Bump - quick sale will mean beating the Xmas post! Jon

Bump...quick sale will mean beating the Xmas post! Jon

I think you'd be hard pressed to do better than the Tamron 70-300 for the price you can buy it.

But if an all in one lens is attractive I don't think their 18-200 had the best of reputations and may be best avoided. The replacement 18-250 was a significant improvement (and also outperforms the DA50-200 in many respects), but difficult to pick up within your budget.

Cheers,

Jon

I don't think it's a surprise that aspects of image quality with the new sensor aren't quite up to the standards of the K-5 - it's true of other 24MP dSLRs too.

It's not just Imaging Resource that tips some of the IQ scales in favour of the 16MP sensor. DXO mark also shows that dynamic range and high ISO noise performance with the K-5 sensor is better than the K-3, but in most normal circumstances unless you're a high ISO shooter (and even then more MP may help), the differences are marginal in the scheme of things and the K-3 still scores very well. From threads at DPR though, it would appear that fiddling with the in-camera NR settings may be well worth doing as the defaults seem to be very aggressive.

Unless people want to print huge or crop more, there may not be much of an advantage to be gained purely from shifting to the 24MP sensor, but the K-3 offers all kinds of other improvements which many photographers may find to be compelling - better video, better AF, dual SD card slots, etc. But not improvements in IQ.

Actually it's not for me - I am really enjoying the K-5IIs which isn't stopping me from doing anything (I'm the weakest link in that particular chain) although I may be more interested in the K-3II in a couple of years - it seems to me that Pentax get their second iterations of each camera spot on and iron out some of the original issues - eg K20 vs K10, K-5 vs K-7. The next one will be superb!

I purchased this lens a few months back on this forum. It was in superb shape then and it still is now...because I've only used it twice!

The 55-300 performs very well and compares favourably with the 70-300 options from Tamron and Sigma. But as I've got older I appear to have got wider (....). It seems silly to have a lens lying around doing nothing, and I have a couple of older primes kicking around for the odd occasion when I need a longer telephoto lens.

So the lens comes boxed and complete with original pouch, caps and hood. Extremely well cared-for and easily in M- condition. It's the more expensive DA version so has quickshift focus, hood and metal mount.

Price is £170 incl RMSD (excl PayPal fee). I will ship abroad to countries where AirSure will deliver - contact me for a quote. Any questions, please ask.
















Cheers,

Jon

Excellent example of this superzoom which performs rather better than you might think. Brilliant all-in-one covering a very useful range.

This is the Tamron version, essentially the same as the cosmetically different badge-engineered lenses sold by Pentax and Sony. I've previously used the Pentax one and actually this Tamron copy performs slightly better, and also appears to have been built to tighter tolerances (zoom creep vs zoom sprint with the Pentax!). Performance at wider angles is excellent and even at full telephoto the centre remains decently sharp.

The lens comes complete with box (in excellent condition too), hood and original caps. It's in really good well cared-for condition with only very minor signs of use, more on the lens cap and hood than the lens itself. I think dealers would class it as a M- or possibly Exc++.

Reason for sale is that it's simply lying around unused, so needs to go to a home that will appreciate it more! Price is £160 incl RMSD within the UK (excl PayPal fee). I will ship abroad to countries where AirSure is an option - ask me for quotes on the postage. If it sells quickly, you'll have it well before Xmas

Happy to answer any questions.













Cheers,

Jon

Went to Park Cameras new London shop a few days ago. Nicely designed and laid out over two floors. I was actually looking for something specific and was ready to buy, but after wandering around both floors for a few minutes whilst the staff were all huddled having a chat near the tills - nobody offered any assistance - I gave up and left. I don't plan on returning; they didn't even bother to make eye contact.

I enjoy using manual lenses from the same era as your ME- Super. I suspect you probably have SMCM lenses, which work on the new bodies but you use stop-down metering as noted by Matt above. Fine if you are happy to be slow and methodical. But if you would like to use the camera's more automated modes and make life a little easier, SMCA lenses give you everything except autofocus. Personally, I'd be less inclined to make a decision based on old zoom lenses as newer ones tend to outperform them substantially. There are exceptions though (I love my 35-105 SMCA and read good things about the 75-150 SMCM). Old primes are where some real fun can be had...and image stabilised too!

Jon

I had the same issue with Inov8 battery: their newer ones fit properly but earlier ones sold for the MX-1 did not. The new one works fine for me.

Jon

Looking for a really good copy of the M35/2.8. If you have one, let me know.

Many thanks,

Jon