This first shot is Barnstaple Library from about 25 feet away at the 16mm end of the zoom.

The second shot is taken 4 feet from the corner of the building (where the blond haired woman with the light blue jeans is standing in the first photo) at the 8mm end, with some post processing for perspective correction in PSE 11. The edges of the building still aren't 100% parallel! but they are better than as shot. This shot demonstrates the creatively this Lens can give you, i.e. making a normal unremarkable building look quite extraordinary.

Sigma has made some real quality groundbreaking lenses recently specifically for APS C cameras like the Sigma 18-35 F1.8 HSM Lens. When is Pentax (pretty much the only major Japanese camera manufacturer, not to have a full frame camera in its range) going to start producing a faster range of longer Lenses for their APS C cameras?
An F4 lens is ok, F2.8 is better, however an F1.8 would be even better.

Hi, I've got the Sigma 8-16mm and use it with my K30. I think it's a great lens, the 8 mm end just provides you with a fantastic field of view that next to no other lens can produce. Sure there are other ultra wide angle Lenses around but by the time you get to 8mm, most of then are fisheye lens.

I enjoy using it for architectural shots, where you can use the ultra wide field of view to capture shots that nobody else can.
I feel like it gives you the ability to warp space! I'll try and upload some shots later that I've taken with it.

Regards,
Peter Parker

Hi, I have a K30 and shot in raw all the time. I use 8gb class 10 SD Cards and normally find they are good for about 290 to 310 shots per card. I always take multiple SD cards with me on every shoot.
I prefer to use more smaller cards, just in case there are any problems you won't end up potentially losing so many images.
Hope this helps.

John, thanks for clearing that up for me, I thought the weekly photos had to be shot that week, that's why I haven't entered many yet.

John, for info, where are the competition rules located?

I thought the "must be taken in the period of the competition" ( I.e. month for monthly comp & week for weekly comp) clause applied to both competitions. If you check the EXIF data for all the current weeks photo competition, 'Wood' the majority of them shouldn't be allowed, as either weren't taken in the period or haven't got the date stamp included in the EXIF data?

Personally I think the 'must be taken in the period' is a good rule, as it encourages you to go out with your camera and look at things afresh. If people want an open entry (Pentax only of course) competition then why not formulate a competition based around the contents of the main gallery?

I'd welcome your thoughts!

Hi,
Iv'e got a Pentax K30 and shoot all my shots in both RAW and JPEG, there's a neat setting on the camera which saves every shot you take in both formats. I then transfer all the photos into Photoshop Elements 11, which has two elements to it (if you'll pardon the pun), a pretty good Organiser & a picture Editor.

Elements 11 gives you the ability to edit RAW imagines very easily, as soon as you open a RAW file Elements pulls up the relevant editing parameters, e.g. Exposure, Shadow, Saturation, Clarity, etc, and being new to Photoshop Elements, I'm finding it a lot more complicated to use all the standard editing facilities provided in Elements 11 to get anywhere near the same results on the JPEG version of the image.

Typical time to edit a RAW image; 2 minutes, the same image in JPEG using Elements Expert mode 8-10 minutes.

Editing RAW images in Photoshop Elements 11 is a doodle!

Hi,
Iv'e got a Pentax K30 and shoot all my shots in both RAW and JPEG, there's a neat setting on the camera which saves every shot you take in both formats. I then transfer all the photos into Photoshop Elements 11, which has two elements to it (if you'll pardon the pun), a pretty good Organiser & a picture Editor.

Elements 11 gives you the ability to edit RAW imagines very easily, as soon as you open a RAW file Elements pulls up the relevant editing parameters, e.g. Exposure, Shadow, Saturation, Clarity, etc, and being new to Photoshop Elements, I'm finding it a lot more complicated to use all the standard editing facilities provided in Elements 11 to get anywhere near the same results on the JPEG version of the image.

Typical time to edit a RAW image; 2 minutes, the same image in JPEG using Elements Expert mode 8-10 minutes.

Editing RAW images in Photoshop Elements 11 is a doodle!

Thanks Barrie, that's most helpful, there's a couple of local clubs I can follow up with.
Cheers,
Peter P.

Hi, does anybody know if there are any Pentax camera clubs or general photography clubs in the North Devon area?