Ha ha - sorry John I mixed up theEPZ (PU) and PZ bit

And you're right, I naturally go straight to the likes of PZ, SLRgear and DxO and forget all the hard work you have put in. I'll have to correct that in future.

In what way does it 'out-perform' the 70 John ? Not according the the same PZ you referenced. In fact PZ actually give the 70 Ltd a higher optical quality rating (4 stars to 3.5 for the 77).

From PZ (both on the K10D as the 77 has not been tested on the K5) : -
77 : link
70 : link

Not in border resolution where there is a huge difference (the 70 pulverises the 77 until f5.6) and even in centre resolution the difference is only very small. Maybe in Pixie dust and build quality (though PZ rates them even there too) and I think both can actually be used on FF as well if I'm not mistaken ?

Of course MTF figures don't tell the whole story but I'd like to hear your reasoning - maybe from your own testing ?

The PF was pretty bad in my testing in shop of the 77 Ltd too (and one of the reasons I walked out without it the day before yesterday), occurring in virtually all shots I took - even though they were very high contrast and almost guaranteed to produce fringing. This is a large crop from the foreground of a shot of another subject.

Oops.

Barry maybe I mistook your reference. You are referring to buying FF lenses in case Pentax announce a FF camera aren't you ?

*slaps forehead*

Seems you haven't actually gone away

Personally no !

IMHO the 31 is overpriced (and maybe over-rated) and you can get 95% of what it can do for much less. The 77 isn't a particularly fast focuser and suffers from PF and for most maybe the 70 Ltd is better option (and much cheaper) ! I was actually playing with a few lenses yesterday, thinking of buying the 77 (for the AF) to replace my Zeiss 85/1.4 .... not going to happen !

Here's some other (AF) options (you can find the new GBP prices on-line of course):

Pentax 15 Ltd : I bought this a few months ago and it is totally addictive. Just a fantastic lens, maybe it could convert you too. US$510

Sigma 30/1.4 - this is just an amazing lens, if you want a landscape lens then this isn't it (though it'll do the job) but for creativity, portraits and street shooting it is near perfect and damn near focuses and shoots in the dark. US$490. There's also a fantastic Zeiss (35/1.4) if MF doesn't throw you.

Pentax DA 70 Ltd - much better than the 77 Ltd across the frame (borders) with centre sharpness not far off the same. Superb value for money. US$550. The more expensive (around US$900) Sigma 85/1.4 is now reporting to be edging ahead of Canon's 85/1.2 L glass and Nikon's 85s ! Google it. For the money better glass by far than the 77.

Pentax 50-135/2.8 - I'd like to say the Sigma 50-150/2.8, which IMHO is a better lens than the Pentax for none IQ reasons, but since it's discontinued (and replaced by a monster) you can only buy it used though it's just superb if you can find it. Otherwise the lovely 50-135 for US$850

DA200 - is a very specialist lens. I'd take the Pentax 60-250 / Tamron 70-200 / Sigma 70-200 over it any day despite the 200's stellar IQ. Though if it is length you want then the DA*300 is spectacular !

Whether you are missing something or not depends on what you are shooting and your style of shooting. There is no doubt that Canon L lenses are special as are Nikon's equivalent, Olympus and Minolta have some truly wonderful lenses, then of course there is Leica, Zeiss and Voigtlander etc.etc.

Wildlife : animals / birds in the distance ? CaNikon every time, they have the lenses unless you can get your hands on some of the rare discontinued Pentax long lenses. This is why they win Wildlife tog of the year, that and sheer numbers. Same goes for Sport.

Press togs don't need long they need fast lenses, wide and the more FPS the merrier (for some situations) - hence a FF camera.

However we are not full time media pro shooters and unless you are a wildlife/bird shooter (I hesitate to include sport because IMHO Pentax does sport very well) then you don't need those (extremely expensive) lenses.

I may well buy a D700 (after the D800 appears and prices drop for used D700s) but only for the slightly different look a FF can give to portraiture, so I understand the attraction.

I was reading a write up yesterday by Canon shooters whereby the K5 came out top above their beloved 7D, D300s and E5. It is an amazing camera. IMHO a D700 can only offer you another 5% functionality over the K5 and I'm not sure that for the vast majority of shooters, it is worth the extra expense.

Brian - I have sent you a PM (you should be able to receive it and then answer). Post here if you don't receive it for any reason.

Another weekend 'Bump' for this and I'll knock another fiver off as I just want to see somebody using it.

Just £42 all inclusive.

Whilst a really lovely shot I'd like to have seen the actual horse included ... it's just inches out of shot !

Just erase everything from a newly formatted card and then copy the .bin file onto it. You're then good to go and just follow the instructions on Pentax's website.