TC has arrived safe and sound! Done some testing with it and as it is an older design TC it will not AF with SDM lenses, or with Sigma HSM lenses, but can be used in MF with these. However, it AF's perfectly with my DFA 100mm F2.8 macro WR and with my DA L 55-300, even in very dim light inside my house with the blinds closed! What is more surprising is that the IQ with the 55-300 actually seems to be very good, not too much loss. It seems to be an optically fine TC, despite limited compatibility. IQ also seems good with the Sigma 150-500, although MF only.

Thanks to Samson51 for a smooth transaction!

Regards
David

He would have been OK if shooting Pentax gear - his cameras would still work!!

Cheers
David

Bump - any interest in this superb lens?

Regards
David

Interesting thoughts there Daron! I too have a K-3 and a K-5IIs and I am the opposite to you - I use the K-3 more than the K-5IIs and find it excellent for everything I do. The K-5IIs undoubtedly superb, it's just that I find the K-3 even better. I have noticed the difference in colour rendering, particularly with reds and the overall 'warmth' of the images, but this is something I like. The K-3 seems to give images a sort of radiance that the K-5IIs ones don't have.

Anyway, we're splitting hairs because they are both great cameras!

Regards
David

Possibly John, you might be right. I'm still puzzled though as the native operating system can render the files, as can other parts of the CS3 suite, so I would have thought that Adobe Bridge would use the same codecs etc., but clearly this isn't the case. Also, wouldn't Bridge use the embedded jpeg to produce thumbnails?

Regards
David

No idea on that one Smeggy. Regarding your previous observation about producing effects similar to IR by tweaking the colour levels on a 'normal' BW conversion, you are right that an approximation can be achieved, but it's not possible to get quite the same effects that a true IR image or even a IR filter achieves.

I need to experiment more with this to see what can be squeezed from a filter that cost me £12 and a camera that's not designed to take IR shots!

Regards
David

It is a very nice image, but I'm not sure that this particular shot needed the long exposure? Credit is due though for producing a fine shot with very warm and rich tones.

Regards
David

Thank you Simon, Smeggy and Drew. Also thanks to Jon for some invaluable tips on shooting IR images, I will definitely have another go with the WB settings on my camera changed.

Regards
David

OK, here's an update. It's definitely not a codec issue, I have downloaded and installed the Adobe DNG Codec for Windows. I can see DNG Thumbnails in Windows Explorer and I can see full size images in Windows Photo Viewer, but still nothing in Adobe Bridge CS3! Quite bizarre.

Regards
David

Thanks guys, not sure if the answer is here but the help is gratefully received.

I have tried purging the cache Carl, but it made no difference, thanks for the suggestion anyway.

I don't think it is a codec issue John as my PC has no problems with DNG files in general, it is just the K-3 ones that won't render as thumbnails or images in Adobe Bridge CS3. The strange thing to me is that the problem does not exist in ACR or PS CS3, which are both part of the same creative suite, so I would have thought that if it worked in one it would work in them all? Also, as mentioned, there is no problem with Adobe Bridge when using DNG's from any other camera I have ever owned, including the K-5IIs, K-5, K-x and K-01.

Any other thoughts from anyone?

Regards
David