I only said that they look akward!!!

I didn't mean it to be relevant, and I perfectly know that it isn't.

I am used to seeing big canon white lenses, and I really don't like them! Its like a show off of a lens, when I much rather be discreet and not so much 'in your face'.

The silver ltd's are absolutely GORGEOUS, but a 'Classic' lens will look good on a classic camera, not on a big bulky modern full of buttons digital slr

That's it, just a personal opinion whilst waiting for the loans' approval. Then I will buy the black versions!!!!

Hugs to all

Nathan

It took me some time, but I got used to not paying much attention to what happens with the flash, and simply adjust accordingly.

This creates a situation where I always work in manual mode, both on camera and on flash, and it really is a matter or trial and error. I realised that if early on it was mostly error, now its much easier to get the right settings very quickly. Its a bit like when I started photography with my film K1000 and i'd become confiden in 'metering' or guessing an approximate aperture/time before looking at the exposimeter.

Now that Chris has disporoved my (wrong) theory, I am going to try the same with the 360, and the Sigma flash, hoping to get good results!

I think I will keep on relying on my gut feelings and work in manual!!!!

Nathan

But it looks so akward on black bodies like the K10/K20 and others....

I bow to the Masters

'But one day the Pupil shall surpass his teachers' !!!!

Thank you both for that,

Nathan

I don't think that P-ttl works when the pentax flash is triggered by the pop up flash. Because the flash doesn't read the settings of the camera, it is (IMHO) very unlikely that this would work.

In fact, it is much better to use the flash in manual mode when wireless, because this way you can fire once with the power you wish (I usually don't use more than 1/4) and adjust aperture and time accordingly, or according to your necessities.

Reducing the flash imput with the Fn button will reduce only the pop up flash - I am pretty sure that this will also only work when the pop up is set to master - as when its set to slave it fires the minimum power possible.

HEllo there

Right, I've had the same issues some time ago and solved them in a few different ways.

I have a Af360 - but this works the same for the Af540.

If you don't want to have the pop up flash triggering the wireless flash you have 2 options
- Wired trigger with hotshoe adapter and flash adapter and cable -
- Wireless radio triggers - one on the hotshoe, one under the flash.

- Wired solutions are many, the pentax bits are £30 each + £25/27 for the 3 mt cord = about £90 for a very reliable system.
- Other option is what I just bought, (don't know how to hotlink)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Flash-TTL-Extension-Cord-for-Pentax-AF-540-AF-360-FGZ_W0QQ...

Its £20 and it works perfectly - the cable is about 1 mt when streched.

- Wireless options are also many:
Either you can buy a very expensive one which assures almost total reliability with prices of over £100 (search the internet...)
Or you can buy a cheap radio trigger from ebay for +/- £10 - These are not totally reliable, you will need to buy new batteries and might not work all the time. But they do the job quite efficiently if you treat them nicely.

Hope this helps

Nathan

I'd suggest you get one of these lenses.

FA 50mm f1.4
DA 70mm F2.4
FA 77mm f/1.8 ltd.
FA 85mm f/1.4 (If you can find it...)
D FA 100mm f2.8 Macro
DA* 200mm f2.8
DA* 300mm f4

According to the shooting distance, and the type of shots you want.

I think that you are looking for the IQ of a prime lens, rather than a zoom, and these are the focal lenghts that should suit you.

Probably if you intend on shooting from 1m - 5m away you shouldn't consider lenghts above 77mm - if further away, then probably not shorter than 77mm

You will probably struggle to find an inexpensive zoom that gives you that level of IQ, and for now, the only one that probably suits you is the DA* 50-135mm f2.8

Hope this helps,

Nathan

I am italian, i'd be happy to help you.

Scrap yard can be various things: Pezzi di ricambio, rottami.

Send me an email (in pm), and i'll be happy to talk more in detail!

Nathan

I have had the same type of conversation with another un-named pentax dealer.

Now my question is really on a different level. I wouldn't mind updating to a full frame body, as long as it had the type of 'reduced size sensor' to accomodate also regular APS-C digital lenses, which wouldn't otherwise have anymore use. The nikon D3 has this, and it might be a good way of having a new full frame body with the option of using cropped digital lenses.

And now the hard question; How will the ltd. lenses perform? The fact that they were designed for film doesn't assure a proper performance on full-frame digital. So this would mean that all the money we still spend on k-mount film lenses, would be thrown away?

I think that Pentax should be careful in their new marketing projects; Until now it has mainly survived on the old pentax users, and the K-mount all lens usability. If they loose this for sake of marketing.. than many pentaxians will be disappointed.

And a camera with better fps, focus, speed, with the great K20 sensor would just do fine!

It all depends on a few issues.

- Distance from the subject
- Outdoor vs Indoor shots
- Lighting conditions if indoor
- Type of animal (big/small/very small!!!)(Fast/Slow/Turtle)
- Time to focus on the animal
- Budget
- Photographic Knowledge
- Equipment in use

I believe you have just won the award for "most general question asked in Pentax Forums.co.uk" - You have actually just beaten Duroo72 in what was the previous 'highly rated question' in this very same category!

I will be happy to advise (if i can) once you've given us a bit more details!

Regards,

Nathan