I do like them Ralph, but all they seem to be a little lacking in contrast to me. Increasing this would make them 'pop' a bit more.

Regards
David

I was wondering what it is about the Pentax-M 50mm F1.4 that you don't like John? I have this lens and find that although it's not as sharp as say a F1.7, it renders colours beautifully and produces very pleasing results.

Harking back to the earlier posts in this thread, a few people have mentioned that a number of the earlier K-mount lenses have the 'pixie dust' magic. For this reason they can be relatively expensive (in comparative terms against other old manual focus lenses). The bargains for me have to be the M42's, many of which have the the same optical formula as the early K's. I don't own too many of the older ones, but two for me that have the magic are the SMC K135 F2.5 and the SMC Takumar 135mm F3.5. The Tak cost me £20 but produces wonderful warm, fluid images. For such a cheap lens it's a marvel.

Regards
David

Fantastic shot, especially given the ISO used. That K-30 looks pretty impressive in low light.

Regards
David

I'm going to buy a K-5iis. Had a go with one yesterday and it is just fabulous. ISO 3200 indoors and not a hint of noise, lovely detailed images. I don't think I will need anythig better than this and I want to be able to use my existing lenses, so full frame is not for me.

Regards
David

These are stunningly good Gary.

Regards
David

It might help if you let us know how much you want for your K-5?

Regards
David

I think it's maybe a little presumptious to make the statement you have above? Unless you know the photographer personally I think it's difficult to judge his skill or experience. For example, I think I have a fair amount of skill and experience with a camera, but not with shooting weddings and I might well need to ask questions about what lenses are suitable.

I was pointing out in my reply to the post that the OP had asked for advice about lenses, not for advice about his abilities! I realise that the posts will stray from time to time and I am as guilty as anyone for meandering off into other areas, but I just felt that this particular thread was becoming a bit overbearing for the OP.

Regards
David

All great, but number 9 has to be the one for me. A very familiar scene, but it looks so different in the fog.

Regards
David

No Drew, I haven't tried that one, but I have tried something that I thought would have been even more effective. I left the K-x in the Rayburn's warming oven overnight (don't worry, it's not much hotter than a hot airing cupboard). The lens was off, wrapped it up to prevent dust ingress and raised the flash housing. Absolutely no moisture can be possible after that, but the viewfinder is still cloudy. Not sure what else can be done, other than a manual cleaning procedure but this looks difficult.

Regards
David

Live view is great, especially when taking photos in dim light indoors, most useful when subjects are static. It's also great when using 10 stop filters outdoors as you can still see the image clearly.

Electronic level is a joke, very inaccurate and liable to go out of calibration for no apparent reason. A complete waste of time, best to stick with your own eyes and experience. Horizon adjustment is switched off on my K-5 as it made all my images cock-eyed. I sent it back to Pentax for this, it was re-calibrated and OK, then went off calibration again in a few weeks. I won't bother with it again.

Regards
David