I have listed the 5 lenses that get the most usage on my K10D. Bit of a daft collection to take anywhere as there is a huge overlap in coverage of course.

DA16-45
DA55-300
DA18-55
FA50 1.4
A50 2.8 macro


/Ian

Personally, I think Pentax made a wise decision to go down the "shake reduction in body" road rather than build it into each lens. At least its one less level of complexity in the lens design. Something less to go wrong perhaps ?

/Ian

And here is a little detail about the experiment.

/Ian

http://www.imaginginfo.com/web/online/Online-Exclusives/Science-Experiment--Came...$4139

And I came out as a Sony.... I'll get my coat...

Hello,

I just found this little set of photo's taken with a K10D and 18-55 from under a sounding balloon. Great camera and great lens (in my opinion anyway).

/Ian

http://www.flickr.com/photos/arena5/sets/72157606119049987/detail/

I say yes, after all "knowledge is power".

I think understanding what a camera is trying to do when you set everything in automatic mode will always be a great help, especially when you don't get the results you are expecting.

When I got my first camera, back in the days when everything was manual I remember my father taught me the "sunny sixteen" rule and "composition by thirds". Just those two little gems of always helped me.

Just some random thoughts about why I so like the digital age where you can capture so much with one camera body and just a couple of lenses. In my case a K10 and 16-45, 55-300. (Admittedly, not the smallest of bodies these days, or the most compact combination of lenses, but a wonderfully flexible system that gives great results).

The recent thread about how much gear you should take with you on holiday got me thinking back to when I was a lad in the early 70's and the amount of photography gear we took with us on our annual holidays to the sun. It might also explain why today I always try to travel as lightly as possible. My father was the "unofficial family photographer" and his pride and joy was a Praktica L, with 35, 50 and 135mm lenses. As the years went by he added a second body (a Zenith for b/w film), a 28 and 200mm lens to the collection. Then there were all the other odds and ends too, tubes, X2 converter, filters, light meter, tripod, and a flash. Add to that a cine camera and sometimes even a pair of binoculars. You would think we were going to off on a grand photographic expedition to some far flung corner of the world, not the sunny beaches of the Mediterranean ! I started out with an oval shaped Kodak brownie 127, and later moved up to a Fed 3 Russian range finder camera. Then there was my poor accident prone mother, who tended to buy the newest camera toy going every couple of years as she regularly either dropped them in the sea or on a concrete floor ! Back in those days she went through a few 110 instamatics and Polaroid cameras. The whole lot, including film etc, all carefully wrapped up used to pretty much fill up a whole suitcase !

After many holidays loaded down like a Sherpa with that lot I think you can see why later I rebelled and always travel as light as possible.

Of course I'm not immune from the famous Pentax LBA and have collected a large amount of stuff over the years, but while I still enjoy digging out a film body and a bunch of primes every now and then, unless I was going on a driving holiday where weight was not an issue I doubt I would bother taking much else with me anymore. Of course nobody is perfect and in the future I can see myself breaking my own set of rules and adding something ultra wide.

Cheers for now,

/Ian

When I first got my K10D I was terrified at he prospect of getting dust on the sensor when changing lenses. However, after a couple of years of use and with some basic common sense (point the camera down, etc, all previously mentioned in this thread) it has not been a problem at all. One thing I am wary of though, especially at this time of year is the amount of pollen in the air. I don't know, but to me it appears much more sticky than dust and you don't want to get that on your sensor. If you are changing lenses in the field I would perhaps take a little extra care.

/Ian

I think the golden rule is to travel as light as you can. These days I soon get fed up carrying loads of heavy kit around.

I never put camera gear in the hold luggage. Besides the obvious risk of being bashed around hold luggage can go missing or be at least be delayed, especially if you are transiting. In 40 years or so of airline travel I have never had any problems, then twice last year while transiting at Heathrow our bags went on a journey all of their own. One of them disappeared for three days.

/Ian

Fantastic review. Loved reading it and can't wait for more.

Cheers,

/Ian