I agree with keeping both eyes open too.

Also helps tracking moving subjects.

Hi Karl,

I'm relatively new here myself but welcome.

Nice to see another member for the Yorkshire element on here.

Ian.

Edumad,

For colour etc I've seen many titles available and quite honestly wouldn't know what to suggest.

For Composition though, I would most certainly recommend Michael Freeman's "The Photographer's Eye".
ISBN-10 1905814-04-6
ISBN-13 978-1905814-04-6

Scott,

I've used all three in varying degrees. Used the Sigma on a Nikon D50, Tamron on a Sony A100 and the Pentax I have only just got so can't comment on it's performance yet.

But my initial feelings on these are as follows:

Tamron - Pretty similar in many ways to Sigma except cheaper to buy (£125 ish) and feels noticeably lighter (435g). Filter rotates on focusing, pain with a CPL or other filter system. AF hunts the worst of the trio here. Also 62mm filter which may bring additional cost if you use 58mm's.

Sigma - Good sharpness and colour for price (£150 ish), build feels OK but zoom ring is much wider than focus ring (weird). Filter rotates as per Sigma. Uses a 58mm filter. Heavier (550g).

Pentax - Can't comment on picture quality yet, initial impressions - no worse than above. Neater build and feel, goes down to 55mm and does not rotate under focusing! 58mm filter. Weight 440g. Has a neat little sliding door at bottom of hood to allow easy access to CPL! Most expensive here, £189.

My call would be:
1st - Pentax
2nd - Sigma
3rd - Tamron

Ian.

Hey, hey!

East Riding here.

Now that's all four points of the Yorkshire compass!

Well done Simon, I was admiring the picture in the magazine yesterday.

Thanks for all welcomes and replies.

I've tried upgrading my old version of PhaseOne's Capture One (3.7.7) to 4 but it refuses to so I downloaded v4, does not look like my oldish computer will run it!

I've decided to find a stop-gap alternative until I can afford a new PC seen as I've emptied the piggy bank on a K20D!

I guess it will be a 4gb sdhc for the card.

Again, thanks for the warm welcome.

Ian.

I also used SRS for the first time this week, ordered on Wednesday evening, arrived Friday morning. Quoted this forum and got free postage.
The price was competitive and the service polite and swift.

Would recommend.

Hi all, thought I would say hello.

I joined earlier in the week, read some posts, rang SRS, ordered my K20D which arrived yesterday.
The advice from this forum was spot on, and yes I did plug the forum and get free postage!

First impressions of the K20 are very positive.
Features offered on this camera seem to surpass all the other manufacturers at this price point. I'm currently in a transitional phase between my Minolta gear and Pentax, although I fully expect to retain some of my old favourites.
When I've sold some of the Minolta glass I will indulge in some Pentax equivalents as I only have the 55-300mm at the moment to use on the K20D.

A couple of decisions to be made pretty soon are regarding a new SD card and RAW conversion software.

SD(HC), I currently use a Sandisk 2gb Extreme III CF card in the Dynax and will probably go for an SD version for the Pentax. With the increase in sensor size on my new camera I guess an increase to 4gb would be a good idea.
Is SDHC a big improvement over plain SD?

RAW converter, I predominantly shoot RAW and use RawShooter or Phase One (v3.7).
Neither of these seem to read the PEF file, or is this just the K20 version?

Regards,

Ian.