Thanks for the tip George, I'll give that a try

Tim,

The K5 definitely has excellent dynamic range and it does pull much more noiseless detail from shadows than any of the previous Pentax models I've owned.

Having spoken to Joe and heard what he had to say on filter use though he definitely convinced me that there's an opportunity to further improve my photography. It's not only to do with high DR situations but more to do with the additional creativity they provide and I feel I've been missing an opportunity by not really trying them out much.

Having tried the Cokins to start with and then the Hitech filters I did see color cast on both, the Hitech were slightly better - my thinking is that if I'm going to give it a serious try now I may aswell get the best and go with the Lee, expensive but I'm assured there's a reason for that

Simon

Everything now sold

Thanks

Simon

Good question John,

The standard holder can't be used with the 12-24,

The WA holder shows some vignetting at F4 to a miniscule amount at F16 - F8 & F11 are both fine from my experience but may need a slight amount of PP in the extreme corners depending on the subject/scene, most of the time I've not had to bother

Simon

I'm selling the following items which make up a great kit for landscape photography - ideally I'd like to sell them as a single item,

COKIN P SERIES STANDARD HOLDER
COKIN P SERIES WIDE ANGLE HOLDER
P SERIES 67MM & 77MM ADAPTOR RINGS
HITECH 85MM NDGRAD FILTER SET - HARD EDGE (0.3,0.6,0.9) - 1/2/3 STOPS
HITECH 85MM NDGRAD - SOFT EDGE (0.9) - 3 STOP
HITECH 85MM ND FILTER (1.2) - 4 STOP

All are in excellent condition, no scratches/marks etc - the ND filter is actually brand new/never been used

The 67mm adaptor fits the DA17-70, the 77mm fits the DA12-24

Price is £55 including postage

Any questions please ask

(also advertised elsewhere)

Thanks

Simon

Here's mine for landscapes 95% of the time:

Evaluative mainly (spot for high contrast metering)
Centre focus point
Raw
Iso 80
AV 95% of the time
Increasingly starting to use LV, terrific for shots with motion (waterfalls etc)and great for positioning NDgrads

Simon

I'm not normally one for joining in on Pentax "corporate" threads but the recent price rises have prompted me to comment on this one.

Personally I have no real interest in a "brand" as such, merely in a product and in this respect I'm extremely happy with the K5, I think Pentax have produced an excellent camera which deserves a little more credit than it perhaps gets from the general public so to speak.

Having said this there's no doubt in my mind that perceptions of Pentax are quite low in comparison to other marques and that it should really be making efforts to not only maintain its current customer base but also attract new ones and this is where the price rises really don't make sense.

As pretty much a niche player it probably has 2 main options - sell on price or sell on quality, at the moment it certainly doesn't have the status to sell on quality (despite how good the K5 is in reality) so personally the chance I see it having of expanding its customer base is by selling at reasonable prices and it's obviously decided that this isn't going to happen either.

It is difficult to see how as a brand it is going to gain more market share, unless Ricoh have dramatic plans we don't know about. Unfortunately at the moment I see the greater risk as being losing existing customers whilst gaining very few. I only want to see Pentax progress as I'm very happy with the equipment I have at the moment, I won't be making many purchases in future at the new pricing levels however and this move will almost certainly make me take a closer look at the offerings from other manufacturers when the time arrives to upgrade the K5, although this probably won't be for a while yet.

Simon

Sold pending payment

PM replied

PM replied but lens still for sale

I'm selling my Pentax DA 18-55 AL WR kit lens as I have the range covered by several lenses and it's just not getting used. It's in mint condition.

Looking for £40 including delivery

Thanks

Simon

[IMG]http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e68/STKITCHIN/IMG_1410.jpg[/IMG]