As with many of these debates it really is courses for horses. What we use depends on a whole series of logical and illogical choices. Why, when digital cameras are so much more convenient and provide higher quality images, do I wander about carrying a 40 year old camera with a manual lens loaded with BW film? Because I, personally, find it enjoyable. Nothing more, nothing less. I don't have any axe to grind over film v. digital, manual focus v. autofocus, or APS-C v. FF. The kit I have (a) does the job I want it to (b) I can afford it just about and (c) I get pleasure from using it. If I won the pools tomorrow I'd go and buy a DA* 300, some Ltds and a Canon with the 18mm tilt-shift lens. As I wont win the pools tomorrow (I don't do them) I'll keep trawling ebay and car boot sales for interesting bargain glass.

K.

I love the depth of field scale on that A* 200mm macro. Basically equates to b@@@@r all even at f/32...

K.

Slightly bizarre metering is a well-known downside of using pre-A series glass on the K10/K20 (and I am guessing the K7?). I use the green button to get a rough idea and then adjust the exposure according to the histogram. Not much use for anything that moves, I know, but works well for static subjects.

I've never really understood why this cannot be sorted out or why we cannot have a non-"crippled" mount apart from the cost (which I doubt would really add much to the overall cost --- after all they have had a non-crippled version for 30 years!). All this faffing about "enabling use of aperture ring" in the menu and pushing green buttons when my LX/ME Super could do all that quite happily thank you very much (and get it right).

I suppose I should just be glad I can use my old glass and that Pentax didn't just abandon the K mount for something else entirely.

Cheers, K.

The only slow thing that causes problems with my photographs in the operator...



This is decidedly off topic but... When I was school I photographed a school play using XP1 at 1600 ASA. The 10x8 prints were remarkably free of grain, I was quite surprised. I still have them somewhere. It was the last time I photographed a play and the last time I used XP1...!

K.

I sympathise, it is the sort of thing I have been known to do. I left my bag on a train once (I got it back although mysteriously my ME Super had ceased to work and needed repair) and on another occasion I left it under a table in a restaurant in Sighisoara. Luckily it was still there when I ran back. My last cock-up was just last year when I left my ES on the back of a chair in a pizza place near the Barbican. A staff member had handed it in so I got that back too.

My only real disaster was when I left my ipod and noise cancelling headphones on an internal flight in the US. Never saw those again which was a double shame as both were presents from my girlfriend, and the ipod was a custom red one with "Krisravita" printed on the back.

Scatterbrained? Me... never...

I hope you have some luck getting them back, Mark.

Best wishes, K.

Uzbekistan is a rather extreme place. We have a project there that often runs into all sorts of problems.

The photographs are really very good. Let's hope international pressure helps, although I somehow doubt it.

K.

The main thing I have noticed using K series lenses on digital is that the auto-white balance gives a very different result than with more modern lenses. As I shoot RAW I can change that pretty quickly, or use one of the preset white balances (either in camera or by selecting it in Lightroom) so it isn't a problem but it does mean that one's initial impression on downloading is less favourable. I wonder why this is? A difference in the multi-coating perhaps?

Whatever the realities, the Ks and the Taks are certainly in vogue at the moment.

I wonder if an example from here is at least part of the explanation. A while back Malo heard that the Vivitar 28m close focus lens was a really nice one to use. So he got one, took some stunning photos and posted them. Of course, 99% of that is Malo being a great photographer but as a result, some of us (i.e., me) went off and bought one too. The internet makes the "fantastic lens" (or "duff lens") rumour spread really very efficiently!

Best wishes, Kris.

Actually the M40 is a little slower being a f/2.8. It isn't rare, there are always a few for sale on ebay but it is popular and the whole supply and demand thing cuts in. Its popularity is due to being a pancake which looks great on an MX, exactly as you say! I believe its IQ is actually quite reasonable (I think John had something to say about this a while back).

Back to the K-series... Yes, I suppose the models which were superseded by M-series version are rarer. I was just looking at Bojidar's website and noticed a 200mm f/2.5 which I have never seen on ebay. Some of the lenses never had M equivalents like the 105mm, one of which went for £156.00 today, and the 30mm f/2.8.

Best wishes, K.

I thought I was going to be the last entry (again) but someone else cut it even finer.

This sort of photograph is not my strength and I wasn't going to enter until I remembered this one.

Good luck all. I know who I would choose (and it isn't me ).

K.

Blimey, I didn't do anything about this. I had better pull my finger out.

K.