How many castles do you have?

G (impressed)

Sadly, it was age, rather than weed, that was responsible.

It's also sad that lenses don't bounce as well as babies.

G

Hello,

First, I think these cameras are generally pretty good at keeping out the rain, and that is useful. I have taken my Pentax cameras out to sea in small boats and not been concerned about them.

Second, who says these videos are "official"? I am not convinced they were made to Pentax's order. Perhaps an optimistic distributor.

Third, even the best product will fail occasionally. My Rolex Submariner, guaranteed water-proof to 200 metres, leaked in the shower.

Fourth, I don't leave my kit outside in winter. I wonder if condensation might have been the culprit in this case. Whatever the cause, the camera does not seem to have led a pampered life.

G

Fussy borders are an abomination, but we should remember Groucho Marx's advice:

"I always use a frame so people know where the art ends and the wall begins."

Or words to that effect.

So I am with the thin line people.

G

At last a couple of sensible posts. Cheers to the Welsh.

When there was a genuine and common problem (the K5 stained sensor) Pentax acted promptly and publicly and replaced all affected cameras free of charge.

Where there is a less common problem, which doesn't affect the majority of users, then I am happy for them to say nothing but to deal fairly with those who do have a problem. People who think that a manufacturer is going to beat his breast publicly about every little fault are deluding themselves.

Nobody outside Pentax has any idea how many 16-50s had a problem, but you can bet that people who had a faulty lens made sure everybody knew about it. And often on several different websites, which exaggerates the scale of the problem.

I am quite sure that the figures posted on another site bear very little relation to reality. My 16-50 was a new one, and exhibited no problems at all for three years, until I left it on the roof of a car and drove off. I suppose I should have blamed Pentax for that, but I didn't.

G

I am surprised that the You-tube video used the words "weather-proof", and I doubt that Pentax were aware of it. They almost invariably use the term "weather-resistant", which is different from "weather-proof", and very different from "water-proof".

A moment's reflection will show that Pentax has to exclude water damage from the warranty as there is no way of knowing how the camera was actually used, and, sadly, people are prone to lie about issues like this.

As it is, I think the OP was pushing the boundaries a bit, even if he didn't actually drop the camera in the bath. And I fully take MrB's point about the impracticability of weather-proofing a zoom.

G

K10D takes that prize.

G

I am surprised that Mike doesn't use his 16-50. Having written off mine, I replaced it with a 17-70 (being a little short of cash at the time) and have been very disappointed. They are not comparable at all.

The 16-50 is the only zoom lens I have owned whose quality comes close (sometimes!) to the 31mm Limited. And that's saying something.

I am not saying the 17-70 is bad; it's perfectly OK. But the 16-50 is special.

Good luck with yours!

G

What is your objection to Windows 8?

G

I remember when the K10D came out, Pentax explained the necessity for using an (expensive) proprietary battery, instead of AAs, arose because the voltage of AAs often fluctuated considerably, causing exposure and other problems.

It seems they should have retained the proprietary batteries.

G