Let me see if I can dig up the information from dpreview on K-5 batteries. Essentially it showed that all are quite bad except the Pentax and Hahnel ones.

A warranty covers defects in manufacturing. If you use a non WR lens in the rain I doubt even an insurance company will pay out. If you use a WR lens in the rain and it fails you may have a good case for it being faulty and getting a replacement under warranty.

The new Sigma 8-16mm looks amazing, very sharp across the whole frame.

I wish Pentax had a wide DA* zoom. Even an 11-16 would be good, although I have no idea how good that Tokina design is.

EDIT: Just checked the Canon review of the Tokina 11-16 on photozone. Amazing resolution figures. Looking at photos from the Sigma is seem just as good and wider!

I have always worried more about my DA* 16-50 in the rain as it has a double barrel zoom mechanism which does let air in and out as you zoom. I have still used it in the rain but am more careful.

On the other hand, the DA*50-135 with its one piece construction I have used in torrential rain with the on-board flash!

It is quite funny seeing other camera users run for cover and they look at you like you are mad letting the camera and lens get soaked.

Water could get into the mount and lens. You would ruin your camera and lens.

I have an A50 f1.7 that is over 25 years old and still working well. Optically it is superior to any f1.4 versions out there and is sharp wide open.

The extra half stop on the 1.4 does not collect any more light on a DSLR but does allow for narrower DoF.

Also depends how wide a lens you need. 28mm is not wide at all, it is like using a 43mm on a FF camera. 43mm is the perfect 'normal' lens for k-mount as it is the same focal length as the register distance and the film diagonal. 28mm will look similar on an APS-C camera. It is not wide but it is a nice focal length to shoot. If you want wide then the 20mm (30mm FoV) would be much better.

There was a similar thread on dpreview recently and someone posted photos taken with the Sigma 20mm f1.8.

The bokeh was very good. Amazing to see with a wide angle lens. Made me want to get one. Sadly no HSM, perhaps I'll wait for a refreshed version.

The extra stop and a third would make a difference compared to my 16-50 f2.8.

Too many nice lenses out there, too little money here.

I think they still do free postage for PU members.

Metz do provide the flash duration values in the back of the manuals.

For the 58 AF-1 and AF-2

1/1 = 1/125
1/2 = 1/650
1/4 = 1/1500
1/8 = 1/3200
1/16 = 1/5500
1/32 = 1/9000
1/64 = 1/14000
1/128 = 1/22000
1/256 = 1/33000

By the way these are FULL flash duration not PEAK flash duration which is what Pentax publishes with their flashes.

Only full duration figures are accurate for deciding what will properly freeze motion and not have blur. It also means you can use the full power of the flash and not just the peak output. As the figures for peak don't give details you may be losing 10% perhaps, nobody really knows.

I agree, that one is fantastic with the foreground detail and reflection plus the star trails.

It still seems to have K10D green to magenta gradient though, then again the water might be green and the sky purple.

If I have a critical shot with this problem I'll shoot a dark frame and then subtract it in photoshop. A bit of a pain considering I'm then left with a PAF and a PSD. Wish I could afford CS5 so I could edit without converting the file and switch back and forth with Lightroom.