Dear Pentax,

Please can you seriously consider producing a "performance" compact.
Yes, the i-10 is a lovely looking camera, but it is merely a point and shoot. Yes the W series are good waterproof cameras, but again just point and shoot. The X series are nice "bridge" cameras, but can be bulky compared to something you just want to put in your pocket.

No, what I would really like is a compact camera with the following:-
Large compact sensor (1/7" or even better 1/6.3")
Full control (which means Av, Tv, P, M, maybe TAv and Sv too which are soo useful)
Fast wide zoom (something like 24mm eqv and F2) up to 5x optical zoom.
Hotshoe, so I can put my Pentax flash on.
Shake reduction a given.
And, above all, the ability to shoot in RAW.

If Canon (G11), Nikon (P6000) and Panasonic (LX5) can do it, and probably make serious money out of them, then why can't Pentax?

The market is there, as a great many Pentax DSLR users would like a powerful compact with the Pentax badge on it.

So, please give it a thought.

Thanks for the explanation of the TC. Indeed I am going to have to lookout for one of these in second hand places as it is an intriguiging piece of kit to have for my MF lenses.

Sorry Mannesty, but if you have a MF lens, the TC converter will not make it AF, no matter how hard you try. It will always stay MF as it does not have the gearing/motors etc in the lens to make it AF.

Anyway, for the OP, consider the 16-45mm. Not fast (F4 only) but oh so sharp and light too. It is the lens that has stopped me from getting the 16-50 for the time being.
But if small primes are your thing, and you have the money, consider the 21mm F3.2 for wide, a 35mm F2 or 35mm F2.8 Limited Macro for standard, and a 70mm F2.4 for short tele work.
There are lots of options out there however, and we all have our own suggestions, but that is half the fun with photography

Hi Jon, hope this bit helps, but Practical photography did a lens test on long zooms a few months back, and the 120-400 was amongst them (it also included the Tamron 200-500, the Sigma 150-500 and even the Canon 100-400 L lens).
The one that won was the 120-400 in their opinion, and it was nothing to do with the price. They considered it the best image quality of the bunch.
Sure it won't be quite as good as a prime, but it is pretty good value, and has a motor drive, even for Pentax.

Now that I DO like.

Just to let you know the original coloured ones are now £130 in Jacobs.

Nowt wrong the K1000 George........LOL

It is a camera that makes you think more about the shot, rather than just pressing the button. And before you ask I don't have one, but have the east german eqv, the Praktica MTL-5 and that does make you think about the image. LOL
Plus the K1000 is dirt cheap and built like the Ark Royal! LMAO.

I have one, and have had it for about 3 years.
Now if I saw the question last week, I would have said "too soft, lack of contrast, slow AF and noisy"
However, over the weekend I can now say
"sharp for the price, actually pretty sharp. Good contrast, still sounds like a chain saw....On the whole a good lens"
It is a lens you have to work with, rather than a lens that you just put on and go. For nature, you really need to pump up the ISO, but as the K10D and K20D have Tav mode use that with this camera and set it at 1/100 sec and F10 and let the camera decide the ISO. Of course use a tripod as it is a big lens and you cant go wrong.

Yes it does have its minuses, but get it right and it is great. Get is wrong and it is frustrating.

Would I recommend it? Well if you get one at the price you stated (£250) yes, without a doubt (I paid £300), sure it is not a fast as long primes, and does not have the glass of the 50-500 Bigma, for the price it is good.
Just be prepared to work with it. Oh and yes, DON'T use a UV filter with it as the IQ does go right down with one on.

Hope this helps

No reason why the filters won't work. However apart from the ND, soft focus, star burst and polorizers, make sure that the WB is set correctly for the coloured grads otherwise the auto WB will try to change the balance.
Best thing though, is have a play with the filters, digital images cost nothing, you may find some fun and interesting effects.

Just to give you an example, how about this (now I know it is a fuji, but hey I like its old character...)
link

As a side issue, if any of you have Kodachrome, finish ot off and get it sent before the end of November, as the only lab in the world that still processes it (in Kansas) will stop processing it by the end of the year.

Paul_C, it depends if you want MF or AF.

There are lots of pentax bodies out there.

If MF is your thing, then consider ME, ME Super, MX, even the K1000. The latter was in production for years, built like a tank, and thousands of Students used them in photography course. More recently the MZ-M, not fully manual (the focus is) but has the benefit of AE and motor drive.

If you want the advantage of AF, consider the MZ series, such as the MZ-5, MZ-5n, MZ-3, MZ-6 etc, all small light and very good. I bought my MZ-5n new in 2001, and it is a great camera. However it does need an aperture ring on the lens though.

If you want to spend a lot more, as they still fetch good money, you could consider the LX (the only "true" Professional Pentax) or the MZ-S (the pinnacle of the MZ range - at least twice the price of the rest of the range - and in reality a Pro camera) but it will be more difficult to find them and owners are very reluctant to part with them.

Finally, there is the last of the Pentax film cameras. It is small, light and closest to using a Pentax DSLR in its functionality (such as 11 point AF, various scene modes, 1/4000 sec shutter etc. And that is the *ist

Plenty to look at, suggest going to classic camera shops for them as they may be a little bit more than fleabay in price (but not much) but they do give them the once over and service them before putting them on sale.

Personally I would choose between the K1000, the ME Super, the MZ-5n (a bargain now - worse luck!) or the *ist.

Hope this helps.