or less 30% cheaper at £69 ).

Regards

DaronL

Hi Jules,


Hi Jules,

Just upgraded from a K20d and K 7 duo to K5 lls and the K3 so I have the same ( nice) problem. Both are great to carry particularly with drives removed, never thought I would be content camera wise but after many years, either of these are just beautiful but taking both is better.

My everyday " just in case kit" is the K5 lls and an 18-135, plus a 60 -250 DA*, It covers most photo opportunities but I do feel " naked"

Just been to Borneo, taking these two bodies, a drive for the K5lls, 18-135 snapping lens, F4 300mm DA* and the amazing 60-250mm DA* ; got it all covered in one small bag; not quite but almost.

Thought the K5lls was the best camera I have ever used but along came the K3 and I am still in the "wow I can't beleive this can be so good" stage. It is just so great so which to take on a normal day " in case" is a dilemma for sure.

As regards the smaller " bag of tricks" so to spek, the new 50 mm macro would be the last "little brick" in the wall (or should I say bag) when it comes to carrying the minimum bulk to cover all eventualities.

The trouble is, their is no "mini ring flash" or pocketable macro flash, but I have had great results with the tiny "£5 pentax stand alone slave flashes" (bought three of them through Pentax Users's special offers) coupled with the on camera flash they are good at best.

However after all is said and done, I sometimes do "bulk up" , carrying a back pack and also a large hip mounted zoomster that takes the 300mm on the K5lls ( +drive) and also some "comfort items " in the back pack such as a K3 with drive, a ring flash and 360FGZ in twith 4 lenses including a 100 mm macro .

I have suffered from this "overload syndrome" for many years and always think when I get home, why did I take all this ?

It is because on one memorable trip I had a "full house" of subject matter, bird-wise, insect-wise and landscape-wise and you never forget that so you are always tempted to load up like a Sherpa on route to base camp 1 on Everest.

After all you might never have the opportunity again, for such a freak day or you might never return to this "photographic Shangri-La" or you might be run down by a stampeding herd of cows , so get to the gym and build your strength.

Imagine you find yourself in a magical clearing with the sun peaking through rising thermals of mist, suddenly you spot two canoodling Hoopoes perched on a bough nearby; then like a vision, a prancing half naked Charlene Theron appears out of the swirling mist 100 m away with George Clooney in exhausted pursuit, dripping with sweat ( yes sweat not perspiration). You reach for your 60-250 but are taken aback as you see what looks like black widow spider creeping up your camera strap; "holy crap" , I need the 100 mm macro, ring flash and focussing rail, or do I go for luscious Charlene and the hapless Clooney.

It's the latter, you think and raising the trusty mega- zoom you are about to shoot but unbelievably out of the corner of your eye you see a strange upright creature lurking in the Bougainville 200 m away to the right ; oh my god! you think, heart racing with photographic excitement, yes, yes it's a "Bigfoot" but too far away for the zoom ; get out the 500mm and the monopod; frantically unleashing the beast from its case; you take off the zoom, mount " big Bertha on the K3, drop the giant camera bag and get off in pursuit of the hairy monster.

You catch up, almost in range, but the Bigfoot runs into a cave; forgetting the danger, "chasing the shot of a lifetime" ylife print into the cave not caring about your well being given the " moment.

Looking and listening in the gloomlook hear a deep panting, then a movement before making out a shadowy form creeping quietly into the darkness even further, raising the 500 mm you reach for the flash button, then in a second of realisation the photographic reality dawns on you in this dark and gloomy place, no flash !!!!!!!!!!!, left behind in the hysteria;
In that awful moment you let out an inhuman scream, dropping on one knee instantly broken, you pause for some moment s of despaired reflection, weeping inside at your "photographic loss" before dejectedly exiting "the lair of the Bigfoot".

Outside, it is now a grey wet, drizzly and unwelcoming day; " Dazzling Charlene" has gone, gorgeous George as gone, probably still lecherously in pursuit of the beautiful "Charlie" (make what you want of that); the exotic Hoopoes have flown, your giant camera bag lays on the soggy ground, glass and plastic everywhere ; ah ah you think "Pentax is rain proof" so all is not lost, at last you can feel smug about something ; rain tracking between the checks of your bum, cold and miserable like a wet spaniel you start to gather up your photographic debris, refilling the giant camera bag until it is full to bursting.

