That's a very good question. I haven't got a clue.

Regards
David

I've contributed to a similar thread to this before, so apologies if I'm repeating myself. I fully agree with Chris with regard to the old lenses. I may be unusual, but I find myself using the old M42 and manual K-mount lenses more than my modern ones. I love the IQ they provide, and the general 'quality feel'. I also enjoy focussing and setting the exposure manually.

My K-x (and my son's K-m) have no trouble with stop-down metering on any of these old lenses and the exposures rarely need any post processing adjustment. I regularly use M42 Takumar 135 f3.5, Pentax-M 28 mm f3.5, Tamron Adaptamatic 300mm f5.6 and all of these meter accurately. All of these lenses were under £30, and in general produce better results than my newer glass.

I would thoroughly recommend the old manual lenses, subject to your camera metering with them as well as the K-x and K-m do.

Regards
David

Great pictures Roger (a little more contrast needed maybe), but my god they are UGLY!!! I posted a comment on one of Dr. O's pictures of a crane fly and said that it reminded me of the aliens in 'War of the Worlds'. I haven't changed my views!

Regards
David

Anyone out there got any shots they can post that were taken with the pre-set Tele-Takumar 200mm f5.6?

Just bought one, not go it yet. Seems to be quite scarce and I have not seen many images taken with this lens.

Regards
David

Just to clarify, I don't have any problems with my DA L 55-300mm lens. It only has issues when used with a circular polarising filter, not on its own or with a UV filter. It sounds as though your lens has developed a fault and you should get it checked under warranty if you can. As far as lens recommendations go, I cannot think of a better similar lens than the one you already have (DA L 55-300mm).

Regards
David

Impressive results for ISO 8000 John.

Regards
David

I'm not sure Will as I don't own any other Pentax DSLR's (except a K-m which does not have the green button, but has a more limited 'help' button instead). On the K-x, I think they allowed the use of the Exposure Compensation button to carry out stop-down metering in manual mode so that you could have more flexibility and assign an alternative function to the green button. Whatever the reason, the stop-down metering using the Exposure Compensation button is pretty accurate on all my manual lenses.

Regards
David

Sorry but that's slightly wide of the mark! Either I have a very unusual K-x with a 'Green Button' that others don't or all K-x's have a 'Green Button'! The K-x has both an Exposure Compensation button and a programmable Green Button. If you have one that doesn't I would return it to the shop and ask for a refund!!

Regards
David

I think this is a really interesting thread. I post quite a few pictures on PU (too many probably) and I agree with Axel's initial observation that there are not too many constructive criticisms applied. I also agree that if someone does not particularly like an image they will simply not place a comment rather than commenting negatively.

However, I also think that you learn very quickly what is seen as good or not good by other members simply by interpreting the lack of comments by certain of the more expert photographers who regularly post images in PU and / or provide comments on images posted by others (e.g. Puma, Dr. Orloff are two examples). I have not yet managed to gain a positive comment from Dr O, so I interpret this to mean that my pics are not yet good enough to merit a comment and I don't take this negatively in the slightest.

I've only ever received one comment that I perceived as negative rather than constructive. I sent a PM to the member that posted it but received no reply or acknowlegement. I think that says it all.

BTW, I try to post as many comments as possible, usually positive, occasionally constructive. As with Axel, I don't post if I really don't like the image.

I will continue to view the gallery and post pictures and comments as I personally feel it can only help me to improve.

Regards
David

PS to my previous comment: The K-x does not require the 'green button' to meter with a manual lens. It use the exposure compensation button when in manual mode to accurately meter the correct exposure. Works with all my old manual lenses that don't have the 'A' setting.

Regards
David