If you dont have the disc that charlotte mentioned you can download a converter that will convert the PEF files to DNG.

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=5389

I agreee the bokeh is smooth, in some cases, it gets a bit thrown by the background, see Guinea pig pictures below the thick Hay in the background has created lines in the bokeh.

The lens is not as fast as the 35 unfortunatley, its to quick to make adjustments but from close to infinity or the other way around it takes a bit longer.


F 1.8 with sharpening- i am happy with this





F1.8 again, shows thick hay has thrown bokeh




I thought of the 1.4 to as the price was similar but decided to go for the 1.8, never understood the fuss about plastic mounts.

Thanks for the advise Kris

I have had a go at creating some test shots. They are all RAW and with Elements default sharpness setting. Its not a very professional effort but i hope ots of use!

They can be found here, if anyone lets me know how i will embed them

http://www.flickr.com/photos/punkrockemo/sets/72157630976312434/

I have just got this lens, so far i am very pleased with it. The only other AF prime i have is the the 35. I will try and post some samples and pics tommorrow. Until then there are couple of pics in my gallery- both are taken with the lens.

The lens seems very sharp, i think stopped down the detail the lens produces is more than my k-x is capable of! At F1.8 it not particlualrily sharp, by 2.8 it is pretty sharp by f4 they are very sharp.

The background blurs out smoothly in most cases

Although very similar the construction of this lens feels a little better than the 35, the focus ring has more resistance.

I think your problem is the adaptor, you need one that allows focus to infinity. These dont have the flange plate to the front and fit flush with the mount of the camera mount.

This is the pentax one

http://www.srsmicrosystems.co.uk/156/Pentax-Mount-Adapter-K.html

I use one i got from ebay like this and it works fine. They can be i bit tricky to get on and off.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/M42-42mm-to-PK-K-Lens-Mount-Adapter-Adaptor-Ring-Infin...

I made exactly the same mistake when i first got an M42 lens

I cant actually see any noise on the example you have posted, may be because of the size. I like the atmosphere the shot has

I use elements and topaz noise plug in, I have not used light room so i dont know how usefull this advice will be. I put the adjustment as high as i get away with with out the image starting to blur (Topaz gives a 200% blow up i use this as a guide) With a seen like yours i would expect more noise in the dark areas and would increas the affect for shadows.

After i have cleaned the noise apply the sharpening, with very high ISO shots i find there is not much fine detail so i tend to use a larger radius sharpening than i might with a low ISO shot.

Hope that is of some use!

What digital camera have a preview, they seem impressed

http://www.whatdigitalcamera.com/news/533898/first-look-pentax-k-30.html??utm_so...

Park Cameras have refurbished K-Rs Black or white for £350.

I am suprised there are not more about, I got my K-X after the K-R came out and there where loads of places selling them cheap because the new model was out.

Thank you both for the recomendations, you have been very helpfull.

There is indeed a bewildering array of books on amazon, i did not know where to start.

Will see if my local library has or can get any of the books recomended, almost spat my Guiness out when i saw the price of the encyclopedias.

Mark

Can any of you recomend any books on Photography. I have seen threads in the past on beginers books but this is not what i am intrested in.

I would like to read books that cover subjects such as the History (i am clueless on whos who and what there influence was), particular areas of photgraphy such as documentry or anything that others have found intresting.

I am open to all ideas