Looks like Chris & the team have had their share of rejected cards recently ...mine rejected too with the Halifax. My fault for not allowing a cheque to clear the obligatory few days so the bank could make profit from interest earned on deposits.

Anyway K5(18-135mm) despatched last weekend on it's way somewhere between Watford & Kelso, now Saturday and still no camera, not surprising with well over a foot of snow on the ground ...looking on the bright side I did get my first Christmas card this morning....bah humbug!

Mike

Some more interesting discussion going on here re- Pentax K5, Canon & Nikon

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=955995

Mike

Hi Pete

Thanks for the feedback on this, very interesting, though I would probably have forked out on the Pentax ORC-1 remote if I was to go down this route and assume it could would offer the same function useable with the K-r & K5.

However to stay on topic the K5 sensor is still the biggest temtation though I'm now going to take another look at the K-r.

Thanks

Mike D

Also worth checking is ffordes of Beauly, Inverness-shire.

https://secure.ffordes.com

Mike

Although it's been some time since I was in there I believe they are still on the go as their site is still active, they had a mint condition second-hand set of Pentax 67 bellows & slide copier last time, this was no use to me as I had just bought a new set some weeks before...ever heard a grown man cry.

http://www.camerabase.co.uk/

Mike

John, yes I seriously considered the K-r, especially the alternative battery option, very useful for travel photography. Checked all the boxes except the fly in the ointment for me was the lack of a timer cable release socket for extendeded exposures otherwise perfect camera. (Not sure a remote release will do extended exposures, never used one ).
Anyway looks like the K5 for me in the New Year and going by the sensor test results on the link provided by Mike the K5 shows a favourable comparison to the Nikon D700, a camera long known in the astronomical community for producing good results in low light conditions.

Mike

Fully agree, just talking to a friend last week on this very subject and both concluded that sensor manufacture 'in house' may not offer the best options in the long term, better to choose from a pool of sensor manufacturers that do what they do best.
Looking at CCD camera manufacturers for astronomical use, these companies just tend to upgrade the chip (usually Kodak chips) as technology improves while the camera body architecture remains much the same.

Could it be with the rapid improvements being made in sensor technology that the FF sensor will become obsolete , a small efficient chip taking full advantage of the sweet spot in any optic attached.

FF sensor ...obsolete??

Think I'm gonna get flamed...

Mike

John

Thank you, this is the information I am looking for and assume the K7 & K5 will be the same.

Thank you

Mike

Hi guys...sorry this is perhaps a stupid question but have to clarify.

I shoot mostly astro related images and in some cases use an equatorial drive with the camera in Bulb mode, this means the camera rolls very slowly at siderial rate in a clockwise direction with the shutter open.
Up until recently DSLR sensors were set in a fixed position so never an issue but the question is this ...now sensors have SR, auto level function & fine composition adjustments is there any possibility the sensor could move in Bulb mode when the camera is used on a motor drive?

I do realise some functions can be set manually but wondered if there was anything I may be overlooking that could be an issue??

Most photographers would set Bulb mode and the last thing wanted would be to move the camera so this question probably doesn't arise very often.

Any clarification much appreciated

Mike

Hello Harry, new here myself, welcome.

Mike