I was on the point of selling my Sigma 105 macro when I bought a Pentax DFA 100mm F2.8 WR macro and found it was sharper than the Siggy and also focusses closer. I stopped myself from doing this though because I love the Sigma for portraits and wedding shots - there is 'something' about this lens that screams 'quality' and I won't be selling it!

My biggest regret was selling my DA 16-45 when I bought a DA 17-70. I've now bought another one and this has confirmed how much I like this lens - it is my 'go to' landscape choice.

Regards
David

The M28 F2.8 is not an expensive lens and there are loads available on ebay for between £30 and £60. If you want one like this, go for M28 F3.5 instead - it is rarer but better and would double up as an excellent landscape lens too.

I don't do a lot of street photography, but when I do the K-01 with 40mm DA XS F2.8 (pancake lens) is ideal, I also find the K-5iis with DA 17-70 is a very versatile combination that deals with all sorts of situations, it's not compact but it allows flexibility.

Regards
David

It's not just lenses, it's cameras as well.

Regards
David

The Blue Tit in particular is outstanding Alistair, a great advert for the K-x and Sigma 150-500.

I've taken some of my best shots with a K-x, it's an incredible camera to say it's 'entry level' and also now several generations old.

Regards
David

The DA 40mm F2.8 XS that comes with the K-01 is a great little lens, very sharp and contrasty with typical Pentax colours. As a package with the K-01 it works great and makes perfect sense.

Regards
David

Congratulations Phil, you will love the K-5iis, it's a great camera.

Regards
David

I use a Hoya Pro1 polariser with my 12-24. I cannot notice any loss of IQ with this filter, it is ultra thin so does not vignette and has a high quality coating. In 77mm size these filters are not cheap, but you get what you pay for and if you search on ebay you may find a brand new one for around the £50 mark.

As pointed out above you do have to watch out for banding in the sky, but these filters are very useful for everyday work where darkening the sky is not a concern, e.g. when you want to maximise colour saturation and reduce reflections on water for example. Very useful for longer exposures on waterfalls, rivers etc. as they reduce exposure by a stop or two.

Regards
David

Hi Stan

The Pentax 17-70 is terrible for vignetting with a 85mm filter holder such as the Cokin P type. I experienced the same with mine, it's even worse than the DA 12-24. One possible solution is to cut the filter holder down so it only has two slots, this is easy to do with a mini hacksaw and some fine sandpaper.

I've reverted back to using my DA 16-45 for landscape work with filters in preference to the 17-70, (a) because I love this lens and (b) because it doesn't vignette even at 16mm.

Regards
David

Welcome back Richard!

Regards
David

My K-5 became very temperamental with SD cards (any card, not just an individual one) due to removing them to view all the time. I've never had any issues with the USB connection on any of my cameras despite using them constantly for uploading images, so I prefer to judge by my own experience on this. Each to their own!

Regards
David