Slowly and very forcibly zipping up the bag with all your precious "photo things" inside and safe, you are suddenly struck with the recollection of the Black widow Spider, could it be here you muse, will I get at least one amazing photo today?
It must be here you think; shall I get the ring flash, macro lens and K3 out first and set it up or shall I look for this beautiful but deadly photographic subject.

No, set up mate, be ready with the equipment and get the shot ; if the Spiders gone , tough! - better that, than to find it and then let it escape while you extract the apparatus from the giant bag and assemble the kit.

Everything set up, flash charged, aperture set at f22 , 100 mm macro in manual, set at closet focus, you are now ready for him; right! where is this little critter you think , now I am the predator armed with the technology, finger on shutter you scan the bag and ground vegetation immediately surrounding it; reaching in your pocket for your freshly washed micro fibre lens cloth, to ensure your lens is in pristine condition you very smoothl, with no sudden movement, extract the wiper.

Scanning for the give away red and black form of the little terror ; now you gingerly moving the lens cloth toward the direction of the camera, before shifting your eyes toward the lens; you carefully and deliberately wipe the glass with a circular motion; suddenly you notice a spot on the back of your hand, pausing in fear, the theme music of "Jaws" can be heard in that instant , before you feel a small prick on and the lights go out, the Black Widow won; finished off a lovely day out with the K3 .

Yes Jules, these are the days that we prepare our camera bags for , you want to be light footed and nimble but you need the "glass" to cover it all.

Bear in mind also, you have to give the wife and loved ones something to mock you for' and to enable them to shut down any intelligent conversation you might engage in with fellow Photographic beast of burden" over a dinner table.

My view about the conundrum of "to take it or not take it ", is simple

"Less is not more" - it is less. - always, So carry all you can , be ready for "Charlene in the mist"

Three weeks in Asia ( Borneo) with a K5 IIs - no moire, zero, zilch

Received a Pentax K5 2S yesterday:

Planned a two-day session to test for the potential Moire (yesterday and today),

Checked all apertures on 4 DA* lenses at all speeds and iso 80 - 4000 mixed lighting including back lighting

Subjects

chickens (plumage) - None
weaving - None
Bsket furniture - None
Venetian Blinds - None
Linen - None
Hemp - None
Texture surfaces (Cameras and cmputers) - None
Squirrels (Body fur) - None
Tweed jacket in dull sunlight - None
wire mesh and fences - None

TV screen / and silk - yes (what's new?)

*But surprisingly unobtrusive on the silk and only when the material was incresingly moved more or less from a perpendicular angle to a more acute angle, to the lens centreline - if you know what I mean

apart from the tow notorious subjects " No other Moire" - could be there is a fatal combination tha can work and I will see some, but now I have no hesitation to compliment pentax on a wonderful camera.

Using the K5 2S with DA* 200m- Sharpness would more than challenge a 50mm standard.

Will buy a second body soon

Hope this is a usefull commentary

Hi Pirate,

The 16-50 lens - buy it - if the results are not up to scratch that is the user not the tool and that is the same for all the fantastic DA* range

Have no illusions the DA* lenses have cost me a fortune; I am a working photographer of 50 years experience who due to photographic need and a bit of megalomania built up a huge assortment of lenses with accompanying bodies to drive them.

My journey started firstly in the old days when Pentax was king and subsequently over the years through Nikon and Canon in 35mm, medium format and Digital.

Up until a few years ago Nikon had established itself as my weapon of choice and frankly I had become increasingly critical of Canon on "Quality / Bang for the Buck etc.

I have a very wide range of Nikon lenses and Canon too which in both cases I have resold / re- bought to stay only with the best in class to do what want.

But I was on a trip in the Amazon region ( where I lived for a number of years) armed with a couple of Nikons (D2x and D2xs) and a couple of Dx Vr lens two of which were a newly aquiered ED 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G IF DX VR and a Nikkor 300mm f/4D ED IF AF-S R

A family member joined me sporting a Pentax K20 and a few lenses ; including two DA * which I had read the launch literature on and was very curious to see how they performed given the claims regarding weather sealing and most importantly optical performance.

Firstly I was just mesmerised by the results from a Pentax DA* 300mm f4. on a humble K20D ; I was mortified frankly, absolutely flawless and although the lens were up there on price with "NikCan" ( actually slightly more) it was a different class of tool.

I promptly bought a K20d and three DA* lenses (16-50, 50-135 and the wonderful 300mm.

