Hi John,

I don't have the Sigma (own the DA12-24) but if I was in your situation I'd be asking myself a couple of questions...

1. Do I often find I prefer to leave the "bulky" zoom at home and shoot with the DA15mm?

2.How often do I shoot at 10mm and do I find even this restricting?


A yes to question 1 would stop me parting with the DA15mm for sure and if I didn't use 10mm much I wouldn't even consider selling the 10-20. Sorry for answering a question with two more but I think these are probably more important than any difference in IQ between the two sigmas, which I can't imagine is much

Simon

PM sent

1/3 stops here too - on my previous Pentax bodies (K10D & K20D) I always had +0.7ev permanently set but the K5 doesn't seem to have the underexposure characteristics of previous models so I now start at 0EV.

I still intend pushing the exposure as far right as I can (shooting in raw) as I like to lift shadow detail and prefer to keep noise to an absolute minimum in these areas - the increased DR of the K5 should help here too, haven't had chance to try it so far though

Simon

The response from Pentax is very disappointing, ok it's not a critical part of the camera but they use it to best effect in their promotional material so should really ensure that if it's not always 100% accurate from the factory users have the option of sorting it out themselves.

Simon

An interesting comparison,

Personally I've always been under the impression that Pentax DSLRs were more targeted at landscape photographers and to be completely honest if I were into action/sports or wildlife photography I more than likely wouldn't own a Pentax right now, despite the advances made by the K5 as it still seems to lag behind the competition in those areas.

Simon

I don't miss it myself as I was always catching it accidentally on the K20D, to be fair it's not too difficult to switch SR on/off using the info button and selection keys. Infact I really like the new "setup" screen that they've added to the LCD - very useful

.

Just to confirm this is now also for sale on Ebay - I'm happy to end the auction early if someone wants to make an offer, at least whilst no bids have been received

Simon

Pretty much the same experience I had with them a couple of years or so ago when buying a Sigma 17-70, I cancelled the order and bought elsewhere

I thought I'd follow this one up with Pentax support - here's the response:



Thank you for contacting Pentax.
The electronic lever alignment is a aid for the photographer, but we cant garantee that will be 100% accurate.
There is no way to manually ajust the level.

If you are in need of further assistance, please respond to this email or call our technical support center.

Sincerely,
Tiago Martins
Pentax Imaging Technical Support

I'm glad I read this thread - a well needed reminder of the pros and cons of stabilisation, it also possibly provides some explanation of why my recent panning shots of the Welsh Three Castles rally didn't turn out as good as hoped - I left stabilisation on which I'm now inclined to think I shouldn't have.

Simon