Highly recommend Marumi - at least as good as Hoya Pro and often much cheaper.

Your 100mm macro would double reasonably well as a longish portrait lens, especially if you keep it wide open to f2.8.

Otherwise, if you want something shorter, and cheap, it might be worth trying out an old manual focus prime - I'd recommend the 50mm/1.7 SMCM as a plentiful and decent quality lens that you ought to be able to find easily without spending a fortune.

If it is possible to buy a WR version of the 50-200 lens within your price range, then I would recommend that one simply because you already have a WR camera - so you can go out in most weathers without too much worry.

I don't know much about the Sigma, but would probably pay the extra for the Pentax, which is a quite decent lens and is also very compact. I would not go for the Tamron - I suspect your 18-55 will outperform it at the wide lengths, and the 50-200 would at telephoto.

I would add a lens to look for - the Tamron 70-300 f4-5.6, which may be found at around the prices you are looking (I've seen them at around £100 in the UK on occasion). It's sharper than the Pentax, has longer reach, and is quite decent quality. It is, however, also rather more bulky if that is an issue for you.

Mowog - quick answers are yes (PK adapter so I can use Pentax fit primes), yes (it's useful but not fabulous), sometimes, and no (Olympus bodies have IBIS, Panasonic has lens based IS). Happy to carry on the discussion so if you'd like to hear more, send me a PM otherwise we might begin to fill this thread with non-Pentax chat! PS - live in London so could perhaps meet up if you want to see the beast for yourself....

Cheers,

Jon

Really? Only the APS-C compacts like the Sigma and Leica and some but not all of the Ricoh modules. Other than that, the 4/3 sensor is very much larger than that in any other compact.

My experience is that the results from my GF-1 rival those from K-7 up to at least ISO800 and possibly 1600 - and the shadow noise from the Panasonic is less objectionable and easier to process. I would expect the newer Panasonic cameras to be better still but wait to see the results. If you were to talk about colour and tonality, however, I would agree the Pentax does a better job - especially in JPEG.

As for the idea of using a compact instead, well I agree that in bright light and low ISO, the difference in IQ may be pretty small.

But even with the m43 sensor you can play with depth of field and selective focus in a way that is extremely difficult to achieve or even out of the question with smaller sensors - this is the reason why I personally would not buy a small sensor camera again. I find the m43 sensor strikes quite a nice balance between enabling selective focus but also giving just a little bit more depth of field than APSC. So you can use the lenses wide open with higher likelihood of properly focused shots, and you get to keep the ISO a little lower as a result.

Also interested in the comment above about "if the market for mirrorless takes off". Most industry commentators seem to think it already did over the past year, and there have been rumours that Pentax may join in over the course of the Spring.

My view is that currently the mirrorless interchangeables appeal to at least two different audiences:

(1) people who are upgrading from a compact and don't necessarily want the bulk or perceived complexity of an SLR. Yes, the NX10 and Lumix G cameras are a reasonable size when you put zoom lenses on them, but they are still rather smaller than their dSLR equivalents (even the 18-55 kit Pentax lens is huge compared to the Lumix 14-45). But perhaps what Panasonic have got right for this audience that we under-estimate is the touchscreen interface. To have a capable camera with an articulated touch screen which is second nature to the IPOD generation (and even allows you to point to the bit of the photograph you want to be in focus) is I think a more significant way forward than we might appreciate - it's a very different experiece to the traditional approach of the Kx/Kr, and I suspect more appealing to many younger buyers. Read the recent review of the GH2 in the Lumimous Landscape to see how the handling of these cameras even appeals to some pretty serious professionals....

(2) more experienced photographers who want a capable second body when they don't want to cart around an SLR. I agree with the comment above that a fair number of this audience see the cameras as a cheap way to in effect get a "Leica-lite", by combining a capable body with some great legacy (usually prime) lenses.

I do hope Pentax get in on the act soon, because I think these cameras will be more important than we think in the future market. Personally, I agree that m43 would be a good way for them to go - and if I was them I would start by aiming for a "high end" weather resistant body in order to differentiate from the pack and appeal to traditional Pentax market. There are a number of m43 users who are desperate for a WR body and lenses (esp fast lenses). In fact, if Pentax were able to produce at a sensible price a m43 size rival to the fast Zuiko 12-60 lens (which is not available in m43), I think they couldn't make enough of them to meet the demand.

Not sure that Bower manufacture any of their own lenses (but stand to be corrected). I think, like Vivitar, they put their name on the front of glass made by other manufacturers.

One example is the Samyang 85/1.4, which is also sold as Bower, Rokinon, Vivitar, Opteka.

Can't get a photo of the TC to load on their website, but wonder if it is a rebadged version of the Kenko Teleplus ones which are available in this country (try SRS). They don't autofocus with SDM lenses though.

Mike P - didn't know that and thanks for the info - sounds like quite a useful combination both in terms of impact on focal length and close up ability. Hmmmm...........

John R - will do, except that I like the lens just enough to not be able to push the button to advertise it yet! My logic is that it is the closest I've got to a macro lens for m4/3 camera - because of the impact of the sensor size it acts as the equivalent to a 100mm 1:1 macro in a tiny m4/3-friendly size!

SmutjeUK - wow! That's quite a lot to pay for a manual lens, when you could buy something like the Tamon 90 with PKA adapter for the same money, and at least have a lens that can be driven from the e-dials of the camera. I think you were sensible not to go up to those kind of levels, but good luck finding an alternative.

Jon

If anyone reading this thread has their heart set on an as new version of the 50 macro I could be persuaded. After buying the Sigma 70 recently, my 50/4M has lain sadly unused and perhaps ought to go somewhere where it may be appreciated!

The 50 is a lovely little lens and frankly if a shop is selling one for £40 either there is something wrong with it or they don't realise what they are selling. Around £100 would be right for a good copy of the 100mm lens.

Patick - I have sent you info and a link with more information about a lens that I have been thinking of selling (Pentax 50mm SMCM macro). It may be suitable, depending upon what purpose you have in mind. It's a great lens but I agree with others that close ups of insects etc benefit from a longer focal length.