K20D or D90 ????????????

Thanks Michael.

I have to take a "safe"driving class to try and get a ticket reduced so I will be in and out tonight with the K20D on my mind.

I was tempted by Nikon D90 before you. I am still attracted to the greener pasture in Nikon and Canon

lands. I truly appreciate all inputs in this thread, especially the openness from Pentaxian who don't ask

wondering minds to get lost and ask these questions in Nikon or Canon forums. I raised similar

questions in Nikon forum and I sure feel like an idiot just as much as when I get hate mail from

PentaxForums dslr discussions

<br><br>

I wrote about my temptation on <a href="http://techtheman.blogspot.com/2008/09/nikon-d90-is-

tempting.html"><b>Nikon D90 Is Tempting</b></a> and I later wrote up the fictional stories inspired by Mis and

the story between Master Yoda and Luke Skywalker in <a href="http://techtheman.blogspot.com/2008/09/nikon-dark-

foces-with-nikon-d90-yodas.html"><b>Yoda training against Nikon Dark Forces</b></a>. I have been

successful in the resistance in thinking of SR in body that save cost. The ultimate boundaries for me is

that Pentax is best for serious amateur like myself. Until I make it a profession, I see less of a reason

to jump over to Nikon. Having said that, there are many things that I lust in Nikon or Canon for the AF speed and

noise control. It is a bit disappointing when K20D don't improve on AF speed.

<br><br>

Many Pentaxians claim that the AF speed don't bother them. I am not totally in disagreement but there are times

that I feel the shutter lag and the AF mechanics get in the way. I am 1.5 year amateur with Pentax dSLR and I learn

to shoot with manual focus lens and that helps in some of the slowness in AF. And when I shoot on MF, I can longer

blame on the slowness of the AF system, it is both a refreshing and a challenging experience that I see as a

welcoming challenge but we can do better when AF do improve in the next version.

<br><br>

More to come on why I stay with Pentax and not jump ship at the moment though K30 or the next versions seems

like a year away ...

If you are into landscape, please look no other place but the blog page of Justin in <a href="Mountain

Visions by Justin Serpico">http://mountainvisions.blogspot.com/</a>. I go there to get inspired on

landscape photography in all mountain places where I won't have the strength to explore to. The one

thing all Pentaxian use the term on Lens Buying Addiction (LBA) are on the variety of prime lenses. I

never thought I would be crazy enough to get limited lens. But before I know it, I have accumulated

three and I am in the period of excitement and scariest moment with my buying habbit . I can't qualify and justify

myself in owning any of these glasses, let alone prove myself worthy in shooting these glasses. But I

joked with my buddies in treating them as rental items in owning them for a short period and resell them at

a discounted price afterwards. The economy is CERTAINLY helping me to keep all the glass as no one

will buy them even at a good discount. These are the prime lens that Pentaxians are proud of. They

can complement the great zooms as in Pentax DA* 50-135 f/2.8 and Pentax DA * 16-50. I personally

get the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 instead for fear of lemon in the Pentax DA* 16-50.

<br><br>

<p align="center">

The pancake with <a href="http://techtheman.blogspot.com/2008/10/pentax-da-21mm-f32-test-

shots.html">Pentax DA 21mm f/3.2 Limited</a>

<br>

DA 21 on left next to <a href="http://techtheman.blogspot.com/2008/10/pentax-50mm-f17-pentax-f-17x-

af-tc.html">Pentax A 50 f/1.7</a><br>

<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3161/3022832643_888a578e44.jpg" />

<br><br>

The famous <a href="http://techtheman.blogspot.com/2008/11/pentax-fa-31mm-f18-limited-

purchase.html">Pentax FA 31mm f/1.8 limited</a>

<br>

<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3143/3022132627_3b2ef211bd.jpg" />

<br><br>

The portrait prime with <a href="http://techtheman.blogspot.com/2008/11/pentax-fa-77mm-f18-

purchase.html">Pentax FA 77mm f/1.8 limited</a>

<br>

<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3022/3022964282_41b0be8905.jpg" />

<br><br>

And if you want the fastest glass, look for <a href="http://techtheman.blogspot.com/2008/11/cosina-

55mm-f12.html">Cosina 55mm f/1.2</a> <br>

that is priced like a f/1.4<br>

<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3220/3022234927_6a18fe6e64.jpg" />

<br><br>

<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3044/3022233375_e0621239a9.jpg" />

</p>

Though I had to admit the sickness that I am in who slurp up all the good glass in a down market, I am

yet to find ways to earn the rights to keep them. Please pray for my sanity. And if you are nuts enough like me who

love to try all combinations of old and modernish old gear, my recent most charming is <a

href="http://techtheman.blogspot.com/2008/10/zeiss-jena-sonnar-180mm-f28-m42.html">Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar

180mm f/2.8</a> in Pentacon mount with M42 adapter that had an interesting history dated back in 193? where the

Germany used the glass for Telescope in Olympic game

<p align="center">

Hin calls it Zebra Football lens<br>

<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3014/2978915019_dfc4009b52.jpg"><br>

<a

href="http://techtheman.blogspot.com/2008/10/zeiss-jena-sonnar-180mm-f28-m42.html">Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar

180mm f/2.8</a><br>

and there seems no lacking of M42 lens, last I look at ebay<br>

<img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2386/2051360824_3cebb94e0c.jpg"/>

</p>

<br><br>

Hin,

Thanks for your response. I enjoyed the lens display. Quite impressive but wasted on my ignorance of their true value

and uses.

