Hellova big butterfly!

Algernon, I bought this new about thirty years ago with a 28-80mm kit lens and a metallic grey leather case. Basic it might be but it served its purpose workwise and it still looks and works as good as new; back then I used the program mode almost exlusively but it’s time to get more experimental. The renewed interest is due to the local camera club dishing out 35mm film to the members and seeing the results later in the year.

Thanks danofmk for looking.

Does anyone have one of these rubber eyecups willing to sell? I took my Pentax SF7 out of the cupboard to find the eyecup missing and searched high and low but cannot find it, so I it would be nice to find a replacement.

Is that first one an opium poppy?! Whatever, both excellent.

The cheaper Nikon DSLRs have a mirror set-up for the viewfinder which reduces the field of view and requires expensive cleaning service, also unlikely to be WR. All Pentax bodies have WR, have a pentaprism with nearly 100% view like the more expensive bodies from elsewhere. The entry level Nikons and Canons are priced and constructed just to draw you into the brand, maybe as a Christmas present or whatever. If buying just pick them up and compare first, I was put off by the cheap plasticky feel of a basic Nikon which is why I took home a Pentax K50 instead.

Yes but most is drivel. Makes this site look level-headed and sane!

Yes, impressive! Whenever I take a photo in my iPhone it goes off like a Canon in overdrive and I end with twenty images in two secs, all identical.

I read that DXO Labs are “restructuring”, going through liquidation protection proceedings or whatever. The company are assuring everyone that everything is ok but I would be cautious about spending money on their products until the position is clearer. I bought DXO Viewpoint a while ago so obviously have a concern where this is going.

Magazines like AP are struggling with costs and more pages are sponsored by manufacturers and retailers - current edition has articles written by Rotolight and LUMIX, competitions with prizes from Sigma and Manfrotto. If you add the reviewers’ personal prejudices the scope for truly independent well informed journalism is becoming more limited. Then there is the “lighthearted” look at an older issue which is more often just snide, but at least they were freer of commercial interference in their contents and probably better value for it.

The only other mag I bother with is Outdoor Photography which focuses much more on output than gear reviews and manages to be genuinely inspiring.

Well, the reviewer highly praised the K1 mkII but as a Sony user nothing else matched up to that brand, also hinting that mirrorless is where the future lies. I wonder if the same blatant bias is directed to other dslr brands? Appreciated the extent of button control and the info screen but thought it was all rather complicated and wouldn’t it be nice if Pentax brought out a simpler FF model? That says more about the reviewer than the camera. As usual the conclusion is this is the best dslr under £2000 but loaded with caveats to put off potential buyers. If that didn’t deter you enough then the Viewpoint article by Andy Westlake certainly would, suggesting that Pentax has reached the end of the line. And Pentax are just badged Ricoh cameras apparently. So to summarise, great cameras but won’t be around for much longer and Sony will take over the world. Wouldn’t it be really nice if they had to eat their words?