It looks to me Dave that this image is front focussed. I don't think it's a resolution issue as the test shots you posted of the scissors etc. show no resolution problems.

If possible, could you have a day out with someone and let them shoot with the K30 with their lenses and see what happens? Others seem very pleased with their K30's, so I can't imagine this is a general issue.

I had similar problems with one of my K-x's and the 55-300 lens. Nothing was in focus, whereas on the K-m the same shots were very sharp. It turned out the camera was back-focussing very badly. My second K-x did not suffer from this at all.

Regards
David

The composition of the shot is lovely, but I'm not sure about the overall 'look', mainly as mentioned in the other comments above it's the sky that looks a bit odd.

Regards
David

Best of luck Phil, your images speak for themselves, although some of your poetic words displayed with them will also go doen well I think!

Regards
David

All very nice, the purity of light is stunning.

Regards
David

This confirms what I suspected Shaun - despite the many negative comments I've read on here by people who haven't even used one, Pentax are onto a winner with this camera. I will definitely be buying one in due course. Can't wait to see some proper landscape shots with this.

Regards
David

Thank you for the compliment Matthew, it's very kind of you. As Richard alludes to above, books are not high on the priority list when you have a great mentor who is prepared to spend time with you. I hope you find your inspiration, be it from books or from people!

Best wishes
David

I know people who have lived in similar properties without experiencing the problems you are having. You say the house isn't damp, but if it's reading 75% to 80% humidity then it most certainly is very damp! I don't think you'd get mould on your sofa if it wasn't!

With this type of humidity I think you will have to invest in a dry box or something similar; whether caps are on or off is not really the issue, but leaving them off would help air to circulate.

A quick question; what sort of floors does the property have? Is it original stone floors? If so, are they laid straight onto the earth? Taking up the floor and damp-proofing it may be one way to reduce the problem; I'm not suggesting you should do this simply for the benefit of your lenses but you do seem to have a very humid property which as you've pointed out creates other problems.

Regards
David

From what I've read and the few 'real world' images I've seen so far (particularly the macros uploaded on here a day or so ago), I'm excited about the K-5IIs and I will be buying one sometime next year when prices have levelled out a bit. It appears to me that it will offer real benefits over a standard K-5 and and although it's £150 or so more expensive, I would bet that some deals will be had in 6 months or so.

Regards
David

Just a quick update regarding 10 stop filters; most will introduce a colour cast, even a Lee Big Stopper. The Hitech I have has a blue cast, but this is very easily removed in post processing, or prevented altogether by setting a custom white balance in camera. Either way, it's not an issue.

As regards the Hitech ND Grads, they are neutral and do not create any colour cast at all.

Regards
David

I use Hitech ND Grads 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 and they work just great. They are made of resin, so easier to scratch, but if you drop them they won't shatter (as a Lee glass filter would). They fit into a standard Cokin-P 85mm filter holder. They do not create any colour cast and I have not noticed any loss of sharpness. Filters cost £45 the set from ebay, holder is peanuts, also from ebay. I also have a Hitech Pro 10 Stop filter which fits in the same holder and this is good too.

I always carry screw-in polarisers and they are on my lens almost all the time when shooting landscapes.

By concensus, Lee are the best, but I don't think hitech are far behind and they cost half as much.

Regards
David