That's a fair point, I have to be aware that the Samyang is already my sharpest lens probably. Perhaps I should have changed the algorithm whe saving for web from 'bicubuc sharper' to plain 'bicubic'? My normal workflow is to prepare them for large print output, so I'm not really doing anything specifically for web viewing but I'll keep an eye on future images especially from this lens. Glad you like the shots

Thanks Algi! I had to pick out the little splashes of flowery colour in amongst the mass of greens, and try to make them feature.

There are many answers Andrew, I didn't expect it to be easy Regarding focal lengths, I feel I need the 75 at f2.8 for quick portraits, and feel that having that as part of a zoom already on the camera in use for walkabout type shots will mean I'll bag more shots of both types reliably. So its practicality mainly, and a balance of that and budget. I'm not too concerned about the wide end, as the 18-55 & 14 could be in the bag if needed. A short telephoto prime, whilst yes I'd love one, wouldn't be versatile enough for these mixed needs I fear.

I not yet put off this choice ... The consensus seems to be that IQ will be fine both now and on any FF Pentax in future. If I'm shooting wide open then its likely the edges will be out of focus or able to be cropped a bit ...if its landscape on a tripod, then I'll be stopped down a bit where it sounds as if edge to edge sharpness is good.

Ah yes, there must be a custom setting for that ... 'Activate shutter firing (f4.0 only) at start of video mode'. I appreciate the point about the focussing box during LV, and it's true that I too have used it mainly on a tripod. But that might just be an old fogey habit I can't shake off

You reckon it beats chatting on the forum about 'what's happening' or 'what's not happening' eh? I think it does, and I've lucky to get a couple of great mornings out recently in the beautiful gardens we have near here, and I certainly enjoyed it! Watch out for more to come as they slowly grind off my processing conveyor belt.

You have a lot of control over the placement of the autofocus position in contrast AF .... When you first see the picture on the LCD there will be a single green box in the centre. Press the OK button and you will see 4 triangles appear around the box - these are direction indicators. Now you can use the four-way controller buttons to precisely move the box to where you want it. Press the AF button and the contrast AF will operate and focus on the box area. If anything moves you can reposition the box or just press AF again.

Pressing the info button at any time in LV will quickly zoom into the picture (4x, 6x, 8x, 10x - you can control exactly what zoom factor is first applied in the custom menus!) ... now you can use the four-way controller to move you zoomed image around to get your subject more precisely focussed. Once you get to 10x zoom another press of the info button returns to full sized view. Then just take the picture.

No mono conversions here! I'm going for a full blast of colour at these spectacular gardens near Croydon in South London, a favourite haunt for me both photographically and for family visits.

This series is all taken with the K7 and Samyang 14mm f2.8. All handheld at about f8.0 or so, SR activated. I thought we all needed a bit of brightening up


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Thanks for your feedback, C & C and hopefully some enjoyment!

Press the menu button while in 'photo taking' mode - I believe the item is in the first menu - move through the numbers at the top, look for the item 'Live View', scroll down to it and press the right four-way-controller button to open up this Live View item. Now you should see the autofocus settings also - highlight and click OK and you will see the three options.

Let us know how you get on ... on a DSLR phase detect is perhaps not so useful for some situations (portraits for example, where the clicking of the mirror disturbs the subjects and makes them think you've taken the picture). But is faster and more accurate, especially in lower lighting or low contrast surfaces.

There are 3 autofocus modes for live view ... Phase detection, contrast (face), contrast (normal). You need to set these in the camera menu before activating LV. For most situations contrast (face) is good. Its slower than phase mode (where the mirror flips up to allow light onto the af sensor), but you get an uninterrupted view.

I find it best to use the af button specifically for focussing in LV using contrast mode, then shutter button to fire.

I do find LV very useful for some situations, as you say it shows 'exactly whats falling on the sensor', but don't forget the K5 viewfinder is 100% so you also see everything there as well. But LV and then using the info button to jump in magnification steps is very good for focus finetuning.

Another most impressive image Alan, with those gorgeous colours again. The k5 has performed superbly for you at iso 1250. Really beautiful!