Thanks Greytop, although I've decided that there won't be a third time for the moment

R

I had adjusted the diopter, otherwise nothing would look in focus

The point I was making (obviously badly :blush was that the MF focus point did not agree with the AF focus point.
My K20d (& *istD) are fine in this regard.
I wonder if Pentax are having trouble calibrating the new 100% viewfinder?

R

The Pentax Gods are not smiling on me

I got one of the first batch and the the SR didn't work at all (nor the horizon correction, which I suspect is related).

I got a replacement (great service once again from SRS ), but with this one manual focus was way off.
This was particularly noticeable with a fast lens like the 55/1.4, where after AF the viewfinder image looked OOF but the resulting picture was sharp.
MF'ing until the viewfinder image did look sharp resulted in an OOF picture.

At least the SR did work with the second one, but comparing the its effectiveness against my K20D I was only getting 2 stops improvement.
The K20D was consistently giving me 3-4 stops (with the same lens, subject and exposure).

Has anyone else had similar experiences?

R

I have always used a magnifying eyepiece because they really do make MF easier.

I recently switched to the KPS eyepiece after recommendations on the US forum.
The KPS version is even better for MF and has an eyecup, which I like.
It has more distortion in the corners than the Pentax version though.

Before Pentax released their eyepiece, I used to use the Nikon DK-21M which is not quite as good (less magnification & more distortion), but is a fair bit cheaper.
I also liked the way it keeps your nose off the rear LCD

R

Well I'm confused now - mine came included with the bag I bought back in December

R

Are you sure? I have the Kata 3N1-20 and it came with a separate tripod attaching loop (which fits on the big chrome ring). My monopod fits in it quite nicely

R

I always use a monopod, which allows me to move around but still provides support.

If I'm shooting something static, with SR on I can get a sharp picture at 1/125s.

If I'm shooting something moving (which is usually the case ), I'll use 1/500s.

It's a very sharp lens right from f4, so I rarely stop it down past f5.6 unless I need the DOF.

I usually set these in TAv mode and let the camera choose the ISO. That way, I always get the shot but with the light determining the amount of noise in the picture.

R

Unfortunately this has been my experience as well.

Never again

R

Great gig from Martin, but unfortunately I forgot my camera

Sod's Law that I had a great position right in front of the stage.

Crossrail have started digging as well, but fortunately they stopped while the music was on

R

Looks like Bob beat me to it, but here's one that illustrates the rendering and bokeh quite nicely:




HTH,
R