50-135 for me is a great lens, especially for portraits but also for other general use. The IQ shines.

Regards
David

There was one on sale here a few days ago John at £150 with just over 2,000 clicks?

Regards
David

Hi Stan, sorry I didn't comment yesterday, must have missed this post. I'm not so sure about the first one, it's just a little too dark for me, but the second is lovely. I think the sun on the rocks has helped to balance out the exposure and the result works very well.

Regards
David

Welcome from me too, sorry I'm not in Edinburgh, but from Sheffield! You may be in a foreign country soon!

Regards
David

John's technique is not the issue here Mike. I met up with him some weeks ago and had first hand experience of his DA*300 in direct comparison to my own copy and the difference was night and day. John's lens could not produce sharpness in any part of the image and was also hunting wildly on my camera, whilst my DA*300 locked on immediately and produced razor sharp images of the exact same subjects that John's wouldn't. The images he has posted above show exactly the same traits that I saw and experienced first hand.

This lens on a K-3 should be bitingly sharp in the area that's in focus. If you study the pics there isn't any area in what I would call sharp focus. I would bet my mortgage (if I had one) that the lens is still faulty. If it were mine I would be insisting on a replacement, not a repair as it has been like this since new.

Regards
David

Hi John

Really sorry for this but I have to be honest and say they don't look any better to me. There is no area that is as sharp as it should be with a DA*300. I think we need to meet up again and do another independent test with my lens. If it turns out yours is still not right, I would insist that it is replaced for a brand new one as to me it is clearly deficient. By the way are these with the K-3? If so that rules out a camera issue, as you are using a different body now to the one you were using before. It may be difficult for me to find time to meet at Old Moor as we have a really busy schedule coming up, but you would be welcome to come round to my house if we can't arrange anything different. Please send me a PM.

Regards
David

I'm just a hobbyist, no professional pretentions and I love my Pentax gear. I'm satisfied with my current lens line-up and I don't hanker after full frame. The K-3 is a superb camera and works really well with the better glass Pentax produce.

I do understand why a lot of us complain about the lack of development, no full frame etc, but my main concern is Pentax / Ricoh surviving as a Brand. They don't seem to be disappearing at the moment, despite all of the doom mongering! They are and probably always will be a bit of a niche product, but I quite like that!

Regards
David

Dave, on this occasion I'm not sure you are correct. Version 1.11 includes a specific firmware correction for this issue in that it detects if it starts occurring and reset the camera; see Ricoh's official explanation:

"Added automatic reset function when detecting rarely occur abnormal motion of the sequence.
(When automatic reset function is operated, latest setting will be reset)"

This sounds a bit drastic to me, but it confirms they have done something specific in 1.11 to counter this potential issue.

Regards
David

Hi Barrie, I'll give it my best shot on feedback for these:

I think the most successful shot is the one of the fingers on the brass instrument, due to the graphic elements which tend to suit BW images. The second best is number two for me.

Number 1 and number 3 don't quite work for me, I think this is more due to the compositional element which doesn't look quite right. The last one would have worked very well, but is a bit out of focus and as a consequence I think it loses a little impact.

Hope this makes sense!

Regards
David

There aren't enough Pentax users to support three competing Forums. There will ultimately be two casualties - which will these be?

Regards
David