Re the colour and contrast, have you tried a different picture setting or adjusted the contrast / colour in the one you are using? It could be that the K5 has a different look in 'Natural'.

Have you got highlight/shadow compensation on? Those will reduce contrast.

I've applied some curves and warming filter in PS to make the image look a little closer to the K10 image:




Re sharpness, the images shot over f11 will be softened due to diffraction. In the f7.1 image, I notice that the K5 photo is focussed slightly behind the K10 image (look at the fence in both shots - it's still in focus on the extreme right hand side on the K5 shot, whereas in th eK10 shot it starts to drift out of focus)... You may have focussed imprecisely, or your lens focus settings may need adjusting.

I went from a K10 to a K30, and intitially images with my Tamron 17-50mm were slightly backfocussed.

Also, the K5 is 16MP and the K10 is 10MP... you may need to apply a different amount of sharpening to your resized shots.

Well here's a fairly typical post from a skateboarding forum:

Sound familiar?

Seems differences in equipment actually does have a bearing on performance, even in the skating world. Of course people need to fully explore the kit they already have and learn to use it properly. But that doesn't mean there isn't ANY benefit in looking at what other kit offers.

Hmm, I'm not quite convinced they'd be bright enough for a real shoot, but guess these ultra-bright torches could be used as modelling lights?

Yet you list the Tamron 10-24 as one of your top two choices?

I had the Sigma 10-20 for a long time, and the DA15mm for a long time. The Sigma was very nice, perfectly sharp enough across the whole frame; a bit stretchy in the corners but I think that's just a fact of life with 10mm. I didn't notice anything untoward about the colours. There was a bit of vignetting which sometimes made vegetation look too dark at the edge of the frame.

The DA15mm gave lovely crystal clear images and colours - the edges were a bit blurred/OOF on close inspection (even if the centre was perfectly in focus) but overall the images popped.

But for versatilities sake, if I was choosing now it would be between the Sigma 8-16 and the Pentax 12-24.

Is that some sort of model shoot event, Cedric?

I've noticed there are occasionally Derbyshire meets, might be worth keeping an eye out and tagging along!

I think Gary's water mark is great. It's more about promotion than image protection, note the consistent size and position of the water mark logo. It's never plastered across the middle of an image!

Mine have the brand name 'Nice' emblazoned across them in embarrassing swirly font. But I believe they're the same as Wansen. A 'does what it says on the tin' kind of item, I'm fairly happy with them. I don't think compatability is much of an issue with these triggers. They just have the basic center pin hotshoe contact so are pretty generic.

The good side of the colour thing is Pentax can keep announcing new colour combinations and get a free 'advert' in the form of an announcement in the front of photography magazines.

The downside of that is that they become 'that camera maker with all the crazy colours' and no one looks past that or takes them seriously.