If it is for someone else it would depend on what they are likely to photograph, and I wonder why you would recommend a system that hasn’t been updated for years and looks like it is becoming extinct? I hate to say it but there are other MF options which would probably be much better received. For wildlife and action photography or street photography there are again better options around, and if it is for someone who is yet to discover what they prefer then a more flexible option would be a good APS-C or FF system.

Thanks both, Urbanmeister when it came to my ARPS assessment using a panel of 15 of these images the judges picked up on the more positive outcome of the COVID pandemic these illustrate in contrast to the dozens of more gloomy and downbeat submissions they see.

In the latest instalment of my journey with the local allotments my enthusiastic agent there has posted a double page spread in our village newsletter, local Facebook page and their website: link

My photobook is here: link

I can recommend to anyone who is stuck for an idea of where to go with their photography to get involved with a local community group and start a long term project.

Cheers

It really is frustrating that Ricoh are obsessed with special editions and developing niche versions of cameras with an already tiny market share. The news that an updated full frame is unlikely but there might be lower spec versions is also filling me with despair, they don’t need to change the prism as suggested but just bring in the autofocus improvements from the K3.III and increase the megapixel count to around 45. Surely those could be done without altering the body much but neither is on the agenda. Sadly if my K1 fails I will have to look elsewhere for replacement. How do we make our views known to the management at Pentax?

Happy Christmas everyone, just enjoying the quiet period before the chaos. My inbox is already filling with sales offers from sites I bought online presents from,, helpfully telling me that they are all at reduced prices now!

I have just watched a YouTube of a professional saying how wonderful his Sony is - if you avoid the opaque menu, set four or five anonymous buttons to function how you want, keep blowing dust off the sensor and hope the weather sealing works, as well as tape the lenses so the aperture ring doesn’t accidentally move from A mode. Really? Why are they buying this badly designed stuff? Any other manufacturer would be slammed for this so I am puzzled why so many in the survey list Pentax as their favourite brand then buy something else, unless it’s the huge marketing through all media that Sony do and all the pundits declaring mirrorless is the only way to go.

Thanks Steve, actually the final photo will be shot looking out from a window at a couple walking up the drive! I am waiting for the National Trust house down the road to open as it is sufficiently spooky.

If the camera was changed to a film camera would the negatives be date stamped?

The photographer had lived alone with no family to mourn his passing. His house laid empty for five years, furniture gathering dust until finally new owners moved in and started cleaning when they found a bag tucked away under the stairs. Inside was a beautiful Pentax camera and to their surprise the battery still retained enough charge to turn it on; their curiosity piqued they found the button to view the photographs he had recorded, and marvelled at the atmospheric scenes recorded therein.

That evening over dinner he suddenly said “What was the date the agent told us the chap died – wasn’t it Christmas Eve 2015?” “Yes, why?” she replied. “Take a look at the dates on these last files, they are all of the months following. And the place has been boarded up since.”

Here are the photos they found.












Now, should the last photo be of an ethereal sunlit garden to invoke paradise, or a darker theme with a couple walking up a garden path?

Happy Christmas everyone!

Ricoh printers are exclusively in the commercial end of the market, but wouldn’t it be nice if they introduced photo printers?