New DSLR - Pentax K5

[Eyeayen]

Originally Posted by amk1977

I wouldn't mind Nokia taking them over, provided that the in-focus beep wasn't replaced by their annoying ring tone lol.

I can just see Dom Jolly on Trigger happy TV with a massive foam camera in the centre of some posh picture gallery replacing his HELLO I'M ON THE PHONE ! with EXCUSE ME I'M TRYING TO TAKE A PICTURE !

Priceless

And I'll second the review being translated into English with the reward of a few alcoholic beverages of your choice

[amk1977]

Originally Posted by Eyeayen

I can just see Dom Jolly on Trigger happy TV with a massive foam camera in the centre of some posh picture gallery replacing his HELLO I'M ON THE PHONE ! with EXCUSE ME I'M TRYING TO TAKE A PICTURE !

Priceless

And I'll second the review being translated into English with the reward of a few alcoholic beverages of your choice

LMAO! I too pictured Dom Jolly with a huge camera and the ring tone going off in an art gallery. Der na ner ner, na ner na ner, na ner.That's both freaky and hilarious!

YUP. CIAOOOOOOOOOOO!

[chris-p]

Perhaps I should clarify - that's not my opinion, it's what the reviews will say...

Originally Posted by HinFrance

"Yeah, but it won't, and we all know it. It's ergonomically not as good and it lacks the AF-S/USM".

Let me just stop you right there. Pentax ergonomics are absolutely the best. Nikon next, then Canon and their endless menu system and buttons located for use by gibbons with finger extensions.

I know what you mean H, but it's personal preference, especially ergonomics. The reviews will say that it's fine but not as ergonomically sound as (it seems) all reviewers have gibbon fingers and really like Canon handling...

Originally Posted by HinFrance

And it will come as a shock to all those people with Pentax SDM and Sigma HSM lenses (K10D onwards) to learn that although they appear to work perfectly on the cameras they must be mistaken, because Pentax don't have it. Well they don't have the Canon version obviously, but I don't think the lenses fit anyway

You're right, but I've actually seen reviews that say this. Because it's screw drive on some lenses, the automatic assumption is that it's rubbish. They don't seem to do this with Canon or Nikon but they 'push' their products more (read as "pay more for advertising and give away many more freebies").

Originally Posted by HinFrance

I know that next month's French mags will have full, thorough and unbiased reviews of the K5 and D7000.

I'd love to see some of those reviews - it'll be an interesting comparison.

[HinFrance]

Obviously the reviews will be copyrighted, and I won't be nicking their graphs, but I'm quite happy to précis the conclusions and any bits of detail that seem to me to be particularly interesting.

So now we just have to wait

You're right Chris about the assumption that because a lens is screw drive it won't focus fast. It does, of course, depend a lot on the lens. Oddly enough I find that my old KAF lenses dating from the 35mm film camera days focus much faster than the more recent lenses. The Pentax KAF 50mm f1.4 and Tamron 80-210 f4.5-5.6 focus really quickly. I guess they must have fewer internal elements to shift about.

[Mr Bump]

Originally Posted by chris-p

And most magazines will review the K5, just not till they've got through all the other cameras from the companies that really push for the reviews to be published.

Or might the delays be as a result of the bizarre circumstances surrounding the launch of the K7? (see reminder here) Could it be that reviewers and/or Pentax are playing it safe this time?

[amk1977]

Originally Posted by HinFrance

Obviously the reviews will be copyrighted, and I won't be nicking their graphs, but I'm quite happy to précis the conclusions and any bits of detail that seem to me to be particularly interesting.

So now we just have to wait

You're right Chris about the assumption that because a lens is screw drive it won't focus fast. It does, of course, depend a lot on the lens. Oddly enough I find that my old KAF lenses dating from the 35mm film camera days focus much faster than the more recent lenses. The Pentax KAF 50mm f1.4 and Tamron 80-210 f4.5-5.6 focus really quickly. I guess they must have fewer internal elements to shift about.

My Tamron SP90 has its own focus motor and is painfully slow (literally must be close to the 2 second mark when going from infinity to closest focal distance. My Tokina 28-80mm f/2.8 which relies on the D90 camera body to focus is extremely quick. I've read other cases of motorized lenses being slower than their screw driven counterparts too. You would be forgiven for thinking that because a lens has its own dedicated motor that it would be faster. Its not always the case though.

If you need any help with the translation Hin, I may be able to assist you. I can still remember how to ask where the swimming pool is and how to order an icecream in French. My linguistic skills are at your full disposal sir

[HinFrance]

Originally Posted by amk1977

If you need any help with the translation Hin, I may be able to assist you. I can still remember how to ask where the swimming pool is and how to order an icecream in French. My linguistic skills are at your full disposal sir

You're too kind If I do come across any ice-cream or swimming pool related passages that I am struggling with, you'll be my first port of call.

Bearing in mind what you said about the Tamron SP90, I just went and tried my screw focus driven one. Interestingly, less than a second from closest focus to infinity. Mind you, it can hunt like mad sometimes. Actually, I guess the truth of it is they are all screw driven, it's just that some lenses have the motor inside rather than outside.

[amk1977]

Originally Posted by HinFrance

You're too kind If I do come across any ice-cream or swimming pool related passages that I am struggling with, you'll be my first port of call.

Bearing in mind what you said about the Tamron SP90, I just went and tried my screw focus driven one. Interestingly, less than a second from closest focus to infinity. Mind you, it can hunt like mad sometimes. Actually, I guess the truth of it is they are all screw driven, it's just that some lenses have the motor inside rather than outside.

I'm not surprised the older SP90 is quicker focussing than the new one that I have. I read too that the Tamron 28-75mm is exactly the same. The screw driven one is quicker than the motorized. For posed portraits and macro its a fine lens but, I rarely bother to use mine for anything other than that because its just too slow to focus.

[HinFrance]

You could always try manual focus TBH that's what I do with mine more often than not.

It would be a shame not to use it because of the AF issues - many, if not all, telephoto macro lenses suffer from hunting and relatively slow focusing - because they have such a long focal range. The SP 90 is a brilliant lens (AF aside), sharp as a razor and with brilliant bokeh. It's my prefered portrait lens - well, that and the 50mm f1.4

[amk1977]

Originally Posted by HinFrance

You could always try manual focus TBH that's what I do with mine more often than not.

It would be a shame not to use it because of the AF issues - many, if not all, telephoto macro lenses suffer from hunting and relatively slow focusing - because they have such a long focal range. The SP 90 is a brilliant lens (AF aside), sharp as a razor and with brilliant bokeh. It's my prefered portrait lens - well, that and the 50mm f1.4

As you say, optically its a fantastic lens and the bokeh is really ncie on it too. It does get used on occassions, but mainly for macro or posed shots. I mainly do portraits of my nephews who at 3,5 and 6 years old, are constantly on the move. The SP90 can't keep up in AF and the FOV is so narrow on it too, compared to my Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D, which is why I use that lens for portraits the most.