Unfortunately the company that I work for has made me redundant! Fortunately I have found a new and exciting career opportunity to go straight in to. This has left me with a bit of cash on the hip!!

I had set my heart on upgrading my K100D to a K7 and a couple of lenses. My thoughts have centered around the 18-55WR (and maybe the 50-200WR) Kit, plus a Tamron 90mm macro to replace my Micro-Nikkor 55mm and maybe a FA50mm f1.4.

That would be the limit of what I would want to spend. I have been reading reviews and opinions about the K7 and it has made begin to question what I would get out of the K7 – I love my K100D and have found ways to work around its limitations and am fairly happy with it.

The things that attract me to the body upgrade are: weather sealing, Pentaprism viewfinder, sdm compatibility (although there are doubts around the durability of this technology) live view for macro, mirror lock up, higher frame rate shooting plus the higher image quality. I shoot in raw anyway and usually in AP so some of the filters and modes would only be novelties.

I am not a habitual upgrader having only ever had 3 bodies during the 30 years I have been taking photos (An ME Super replaced due to theft by a SH Nikon FA and finally the K100D) so this would be my first upgrade without it being format driven and saving the £800/£900 from the body (+kit lenses) I could get a 21mm ltd, the 90mm macro plus a Tammy 70-200mm.

This is my dilemma! Do I want a K7? I’d like one! Will I appreciate what it gives me over the K100D? Well……………………….

Answers on a postcard………………(or via the forum!)

thanks in advance for your thoughts

MZ (with appologies for the length of the question and the waffle!)

I've recently bumped into my free Flickr upload limit. Of course I could go pro but before I splash the cash I just though I'd ask for opinions here regarding peoples preferred photo hosting sites!

Please let me know your preferences.

Cheerz MZ

This is Woody my 10 year old Corn Snake.

[IMG]http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu173/manix_zero/Soligor%20200mm/IMGP3176-Edit-2.jpg[/IMG]
K100D + Soligor I/S 200mm f2.8. Hand Held at f2.8 1/125sec and ISO3200

The lens was attached to my K100D via a Nikon AI-PK adapter with optics removed and consequently no infinity focus.

I did this to try out the lens with my K100D.

C&C welcome.

Cheerz MZ

......Navy Niterói Class Frigate, U27 Brasil, passing through the Thames Barrier.

[IMG]http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu173/manix_zero/IMGP3596-2ABrazilian.jpg[/IMG]
K100D, FA28-70mm f4 AL @f8 & 1/320 sec -0.3ev.

Cheerz MZ.

I know nothing but --- I understood that CCD and CMOS sensors were much more sensitive to the angle at which the light strikes the film/sensor than good ole 35mm film.

Therefore DA or DI or whatever the designation - the inherent design was to ensure that the light always arrive at the film/sensor plane perpendicular to the plane??

I might be talking a load of boll""ks but in practice it doesn't seem to matter that much. Which is why Tamron and Sigma have just re-badged their lenses rather than re designed them

anyway as long as you get the image you want from the kit you have the name on the front is just a name on the front!

Cheerz MZ

Had a look at the colour version -- B&W is best for me, but ain't that always the case?

I half expected the containers to be that sort of ubiquitous orange colour but they weren't but anyways B&W 4 me!

ps I now know who is under the tarp!
pps popped into barking last night yep its gone all colourful but lucky 4 me I live on the wet side of the A13 so I don't get into the town too often!!

Chris,

I recently acquired an FA28-70 f4 AL from e-bay.

It is a highly regarded (by some) lens for the focal range and goes very well between my 10-24mm and 70-300mm for a 3 lens kit.

I haven't really "tested" it but have been very happy so far.

This lens has a metal mount and a constant aperture of f4.

Some might say that the range is restricting for a walk around lens on a DSLR but that depends an what you need it for.

For me it will fill the gap and do the job until I can afford an f2.8 with a similar range (that is if I find I need the extra stop!)

Some reviews of the lens here - link

Plus if you wanna look inside go to my "2 Pentax Lenses seen from a different perspective" thread as I have a couple of X-ray images. - link

Cheerz MZ

Today my work took me X-raying some automotive sensors. Whilst there I couldn't resist getting a couple of images some of the lenses I had in my bag.

So here they are --

[IMG]http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu173/manix_zero/X-Rays/A50f17136kv.jpg[/IMG]A Pentax SMC A50mm f1.7 at 136kv & 90mA

[IMG]http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu173/manix_zero/X-Rays/FA28-70f4AL136kv2.jpg[/IMG]A Pentax SMC FA28-70mm f4 AL also at 136kv & 90mA

[IMG]http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu173/manix_zero/X-Rays/FA28-70f4AL136kv.jpg[/IMG]and again rolled 90 degrees

Thought some might be interested.

Cheerz MZ

My boxes reside behind the wardrobes in the space created by having one wardrobe deeper than the others.

My least used lenses are in a flight case under the bed (however - a couple have migrated to my underpants draw for ease of access and added security!

MZ

I really like the photograph.

I live around the corner and it perfectly captures the mood of the area.

I haven't looked at the colour version as the mono version is right (imo)

I also like the abstracts - the way the white sky impacts on the fence, that the fence separates the viewer from the bleak scene and maybe, there's someone under the tarp on the floor?

great photograph!

Plus it reminds me why I used to get through so many rolls of FP4 in my pre-digital days!

MZ