Another quick thought - IR taken with the Hoya filter needs some time spent in Post processing to get the best results. I've just had a quick tweak of one of the images posted above to get the levels a bit better:




Regards
David

I have had good results with the K-x and the Hoya R72. See a few images below:










It's not as good as a converted camera, but for £11 for the filter it's not bad!

Regards
David

I am really interested in this last quote. I would like to know if the lack of noise is helped by the fact that the Q does not have an anti-aliasing filter (correct me if I'm wrong)?

If this is the case and this is the reason for the lack of noise on such a small filter, then it bodes really well for the potential of the K-5 iis.

Regards
David

Hope you enjoy it Mark, I'm saving up for the K-5 iis and I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Best wishes
David

I can't comment on the Sigma or Tamron lenses as I've never used them. I can give a recommendation for the Pentax 16-45, which is sharper than the 18-55 kit lens, particularly at the edges of the frame and performs well at its F4 maximum aperture. The 16-45 is my stock landscape lens and is well up to this task.

It's not a fast lens, but this is less important given the quality of sensors nowadays and the excellent performance available at higher ISO's. The 16-45 is not too expensive, you should be able to pick a mint second hand copy up for around £150.

Regards
David

Hello Paul, nice to see another member from the North of England.

Regards
David

The first image is really good and the third one is close behind it. All three show excellent sharpness - maybe a bit over-sharpened? There is also a fair bit of image noise, which I suspect is noticeable because these are quite heavily cropped or shot at quite a high ISO?

The K30 is clearly working very well for you, these are impressive.

Regards
David

They are all very good Matt, well taken and presented. I don't think I have a favourite as I like all of them.

Regards
David

There have been a lot of posts on here over the past year about Gallery images and not a little controversy. Hopefully this one won't prompt any disagreement! I just wanted to point out that there have been some magnificent images posted on the Gallery over the past couple of days and if you haven't been on there recently it is worth taking time to browse through.

Best wishes
David

Maria, I think the flashing display you describe is probably an exposure warning, i.e. the camera telling you it is not getting enough light to take an accurate exposure reading. If you remove the lens cap before you switch the camera on I would guess this behaviour may well stop?

Regards
David