You could try a sample set or two, most manufacturers do these. I picked up a few at The Photography Show and suffice to say one paper is better for me by a country mile but of course it is also the most expensive! It is surprising how different photos look on different papers even of similar finish and importing the correct profiles.

Thanks all, Stub yes the Sigma surprised me by being very sharp but there is CA and also the colours are very flat but that can be dealt with to an extent in processing. Roll on the new 70-200 f4!

These are great, I love experimenting on the Cornish coast and get down there whenever I can. I have found wide angle like 15mm particularly tricky as if I am not careful the points of interest are diminished to a far horizon but your use of leading lines has given me fresh inspiration for my next trip. These have a beautiful slightly melancholy mood powerfully evoked.

We went to Padstow on the North Cornish Coast, for an anniversary dinner at Rick Stein's restaurant, and stayed overnight at the hotel next door. My plan to get some blue hour shots of the harbour was foiled by a rainstorm, but I was up next morning before dawn with the weather still threatening but dry. Except when I was caught in a sudden hailstorm so thank goodness for Pentax weathersealing. Here are the results, all with K1 and 24-70mm f2.8 lens:












And a bit later on:


And finally, from the same position with the Sigma 70-300mm f4-5.6 macro at 300mm:

You could combine a trip to Clifton Cameras with one to Slimbridge, probably an easier run down the M5.

I tend to leave white balance in Auto mode but chimping a shot early yesterday it looked much cooler than reality, so I changed to one of the presets. Turns out a simple way of doing this is to click the Preview switch next to the shutter button whilst in WB select mode and it holds an image which you can then test in the different WB settings. But you all probably knew that! And in Lightroom you can see the Kelvin number of the selected preset - shade is 7700, cloudy is 6400 and so on. I know it is easy to use Auto and change in post processing but it is useful to see the right results on site.

There are lots of things I cannot afford but I still love that they are made, This is a pro quality lens probably aimed at the portrait market which I don’t do so I doubt if I will get one but that isn’t a criticism. Instead I applaud the chutzpah of Ricoh declaring their intention to surpass Sigma Art and Zeiss lenses, new lenses from whom are not available to Pentax users. Or less politely, “f*** you, who needs you?”

Those are excellent, Nigel. Would it have been easier to use a reflector?

Fortunately my latest lens was only £129.00 so I came clean on that one. Maybe I gave the impression they were all about that, can’t say for sure.:

The DP Review in February looked at sales figures, digital overall was down on the previous year but mostly attributable to the demise of compacts. DSLRs remain steady and mirrorless, although better than previously, were down. Maybe the cheaper mirrorless bodies were perceived as just posh compacts.

There is a trend with more FF bodies and lenses for cameras to move into more expensive systems with amateur/enthusiast and professional designations becoming blurred, and this is seen in the new Pentax issues as well as the latest Canikon mirrorless systems.