I agree with you. If I had an older Pentax and I was using this lens purely for macro work then I would have given the FA more serious consideration, however, I only have the K10D and the lens gets used about 25% macro and 75% as a general telephoto lens. I've done quite a bit of photography at showjumping events and the D-FA is the perfect ringside lens - the fact it makes a cracking macro too is just icing on the cake! The small size/light weight means it goes everywhere the camera does and although I would like the FA's focus limiter (for the reasons you point out) I would take the D-FA's quick-shift focus over it any time!

Let's face it, if Nimitz was to buy either of these then I'm sure he'll be absolutely delighted...

Actually, the D-FA DOES have the A ring and can be used on older film cameras - just like the FA. The main differences are weight (the FA is considerably larger/heavier), focus limiter (FA has one, D-FA doesn't) and - most importantly in my eyes - the D-FA has the wonderful quick-shift focus system that you get with the DA lenses, the FA doesn't.

Both offer a near-identical optical quality but the lighter weight and the quick-shift focus make the D-FA more appealing in my opinion. Of course, others would say that the focus limiter on the FA gives it the advantage but it's really a matter of where your own priorities lie...

Both are - as has been mentioned - auto focus designs.

Review of the FA: http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/pentax_100_28_fa/index.htm

Review of the D-FA: http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/pentax_100_28_dfa/index.htm

I have the current Tamron 70-300 Macro (1:2) and the Pentax D-FA 100 Macro (1:1) and I can safely say there is no comparison! In terms of image quality the (dedicated) Pentax macro lens is far superior, however, the Tamron isn't terrible and it does give the extra flexibility of being a 300mm tele zoom.

The Tamron tends to retail for about £120 (or less) here in the UK and you do get a lot for your money! Many on here have the similarly specified Sigma 70-300 which costs about the same - I haven't used the Sigma but from what I've seen from other users I personally prefer the look of the Tamron, hence I chose it over the Sigma offering.

Either of these (Tamron or Sigma) zooms would give you the 300mm you want along with a usable macro mode. Neither are especially fast but then you'd need to spend a lot more money to get a quick 300mm lens! Best of all, you should have enough money left over to buy a Pentax AF360FGZ flash - a fantastic flash unit that will open up all sorts of new photo opportunities especially when used wirelessly with the K10D.

Alternatively, you could spend the whole £300 on the D-FA100 Macro which is a fantastic performer and will open up a whole new hobby as you find new ways to photograph things you'd never considered shooting before!

Well, I was there and by the look of it you were stood not far behind me - if I'd known I'd have waved for the camera!

Excellent captures - really sum up an impressive display very well. Those fireworks in shot #8 impressed me the most; they somehow reminded me of how static electricity would look if you could actually see it - shame the smoke was blowing towards us and obscuring them a little but I suppose you can't have everything.

Top job of capturing the Chinese Dragons in shot #7 too - they were moving at a fair pace!

If you haven't done so already you ought to get in touch with the Bucks Herald - they love pictures like these from readers and I doubt there'll be many better ones than these doing the rounds.

I bought a non-branded (cable) remote from eBay for about £5 ($10) and it works just fine. I'm sure the Pentax ones also work just fine but they seemed a little expensive to me for what they were.

As you've probably realised, the K10D can use two types of remotes. The cabled one plugs into the side of the camera and can be locked for long exposures - handy if you're taking photos in the dark. The wireless one can trigger the camera from the front or the rear but cannot be used to hold the shutter open in the same way the cabled one does, so it loses a little in the features stakes but makes up for it in convenience.

Which one you buy depends on what you want it for. If you do a search you'll find that several people on this forum have discovered they can trigger the K10D using remotes they already have in the house (TV, video, etc) so try all your existing buttons to see if one's on the right wavelength before splashing out on one of the wireless ones - you might very well have something suitable already under your nose!

I'll be there tonight, won't be taking the camera though so I'll just keep my eye out for other people with K10D's in the crowd. Good show last year but the queues for the food were horrendous! Will be eating before I leave this time...

I had a similar problem recently and couldn't figure it out at first until I noticed the flash was set to TTL instead of P-TTL. Scrolling through the modes wouldn't bring P-TTL back again (it went TTL>Auto>Manual>SB and then straight back to TTL).

I was getting quite frustrated and reading the manual over and over to see if I was missing something fundamental but nothing seemed to work until...

I put the flash in SB mode and half-pressed the shutter so that camera and flash made communication, once I'd done this P-TTL magically re-appeared on the list of modes and it's worked fine again ever since. I don't know what happened exactly except there was obviously some glitch in the flash's firmware. I don't know if yours is suffering a similar problem but it might be worth a try. :

My experience is exactly the same - the ability to use HSS is lost when the flash is used wirelessly. Having said that, I believe you can do wireless HSS if you use another 360/540 as the (camera mounted) master rather than the built in flash. I'm hoping to be picking up a second flash in the next two weeks so I'll know for sure then.

Just shows how details change over time - I've had my 055 for about 6 years now so at some point they must have changed from the metal key to the (plastic?) one. As you can see, on mine the hex nuts are fully exposed too so the covers must also be a recent addition.

I have to say, in all the time I've had it I've never once regretted my choice of tripod. It's given sterling service under all sorts of conditions and has the sort of build that leads me to believe I'll still be using it for many, many years to come - probably for life (if I'm still able to lift it that is ). I'm confident in a few years you'll feel exactly the same!

As for being a small world - isn't it! I grew up in a house 'round the back of the Parade and this week I took a stroll past the fire station while I was out shooting trees with my K10D - if your house had a really pretty Japanese Maple in the front garden then I might actually have a few shots of it...

Maybe they have given you the wrong one - but I'd be less inclined to believe that they'd give you the wrong one twice (tri and monopod). This is a picture of the key I received attached to one of the hex nuts on my 055PROB:




Can't say I ever feel the need to use it but it's there if I should ever decide the leg clasps are slacker than they could be...

As for my location, I'm currently in Haddenham (for my sins) but my extended family stretches all over the Vale. I've been taking photos of Brill windmill since I was about 6 years old and must have shots of it from every camera I've ever owned in the intervening 30+ years!