Liking these Gareth, lovely control of the light in all of them.

Regards
David

Based on these Nigel, it looks to be a great lens, excellent colours, contrast and sharpness.

Regards
David

One of my absolute favourite lenses, my DA L 55-300, bought when I got back into photography about 5 years ago when I had my first Pentax DSLR, has provided sterling service and is still going strong despite being 'only' the basic plastic mount version. I've taken what I consider to be some of my best shots with this lens and it is one I will never part with unless it breaks

You will not regret buying one Maria.

Regards
David

I've had a K-5 previously and still own a K-5iis and a K-3, with a variety of lenses both screw drive and in lens motors. Here are my thoughts:

In order of focus speed and accuracy, K-3 is best, then K-5iis, then K-5

K-3 is only faster with screw drive lenses, with in lens motors the speed is governed by the lens

K-3 locks onto small focus targets (e.g. birds) better than the K-5 variants

K-5iis is miles better at AF than the original K-5, but not quite as good as the K-3

K-3 and K-5iis will focus in near darkness whilst the original K-5 is poor in this regard

I can't comment on focus tracking as I don't use it

Both K-3 and K-5iis are accurate focusers, I think the K-3 is marginally the better

If you're after excellent focus tracking I suspect you may be disappointed with any of these cameras, based on comments from the birders on here, but if you after general AF performance and accuracy, either the K-3 or a K-5ii variant are very good.

Regards
David

Would suggest using Chrome as your Browser, there are no issues with that as far as I'm aware.

Regards
David

Agree with Gareth regarding Hitech ND Grad filters, I use them all the time and love them.

Regards
David

Hi Nigel, it isn't too much of an issue with a soft grad, which is the one I use. I think it's worth the trade-off in terms of some items darkening a bit in the upper areas of the image for the dramatic improvements it brings to the definition in skies.

Regards
David

Thanks for the explanation Nigel, this is why I tend to always carry a 0.9 soft ND Grad filter as it balances bright skies beautifully and avoids the need for heavy processing. Worth its weight in gold for landscapes.

Regards
David

Sorry for the late entry onto this thread, just had a look through and the 'people' shots are the ones that attract me the most. All the images are very good, but I like to see the characters and you have caught them very well, especially the guy with the moustache and the one before it with the heart shaped glasses.

Regards
David

My 55-300 also has a tendency to over-expose in comparison with my other lenses. I have to pull it back 1/3 of a stop to get the expected results. Not sure why this would be but it's the same on my K-5iis and K-3. Also, it doesn't happen with any other lens I own.

Well done on the purchase Nigel, hope you get good results from it and I look forward to seeing some K-1 images at some future time.

Regards
David