I love my K3, the colours and sharpness are great. High ISO noise reduction has been mentioned in some quarters, I have mine set to 'Low', but I shoot in RAW anyway, so this isn't a particular concern for me. I would recommend setting one of your memory cards to shoot RAW and the other JPEG. Also, I would avoid using the 'Green' setting as you will not get the best from your camera with this mode. I always have mine set on the 'natural' colour setting, shoot in AV mode and set either 1/3 or 2/3 of a stop under exposure on the exposure compensation setting. Leave the white balance on the 'multi auto WB' setting as this is superb on the K-3.

What settings do have on the K20? Do you have colour set to 'Vibrant' by any chance? This will over-saturate colours in your images.

I've had various Pentax DSLR's, from the K-m (CCD Sensor), through the K-x, K-5, K-5IIs, K-01 and K-3. Of all these cameras the colours are best on the K-3 and the K-m.

Regards
David

You could easily buy a K-5 for £300, so it is within your budget. I sold a mint one on here 4 months or so ago for £250, only thing was the pop-up flash didn't work, but everything else was A1. They regularly sell for £300 or less. Also, a K7 advertised at £259 is not particularly cheap, so I would avoid it if I were you.

Mark makes a good point about the K-x, at £150 this camera is a steal, but it doesn't have the build or weather sealing of the K-5.

Regards
David

Nigel

The simple answer to this is that you need to scrape off some of the paint finish where the tubes meet the camera body. Until you do this you will find the aperture does not stop down when taking the shot.

Regards
David

K-5 for me too, although if you can stretch to it you might find a K-5II variant at a decent second hand price and that would be even better because the AF was much improved over the original K-5, both for general accuracy and also the ability to focus in very low light, which is something the original K-5 really struggles with.

Regards
David

I would be tempted to nick some from an old lens you don't use, or alternatively buy a rubbish lens on ebay or in charity shop. The screws will probably be the same.

Regards
David

I've mentioned this a few times Andrew, it seems to be something that not many people have picked up on, but I've used the K-3 extensively now and had direct comparisons between it, the K-5, the K-5IIs and the K-01. There is something about the sensor on the K-3 that separates it from the other cameras mentioned, obviously there's the greater resolution, but you're right, it's not that that makes it different. It has a way of rendering images similarly to a CCD sensor, much more inherent warmth than the K-5 sensors and this is something that I really like. It's one of the reasons I instinctively reach for the K-3 as my 'first choice camera' when going out anywhere, or when in the garden.

It's a lovely camera, no concerns with the 'noise' issue for me either, I think that's a bit of a 'non issue' unless shooting at 3200 or higher.

Regards
David

I have both, they are brilliant. Best macro lens I've used, although the Sigma 105 had better bokeh and was great for portraits, the Pentax is the better macro lens. The 1.4 TC is good with the macro, but even better with the DA*300.

Regards
David

These are stunning Alan. Exposures spot-on, also that Haida is rather good isn't it? How do they do it for the money? I must give mine a run out, it's a while since I used it. Favourites? First and fourth ones.

Regards
David

There s is one in here Nigel that stands head and shoulders (excuse the pun) above the rest and that one is number 4. I appreciate the humour in these shots, but I appreciate the image of the fourth one even more, it really does hit home. It's the framing, the isolation from the background and the sharp incisive nature that attracts me.

Regards
David

I think the aperture would be left wide open on the reversed 28 and set to the appropriate value on the other lens mounted in the normal way to the camera. Otherwise, you would have a very dark viewfinder as the reversed lens would be set permanently to whatever aperture.

When reversing a lens onto the front of another one, you are effectively making it the front element, so I don't see why you would operate the aperture at anything other than wide open.

Regards
David