not lately.
back on topic.... I say you can't generally trust reviews, but there are a few reviewers out there that try to maintain a professional objectivity.

I did buy the kr, and was influenced by your opinion in your review... and I'm happy with it. So from my perspective... you can mine the review fields for info and filter out a lot of crap, or you can join a forum and find a few people who's opinions you can respect.... but one way or another.... Pentax is a smaller company and your options are limited... so if the 10-24 seems too risky, go with the Limited!

and yes I was having a few digs, for giggles and sport, so sorry.... I am a weak willed sinner....

[quote="Smeggy"]
My post also made it clear that it was comparing commercial 'corruptness' with people with no commercial bias. Of which I am amongst the latter.
[/quote]meaning: "meant to say all publishers EXCEPT SMEGGYPANTS... blah, blah, blah, corrupt...etc...etc..etc..."


I'll go back to my "Fail" corner, because we all know political publishers are unbiased...

You think you could ever do twitter? or are you operating on the assumption that whomever writes the longest posts will be presumed to be correct, based on the average persons attention span?
Just askin... don't answer, I ain't got time to read another novel.

I agree most reviews are worthless unless they happen to be biased towards your own predisposition. In which case they are easier to believe.

I'm sure he didn't mean it the way you're interpreting it.... being a publisher (of sorts) himself (link ) I'm guessing he meant to say all publishers EXCEPT SMEGGYPANTS... blah, blah, blah, corrupt...etc...etc..etc...

if your pictures are dark it is because your exposure is off. if you underexpose an image with the kit lens, then go out and buy a faster lens and underexpose your images with the new lens, your pictures will still be under exposed... it is usually a camera operator error that if you're not able to get a "Bright" image, but occasionally it is due to a defective lens. or camera...

as for bokeh, that is somewhat subjective but again some lenses are known for nice bokeh, others not so much.... but the general consensus is this rounded aperture blades and higher numbers of aperture blades generally render nicer bokeh... generally... as in usually. at ALL apertures, it is just more obvious when combined with the shallow depth of field you'd get from a faster (f 1.4 vs: f 4 for eg) lens.

Now as for sharpness, most lenses get sharper as you stop them down a couple stops from wide open, meaning shooting at f1.4 generally won't get you the sharpest results the lens is capable of....

it's far more complicated than your pro friend made it sound... but if your original assertiian that your images are too dark is accurate, then either your lens is defective, or you're doing something wrong. If it's you, then a new lens won't automatically result in brighter images, any more than buying a new car will get you less parking tickets... you see what I'm saying? if you choose to park in 'no parking' zones, you get tickets, it isn't the car's fault

so post up some sample images and exif data, and maybe somebody here can tell you if you got soemthin on your camera set up wrong to cause your pics to come out dark...

on my 500 ftz i use peel and stick velcro squares... works for me since I often velcro my radio slave receiver there anyways...

I have a kr, like you.
I have an old m series 50 1.4 which I use for video mostly.
I have a 50mm 1.4 fa, which I use for portraits and low light shooting.
I have the 35 mm 2.4.

if you're buying used, then by all means get a fast fifty. If you're considering new, then the 35 2.4 is probably the best value you will find. the 35 is cheap (as in low cost), and good, and an outstanding value for Pentax shooters. Everybody should have one....

gey the "a" series or Fa series fifty, so you can get some of your cameras auto/metering options working easier, avoid the "M" series lenses unless you like doing everything manually. you might find the 35 mm 2.4 a better (and cheaper) lens for those purposes.
but if your images are coming out dark, that is an exposure error issue.... not directly a fault of the lens... every lens will let in enough light to get a correct exposure, because shutter speeds and iso settings can compensate... also at f 1.4, you have to be really careful about how and where you focus, as depth of field is very shallow.

is too much fun to be legal, no?
Never mind a speeding ticket, I suspect if I ever get caught, the cop will probably be tempted to take my license, throw it on the ground and unload a full clip from his glock on it....

Also pays dividends to get to know the loco's so to speak.. There are a few idiots on every forum, you SHOULD listen to, even if you have to filter out a lot dirt to find the gold nuggets of information, and the odd Pentax Expert you need to ignore advice from and just enjoy the humour... but you'd never know for sure unless to wade into the pool...lol!

if Pentax wants to buy third party items and re-badge them and re-sell them, then good luck to Pentax.
If Pentax wants to re-engineer old lenses and re-release them then good luck to Pentax.
If Pentax wants to develop new cameras then good luck to Pentax.

I will not pay extra for re-badged accessories.
I will pay for decently priced, high performance lenses. Even bought the 35 2.4 which to be honest, I COULD have lived without, but am very happy with it.
I will pay for a q styled evil cam with k-mount... or even a dedicated video cam with k-mount. I did buy a kr for video even though I could've lived without it. I am very happy with it.

I wish Pentax every success as they Pentax cameras have been my tool of choice for decades. But I have to go on record here and say IF I started out today... the Sony nex vg10 and nex5 would've been the system I'd have chosen as my first cameras. Today, the line between Photographer and Videographer is blurred, and Multimedia is the future. No company can ignore that without making thier own bad luck for the future.