*****' The 50 to 135 is the best zoom lens I have ever owned and used *****

The 300 is without equal unless you want to spend a couple of thousand and deliverers image quality hat is faultless

Comparing them to the Nikons simply underlined the stunning quality of the Pentax against what were considered to be legendary Nikon equivalents.

Of most interest to you was the comparison of the Pentax DA* 16-50 with the excellent Nikon ED 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G IF DX VR .

Like it's stablemates the Pentax was vividly better based on controlled comparative shooting

The 16-50's an excellent travel lens but I use it for commercial/ industrial work too and this is where it excels, with good close up capability ( not macro)

At the larger apertures on the "50mm end" it is also a lovely portrait lens too. - 1 would not be without it as a great all rounder, landscape, street photography, inside buildings - it is great.

*** The 50 to 135 ; this is the best zoom lens I have ever owned and used ***

I have held on to one Nikon body and a micro Nikkor but have subsequently sold all the Canon and fully committed to Pentax having added a DA* 200 and the superb 60 - 250 zoom

I started with Pentax when the first SLR was brought out, been through the best of Canons 35mm years as a buyer / user and then through the early patchy Nikon digital years but now. I am back with Pentax to stay.

Don't get overawed by all you read in reviews because there can be biased and in recent years Canon lost me because of the hype thy created ; their own dedicated published magazine, dealer discounts which caused many notable companies like Jessop's, Calumet, and many more to eliminate other makes.

All I know is that my Pentax kit never gets affected by humidity, weather, or anything else and after many many trips into the Amazon where I once lived I ceased to be concerned about moisture, fogging and the like.

Regardless of moisture resistance claims of "NikCan" we had problems with bodies on occasions unless great care was exercised in those humid conditions, particularly with lenses, too often with lenses I should say.

In 2010 I went to live in Illinois where winters are crazy ( - 29c is common) and again, out on frozen lakes and Forests, at seriously low temperatures, the DA* lenses and K7s never failed, when often my good friend (who worked for Calumet) struggled to "avoid he fog" with his Canons.

Back to the lens in question; The 16-50 is a serious tool ; if their's anything out there significantly better. I haven't seen it, so don 't hesitate to buy, you won't regret it BUT DON'T BUY A CHEAP FILTER whatever it is.

If you want to engage in your own assessment, go to a couple of camera club sessions, make real " under test " comparisons with the "NikCans".

So what next from Pentax; finally all we need now is a 100mm+ true macro, a 400 mm and an ultra- wide range travel zoom in DA* .

Full frame would be nice but again it has a place and is not the " b all and end all"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subjective Summary on the DA* lenses

(Based on meeting my expectation on image quality , handling and build compared to other "glass" I have used and regularly see the results from)

note; In all of them build is a 100/100 as a given

I thought of rating them all but frankly rating the the 300', 200 and 50 to 135 just means 100 / 100 on handling and optical quality against the competition.
----------------------------
I repeat what I said above; The 50 to 135 is the best lens I have ever owned and used it is indiscernible in image quality from a prime fixed focal length lens.
----------------------------
The 60 - 250 - 99/100 overall (Big) though on optical performance is definitely 100
------------------------------
The 16-50 for the price, against the competition , 100/100 There are wider ranging zooms out there; (by design that means their image is not so good when compared in the same range as the DA*16-50)
The build quality 120 out of 100 - it is as good as it gets
Image quality, as a professional lens 95+ ( not 100) but that is the same as most wide angle zooms because of the design complexities.

The 16-50 and the 60-250 lenses, when compared with others and with purely technical standards, deliver remarkable (professional) image quality skewed slightly towards the upper midpoint of their aperture range with a a marginal fall off at the largest and smallest apertures

At he extreme ends they are still capable of stunning quality j

Hi - Update on the attempted repair to my 50-135 DA*


Joe Virgil (Pentax USA) responded today to my voice mail and is tracking down the lens to try and get it back by the 13th

I can ask no more than that

Thanks Mr Day and thanks Pentax USA (Joe Virgil)

Getting my 50-153 DA* repaired in the US

Re Contacting Pentax USA - John Carlson as per recomendation from Mr Day

Customer Service (if calling within the U.S.)
Phone: 1-800-877-0155
Monday – Friday
7:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Mountain Standard Time

Using their internal Phone service means only voicmail no human communication so far despite numerous calls and voice mails.

But i'll keep on trying

Regards

DaronL