Trying to find something new in a very familiar setting. How many images of these changing huts have we seen?

First impressions are usually gleaned from examining something at an exhibition or maybe a launch event. Full Review would mean the camera/lens has been supplied for review and all the usual technical measurements have been made, as well as a field test.

What you are referring to is more like a long term review, which is rare because the kit isn't avaialable for long periods of time. Not usually anyway.

Don't forget the Q7 and Q-S1 use the bigger sensor, like the MX-1. Image quality is then about the same.

This month seems to have been a bit of a backward step, with a few images having to be deleted. Some months there are no deletions.

So I thought it worth reminding us all that the monthly competition is for new images, shot within the competition month.

The idea was that a subject was set and then we would shoot a new image specially. Thus it's a different challenge to the weekly, where our archives can be used.

I don't much like removing some superb images, so please try to remember, new images only in the monthly competitions, shot in the same month as the competition is set.

Thanks!

I take your point. Probably the most useful start would be the Focal Guides for one of the M series cameras, perhaps the ME Super or MX. Alternatively a later edition of "The Pentax Way" by Herbert Keppler that includes the M series.

The booklet I mentioned would also help.

There are dedicated lens hoods, all detailed in the booklet, and the books will cover the various manual focusing aids that existed at the time. On a DSLR of course you have a plain AF screen, so just turn the focusing ring until the image is sharpest. This old skill may have died somewhat, but practice makes perfect.

The most critical thing to help with focusing manually a DSLR is to adjust the viewfinder dioptre correctly. Aim the camera at a blank wall or sky and adjust until the etched lines in the viewfinder are sharpest. Then you should find manual focusing easier.

Hope that helps, anything else just ask!

There are manuals for the K and M series, but the lenses themselves only have a focusing ring and an aperture ring, so there's nothing really to put in a manual. The camera manuals cover how to attach and detach a lens, and that's about it.

Maybe the "Pentax Lenses and Accessories" booklet could be helpful to you. You might find a copy on ebay, but also check out Oldtimer Cameras, they offer manuals for just about anything.

In a generalised way, all I can offer is that different cameras behave very differently in their sensitivity or otherwise to IR light. Also of course different scenes under different lighting have huge variations in the amount of IR light present.

If you want pseudo-colour IR then I'd try Google and YouTube to find some online tutorials.

As an experiment, fair enough, it's something different.

BW IR is something else of course and normally we would convert that red image into monochrome. I use Channel Mixer, but there are many other ways.

An IR image is bound to be all red because the IR part of the spectrum is beyond red. If I use an R72 filter on my K-5 I would expect it to be red.

I don't see how a custom WB works in this context, because there is no WB.

I've used a lot of cameras, especially recently, with a lot of different lenses and all the DSLRs overall are about the same ball park. It depends as much on lens and the subject chosen and the lighting. Any more specific requirements need a more specific test under the desired conditions. AF has got better, but has been quicker and more accurate than many people's eyes for a long time.

Incidentally, when shooting for resolution checks the AF on some cameras can be nowhere near accurate enough. It takes a great deal of care to get it right.