Good grief.

Developing a film is very easy, it's cheap, it's fun, and it gives better results. If you go through life saying you don't know how to do something, you'll never learn to do anything. And then you won't have a life at all.

George shakes his old head in disbelief.

G

I'm with Daniel on this one.

He's quite right. The greater DOF of a small ap. lens allows for a wider range of "acceptable" focus. It doesn't help to obtain true focus.

G

I think the key point here is the amount of light available. In normal daylight it's easy enough to focus any lens, but in twilight a wide max aperture makes things much easier.

G

The text in American photo magazines is there to make the mag look bigger and provide some space between the advertisements.

Don't make the mistake of believing a word of it.

Pentax has priced the K10D very aggressively in order to win back market share. Price is no indicator of quality or features in this case.

But Pop Photo wouldn't understand that.

G

As I have mentioned elsewhere recently, Pentax is replacing almost its entire lens range with digitally optimised lenses designed for the smaller image circle of its DSLRs.

So far, they have tackled the range from super-wide to 100mm, and next year will introduce new 200mm and 300mm lenses, and in the Spring, they will replace the two fast zooms, the FA* 1:2.8 24-70 and the FA* 1:2.8 80-200 with digital equivalents.

These two new zooms will have fast in-lens focussing, and will be weather-sealed, like the K10D body.

If you can't wait until then, the existing 80-200 can be found second-hand, but it commands a high price.

The K10D competes with the D200. If you're happy with a D80, buy the K100D which offers shake reduction in the body.

I believe that Pentax already offers more digitally optimised lenses than either Canon or Nikon. They aim to have over twenty in the near future, and ALL offer shake reduction, thanks to the new Pentax bodies.

If you are a masochist, buy a Nikon then squirm with envy.

George

Try it on a Canon lens. Might make it a bit sharper....

G

I'm afraid so, but the advantage of age is wisdom and experience (sometimes).

And as you are young, you should have good eyes, so you'll be OK with MF lenses.

The SMC Pentax-A macros will allow automatic or manual exposure with both your cameras, and are worth looking out for. The 100mm is the best balance between price and usability, though if you can find a 200mm (and the money for it) you will be a happy man.

Other nice older zooms are the SMCP-M 75-150, which goes very cheaply on Ebay because Pentax sold thousands of them; the SMCP-M 24-50, which is small and light, and the SMCP-F 70-210 which is really first class, and, like the 75-150, was very popular, so it's cheap today. Similar range zooms are not as good (other than the FA* 80-200).

All * lenses, M*, A*, etc, are superb, but expensive.

Never buy a Pentax lens which doesn't have SMC in front of it. It will have inferior lens coating, and may be cheaply made.

If you have friends in America, buy on American EBay (Americans fear the outside world, and often won't ship internationally) . That's where I got my 24-90 and my 28-105 power zoom (big and heavy, but good).

G

Pentax is currently revamping its entire lens line, and two new 1:2.8 zooms are scheduled for release early next year. They are likely to be much better than anything by Sigma as they have the * designation.

However, they will only work with digital cameras.

In my view, you are limiting yourself by insisting that every lens you buy must be useable on both bodies. You wouldn't insist on buying lenses that worked on both a 645 and a 67II.

There are now a number of very good digital only wide-angle lenses made by Pentax (10-17 fisheye, 12-24, 16-45 and 14), and, as I said earlier, next year the long end will be tackled.

http://www.digital.pentax.co.jp/en/lens/roadmap.pdf

Furthermore, if you are keen on quality, you might think of investing in prime lenses rather than zooms, and to keep costs down, you might think of buying second-hand.

The 77mm is a legend in its lifetime, and the best lens I have ever used. The 18-35 is an inexpensive lens, though mine works well enough. The 28-80 is also a cheap lens, so it's not reasonable to expect too much from it.

Fixed aperture zooms tend to be the best, though some variable aperture ones are also of very high quality.

The new Pentax macros are well thought of, and so are the old ones. You can't go wrong with any of them.

After some bad experiences, I no longer use Sigma. There is usually a better Pentax alternative.

Good luck

George

I think it almost certainly will be lossless.

G

Irfanview's lossless rotation is available as one of the plug-ins - it's not in the basic package. Pressing L or R gives you lossy rotation. Pressing Shift-J is lossless.

G