At a guess it is taking too long to calculate because there is not enough light getting in. Alternatively it could be that the light coming through is so far to one end of the spectrum that it logs an error.

Either way, is it not easy to just take the picture in RAW and amend the white balance on the PC? Should be relatively simple to correct the colour balance.

Wow! No disappointment with that pricing.

The only problem I have is the timing. Honestly, they wait so many years and then release it just before my annual bonus is due

How is a man supposed to resist that kind of temptation!?

Every response so far seems to be pushing the smaller-sensor waterproof compacts. I think Boudou has already answered why he doesn't want to use one so I'm not sure it is particularly helpful to keep suggesting them.

Taking action shots of surfing would be much easier with the shutter response, faster shutter speeds and lower ISO noise of a DLSR. If you want the best shots possible and be able to sell them (which it looks like Boudou does) then a compact wouldn't work.

Having said this, I'm not aware of any housings for the KS2 or K3. I don't think the market segment is large enough for manufacturers to recover the development costs of every Pentax model. There definitely used to be a K5 housing by one of the companies but I could only find it for sale in the US and that would incur import duties.

Good luck in the search.

It does look suspiciously similar to the Tamron. In that case the price seems very high. I'll be very interested to see comparisons of performance against the Tamron although cross-camera comparisons will never give the full picture. Should be a good indication of whether it is really worth so much of a premium though.

The first time you've visited his site?

I find the guy and his site baffling. If you want to read blatant Canikon propaganda and hyperbole it is great. If you want reviews and considered opinion it is not the place to look.

Don't think anyone has responded to your question regarding ICC profiles. I'm a novice in this area but hopefully can explain. An ICC profile is effectively a colour management profile that is particular to the inks/printer/paper combination you are using. If you go into the print options there will be a section for colour management where you can change the overall colour balance etc. The ICC effectively does this for you. You need to use software which is capable of utilising ICC profiles though when printing (eg Photoshop Elements). You also need to read up on how to use them.

The advantage is eliminating colour casts to prints and getting the best out of the prints.

HOWEVER

It needs to be matched with a calibrated monitor or you still might see a difference between the shots on screen and on paper. You can use a calibrated print to hold up against the monitor for a rough calibration.

Permajet have a very quick and simple system to provide ICC profiles for their paper. There's a simple guide on their website. Took me about 15 mins to prepare 3 of them. You use 1 A4 sheet up for each one but they sent me the profiles via email the day after I posted them in! I've used them over the weekend on the Permajet Oyster and the photos look fantastic.

Sorry Dave

Been away so missed your post. I bought the inks from CityInkExpress:

link

I spoke to them beforehand and they confirmed they were not the Claria inks (in name anyway) and were for the ink tank printer they sell overseas with 6 inks. They are dye inks though and I am very impressed with the print quality.

HTH

I can see Bill's point - price fluctuations create uncertainty and definitely make me think twice about buying new at any point in time. Unless I was desperate for a lens I would be tempted to wait for a few months to see if another round of offers came along. Saying that the 16-50 and 50-135 are the same price as 6 years ago is all good but if they were available at 2/3 the price within the last 6 months (which, according to Camera Price Buster they were*) then the current price doesn't look so good. That could be the price of secondhand.

Maybe Ricoh want to boost their sales before certain key dates, maybe they are depleting certain stocks, maybe they just want to raise their profile - who knows? All I know is that I can probably wait until another price drop if I am patient.


*I've no idea how accurate CPB actually is and haven't been monitoring the prices of these lenses. One of those prices listed was SRS in March though so don't seem to be unknown retailers. Maybe they could have been refurbs or something similar though.

Well the CIS system was less fiddly to fit than I expected. I took my time and made sure I followed every step. The written instructions were appalling but the online videos from CityInkExpress were very helpful.

[seeing the guy manhandle the new printers to demonstrate does mean I would never buy a printer from them though!]

So far no problems. No blotching of ink or inconsistent printing. The colour balance was different compared the the original cartridges which I expected. I have created some quick profiles for printing which have got me close. In terms of detail and contrast it all looks good and comparable to the original (to my eye).

I am going to take PermaJet up on their profiling offer as it seems very straightforward. That should give me a real benchmark to compare but so far I am very pleased with the printer and the CIS.

Thanks Carl - useful info.

That's the reason I'm going for the OEM inks in the CIS. I've heard good things about some 3rd party inks but I don't want to increase the risk of blockages. The 6-ink bottles available from Epson are still dye inks but apparently have less fade-resistance than the Claria inks. I'll try and remember to report back on the print quality to see if the contrast and colour representation is as good.