I'm in the middle of sorting and editing about 30,000 images taken during a week-long period by a team of eleven

photographers using Nikons, Canons, and one Pentax (guess who). The camera models and lenses are all pretty

state-of-the-art, some full-frame 5Ds, some D300s, lots of killer lenses.

You know, they all take wonderful images because the skills of the shooters were very very good and the baseline

quality of all of the equipment is at least good. My favorite was taken with a lowly, now-ancient Nikon D50 and

a 50mm 1.8.

I was in a team leadership role so had to help some folks (especially RAW shooters--the requirement was jpeg

only) deal with customizing white balance, and with lots of little things like activating AF-assist red beams

from a strobe. The differences that really matter between cameras is the design of the interface between the

user and the tool. How easy is it for you to make the camera do what you want it to do (and not vice-versa)?

This is really in my mind what makes Pentax superior: they have thought through many more likely scenarios a

working photographer would encounter and have engineered fairly elegant solutions. I saw this everyday. I had the

USER mode that is essentially a dial setting that batches all your shooting preferences in one big shortcut. It

enabled me to jump from my personal RAW shooting using aRGB and AWB and a low ISO etc. instantly to shooting

jpeg, sRGB, custom white balance, flash compensation boosted 1EV, ISO 1600. I was able to manually tweak my AF

using the Pentax lens "QuickShift' function by simply turning the focusing ring. I was able to work in

ISO-priority mode. I was able to visually see any dust on my sensor by looking at a jpeg image. I was able to use

hyperManual and instantly move to AV or TV modes if needed.

Though the Pentax menu language is not the most easy to understand, it is still in fairly plain English. My Canon

friends had to consult their manual for detailed procedures because all they could see were obscure number codes

that required a few

pages of translation.

So, when you go back to the store and play with the cameras some more (which is an outstanding activity and

should be done many times prior to committing to a camera system) be sure to have a few real life scenarios

sketched out on a piece of paper and then force yourself to use the camera to follow your script. You'll get a

pretty good idea of your preferences and the camera's capabilities. You'll also start bridging the knowledge gap

between the SLRs of your younger years, and today's DSLRs.

ME

Thanks ME

What do you guys think of the Pentax FA 28MM F2.8 AL Prime lens?

>What do you guys think of the Pentax FA 28MM F2.8 AL Prime lens?

I owned one of these for a year. It was a very good, but not great lens. It was sharp enough, but the contrast and color rendering never bowled me over. Nice small size though. With the APS-C format of the K10/20D, 28mm just is not wide enough for me to capture what I'd like. On film it's OK (24mm is better). Determining the wide angle focal length sweet spot is a very personal task. For me, 12-24mm is just right to capture big skies and awesome clouds.

ME

I have found the image quality of the FA 28mm f/2.8 to be really quite good. I like its small carying size and the semi-wide focal length is versatile. The DA 21mm f/3.2 Limited is a very fine prime lens, and even more versatile. A very good, ultra-compact, beautifully-made walk around prime. But these are really not fast prime lenses. With digital it is difficult to find a compact wide angle prime, especially one having a faster aperture. The excellent FA 35mm f/2 is a fast, fine lens, but no longer wide angle on a DSLR. You get a middle view, neither wide nor tele.

While not a compact lens, I can highly recommend the Sigma 24mm f/1.8 EX DG for a very good, very well built, fast prime with a convenient, versatile, moderately wide view.

Thanks Michael....

Been searching ebay this evening just seeing whats out there.

Just as a follow up- I have had the FA 28mm for many years. In fact, it was my 2nd AF lens, after my "F" 50mm f/1.7 which came with my first AF camera, the Pentax SF-1n. I recall now having seen a test report in Popular Photography, which gave it a top rating. I still have that report. Very impressive. Lens tests were much more thorough then. In fact, a few years later, Nikon came out with a new 28mm f/2.8 D lens, which was also given a glowing test report. The Nikon was actually somewhat better wide open than the Pentax, which still tested as good there, but in the middle apertures the Pentax was better than the Nikon, and virtually all other f/2.8 28mm lenses tested! The Pentax test also revealed low distortion, excellent flare control, light falloff gone by f/4 (excellent) and virtually no field curvature. November 1994 issue, if you care to check it out.

It provides the same field of view on a DSLR as the 43mm Limited on a film body. It is quite small, and I often use it on a DSLR as an alternative to my 21mm Limited. I paid about $225 for it new in 1995 dollars. If it is pristine and is a good deal, it is a very nice compact lens, IMO. But it is sought after, and may not go for cheap.

Thanks again Michael. I am starting to search the internet for possible lenses in preparation for what looks like a

K20d arrival at my house ( havent pulled the trigger yet though).