Oops typo - I meant my K100D...

Hi there - my guess is you must be coming from one of the Panasonic FZ cameras? I came from FZ20 (5MP with lovely 12X zoom lens) but am surprised at what you are finding with the K20D. Even my 6MP K200D blew the FZ20 away.

The bridge camera will by default have settings which provide much more "pop" out of the camera: more highly saturated and more highly sharpened - but the results even from the kit lens with the dSLR really should be superior - much smoother, more natural and if you do a bit of work on the computer, much more detail too.

Pentax in particular tend to go for fairly natural looks out of the camera, leaving the images with plenty of flexibility for post processing on the computer. But if that isn't to your liking, you could begin by using the camera in "vibrant" mode, and perhaps up the sharpness setting a notch or two as well. You may prefer those results and the resulting reduced time spent on the computer!

As for telezooms, the Pentax 55-300 is probably the most cost effective telezoom you can get - not ridiculously pricey, and holds its quality even at the longer lengths. Control over fringing is vastly superior to my old FZ20 too, and I would have no doubt that the results would be better than your bridge camera.

Another lens that is sharp and can be found cheaper is the Tamron 70-300. This does come with more purple fringing on occasion, but can be dealt with in post-processing on occasions when it is particularly bad.

Either of the lenses above are "better" performers than the 50-200, although if you buy the WR version of the latter, you have a much smaller lens that is also weather sealed so an ideal accompaniment to your K20D body if you'd like to take it out in all weathers without worrying.

I'd spend less money on a secondhand fast prime instead. Something like a 50mm/1.7 would supplement the Sigma really well for landscapes/sunsets etc and be of much more benefit than a filter on front of your lens - just keep the hood on and cap when you're not using it.

On safari in Botswana a couple of years ago, the majority of my pictures were either taken at telephoto lengths, or with two fast primes: 35mm and 58mm. There is no way I would go back without taking those with me again.

Thanks for the nice comments on the pics... and yes, this is the f4 version. I also have its little sibling, the 50mm f4, which is a great little lens too.

Have a look at what Damien Demoulder has to say on Amateur Photographer website. I can't remember him being so positive about Pentax since the K10D came out. This camera looks very exciting, even though most of us will have to bask in the reflected glory while we use our non MF gear!

Hi Tim - tracked down a 50mm/1.4 SMCM today, and hoping to get it tomorrow. I agree that the earlier Takumars are also great, and would have been happy to consider one (shouldn't have limited to SMC in my original post) because I've seen great images from them, and the build is superb. That said, I suspect the SMCM will prove to be a very nice lens... here's hoping!

Jon

My most used filters on digital are R72 (infrared) and polariser, followed by ND grads.

The first two are hard to replicate in post processing (Virtual Photographer tries to do a polariser effect which can be quite effective with colour saturation, but cannot control reflections in the way that only a real filter will do). ND grad is not strictly necessary if you don't mind doing an awful lot of post processing, possibly working from bracketed exposures...but it does make life a lot easier on occasion.

Looking to buy a great example of one of the old Pentax MF 50mm fast primes. Either the Super Takumar 50mm/1.4 (no yellow glass though!), or the SMCM.

I'm only interested in really good examples. No scratched optics, fungus or oily blades. And I'd prefer something that has worn well cosmetically too.

Let me know if you have one that needs to get out a bit more!

Cheers,

Jon

It the Mk1 performs close to the Mk2, you've got a real bargain at that price. Have fun!

Jon

This might help. Links to my thoughts after trying mine for the first few times:

link