I tried a B+W MRC Nano Coated UV Haze Filter - XSDP Mount. Not impressed. Hood would not fit and had faint scratch on it.

Got a Kenko Zeta UV - very good and I would recommend one IF you want to use a filter at all

Just received my K5 number 2 and I am happy to report a quick test shows no stains (Serial No 400XXX, build date Feb 2011). Hope tomorrow's weather is nice for a walk around!

Thank you all esp to the 2 gentleman who PM me. I can wait to get snapping

I don't claim to be a pro or anywhere near that. Photography is a hobby and I enjoy it. I have owned and used at least 3 DSLR. (Started with a borrowed Sony A100, then was given a D60 and finally my own D5000).

The pictures I took with the K5 was purely for testing as it became obvious it had the stain issue and had to be returned. You may think whatever of the photos I posted, I don't have to justify them.

Oh dear. I was about to order from SRS tomorrow after I had confirmation of refund, but looks like I am going to have to hold as the Feb 2011 manufactured, 4XXX serial number camera has the stain too. (hopefully that's just an exception)

I wonder if this is a Sony Sensor issue rather than a Pentax issue?

The door hadle pic was taken with the kit lens! And to me at lest the pictures were sharper from it

with any slight movement, it seemed the barrel would knock against the body on the DA 70mm (nothing on the kit lens and any other lens I had owned previously) - more surprising as there is no zoom mechanism to cause any "wobbliness" - sorry it's a bit difficult to explain




here (here resized and jpeg)


http://www.flickr.com/photos/63148942@N08/

The pictures were taken at 16 MB in either RAW or JPEG at the highest quality setting. The hosting site might have done something to it, but I certainly haven't stripped the EXIF data. If anyone has a suggestion where I could host them, that would be helpful. (If you download the image and right click you can still access some data)

Regret? Unlikely with how I felt the camera handled. The K-5 is still miles ahead of anything else I would consider.

[IMG]http://i56.tinypic.com/4vrbtg.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i54.tinypic.com/314pd94.jpg[/IMG]

After the recent debacle about my new Pentax K5. I am now confused what to do.
I have sold my all my Nikon kit (except flash), so it's not as simple as just going back to Nikon.

I have requested a refund from the dealer where I bought the camera and lens.

While I loved the handling of the Pentax (always have), I have new doubts. My camera had the stain issue and the viewfinder seem dirty (fingerprints) and dark (pixelated) (I was using the DA70 f2.4 for the most day I had it) - can't recall it being that way when I tried it in shop from one of the high street retailers.The DA 70 seem to wobble a lot too and to be honest the pictures were not terribly sharp

So is this a once off issue? Is Pentax QC not up to scratch? Am I being too fussy?

Your esteemed advice kindly wanted

bigger form left corner. I don't think those are dust as the sample image fro dust removal is clear

[IMG]http://i53.tinypic.com/6sbc76.jpg[/IMG]