Thanks David, John and George, much appreciated.

There really isn't any usable colour at all Jon, just very reddish-orange tones that are only suitable for a BW conversion. With the Hoya filter the effect is much more limited than it is with a true IR camera, but as mentioned previously I quite like this.

I did actually do some shots there a couple of years ago John, with the same filter but on a K-x with kit lens. On that occasion the sun was out and this made for more dramatic lighting on the stones, with black skies and streaky white clouds created by the long exposures. I will continue to go back and try different things, it's one location I will never tire of.

Regards
David

Good to see your sense of humour is intact Smeggy!!

Cheers
David

I agree with MattMatic, keep the ISO as low as you possibly can whilst avoiding camera shake. Higher ISO's result in loss of usable resolution, the difference between ISO 400 and 3200 will be significant.

Regards
David

Why would you need to defend it if it is good?

I'm sure you will realise I've never defended my K-5IIS or K-3, they are so good I don't need to do this

Cheers
David

OOPS! Sorry, meant K-3, not K-5!!

Hope your trip to the Abbey goes well, I'm going back to Roche soon to try out some more shots with different techniques. Look forward to seeing some pics on here when you've been!

Cheers
David

I also like these, great colours and textures.

Regards
David

I'm not fully convinced by the FF argument at this point. There are some fellow photographers who have moved to FF in the last year or so that have posted on this site and I have been keen to see their FF images on Flickr and other places. I haven't really seen an improvement in IQ over what they were producing with their K-5's, at least not for the types of photography I'm interested in, which means no really high ISO stuff.

I'm not dismissive of FF, but the current Pentax DSLR's can produce some stunning images. I took some pics last year at a festival and the organiser who is a friend of mine has had some large prints done from them for display in a commercial property. I was quite surprised at the quality of IQ on these prints, having only got an A4 printer myself. They look superb in A3 and larger sizes, not a hint of noise, including some taken in pretty dark conditions.

Regards
David

Yes, most definitely. If you do not calibrate your lenses to each camera body you own, you run the risk of a lot of shots being off focus. It depends on the lens / camera body combination as to how critical this is, but if both lens and camera are a bit out, the net result will be out of focus images more often than not.

Regards
David

It's gone a bit too dark now, somewhere in between would be great! You'll love the K-5, just make sure you treat it to decent glass!

Regards
David

Regretfully, I have to sell my fabulous Pentax DA 17-70 F4 SDM lens. The lens is in superb, almost mint condition, save for a tiny scratch on the lens hood which is just about visible in the last image of the lens below.

- Glass is 'as new' with no smears, scratches, dust, fungus or any other blemish that I can see
- All aspects of the lens operate correctly, I have never had any issues with the SDM on this lens, I did experience indifferent focussing with it on my first K-5, but never had any problems with my K-x, second K-5, K-5IIs or K-3 so I put this down to the camera rather than the lens (the camera did have to go back to SRS for re-calibration)
- There is no damage of any kind on the body of the lens
- Images from it are superb - sharp with great colours and contrast, no complaints at all in terms of IQ since I've owned it
- The lens has original hood and both caps, but there is no box / instructions etc.

I am selling this lens as I need funds for other equipment and I have three or four other quality lenses that cover similar focal lengths, so can't justify keeping all of them. I am looking for £270 + RMSD for this lovely piece. Here are some pictures of the lens, plus a few taken with it so you get an idea of the IQ:































Please PM me if interested before I change my mind; this is one of the hardest selling decisions I've had to make as I like everything about this lump of glass.

Regards
David