Voting for our February "Birds" photo contest will only remain open through Tuesday, so make sure you get your vote in!  We've had a fantastic collection of over 170 photos this month, making this one of our largest contests to date!

The winners will be announced once voting closes.  Good luck!

You may view previous contest winners in our premier gallery.  Want to participate in this month's "Spring" contest?  Click here!

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Welcome to our first PentaxForums Pentaxian profile!  To read more about this series, click here. Without further ado:

Dave Mitchell - An Experienced, Enthusiastic Photographer

It was fall of 2008 and I had been using a point-and-shoot digital since the summer of 2002. Prior to that, I had used a Canon film SLR for six years. My photography had reached a point where I was longing for the flexibility of an SLR once again, and the price for DSLRs had reached a point where they were much more affordable. I saw the enjoyment that a good friend of mine was getting out of his DSLR, a Pentax, and so I felt the time had come to think about taking the plunge.

I hadn’t seriously begun my quest, which for a major purchase usually involves several weeks of very thorough research, but when the time came I was “naturally” going to check out what Canon had to offer. After all, I reasoned, the Elan IIE had been an excellent camera – it was the first “real” camera that I had cut my teeth on – so why even consider something different?

So with this at the back of my mind, I remember being at my Pentax friend’s house one day. I recalled the other occasions in my mind since we had met when I had seen him shooting with his Pentax, but I have to admit it was with a kind of skeptical, perhaps arrogant attitude like, ‘I wonder why he’s using a Pentax?’ But there I was and, again thinking about getting a DSLR decided, like a bolt from the blue, to quizzically ask him exactly why he was using a Pentax. I for the life of me had no idea why he was using one – or why anyone else was – but I have always had an interest in “different” things and why people like them, so it was asked out of curiosity instead of seeking direction about a camera purchase.

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We are happy to announce a brand new section of our site: the PF Pentaxian Profiles.  Accessible via the navigation buttons on the left side of our homepage, this new section will be dedicated to you: the Pentaxian.

Every two weeks or so, we will be posting the story of a forum member (or a group) that uses Pentax and has shown the Pentax spirit or has been successful in professional photography, Do you feel like a true Pentaxian?  Are you a pro?  If so, share your story with us!  It might just make it on the front page.

We expect to have our first story published by the end of this week.  Stay tuned!

Looking for more ways to stand out?  Submit a photo to our Exclusive Photo Gallery or participate in a Monthly Photo Contest!

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We're happy to unveil our review of the new Sigma 50-500mm F4.5-6.3 OS HSM lens!

Using it in the field was certainly a new experience for us, as no other lens for Pentax is as compact while offering such a long zoom range.  In fact, it's got 200mm more reach than the longest telephoto zoom from Pentax, the 55-300mm. We found it to be razor-sharp at all apertures and focal lengths, although its bokeh and distortion control was not as commendable.  Check our the review for more details!

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Today, Pentax introducted the second-generation Optio RS1500 digital camera, featuring easily-interchangeable cosmetic skins.  It will be replacing the RS1000, and appears to have more available skins than its predecessor.  Technical specifications remain the same; it features a 14-megapixel sensor, 4x optical zoom, 720p video recording, and a 3-inch LCD.

Pentax has also launced a dedicated site allowing you to design your own skin for the RS1500.

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Our philosophy is to make the content you're looking for as easy to find as possible.  Over the past several weeks, we've been making under-the-hood changes to improve the relevance of our forum search engine, improve searching in our equipment databases, and increase the relevance of tags and the "similar threads" area shown beneath every forum discussion.  In addition, we've spent a great deal of time ironing out some technical quirks, and have thus improved the performance of many parts of the website.  Finally, you might have also noticed changes on the homepage- for example, the in-depth review index how features lens thumbnails for easier browsing!

Today, true to this philosophy, we're unveiling a feature you can't miss: a "latest reviews" column for our three user review databases (Pentax lenses, Third-party lenses, and Accessories). This column, found on the right-hand side of the database homepages, will shown the 10 latest reviews that have been added.  Combined with the listing of most popular equipment at the bottom of every page, this feature will give you a quick snapshot of what's out there without having to sift through categories.  We hope you enjoy!

Our Pentax lens database is the Internet's most comprehensive listing of genuine Pentax lenses, complete with an entry for every known lens, as well as user reviews, technical specifications and photos for most of these lenses.  We're working hard to improve this already-invaluable resource, and appreciate any and all suggestions from you, the user.  They may be posted on the forum.

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We're happy to announce our review of the new Pentax D-FA weather-resistant 100mm F2.8 macro lens!

We find that this lens has superb image quality and has much-improved build quality over its non-WR predecessor.  While it's an excellent buy for the everyday macro shooter, its lack of internal focusing, an aperture ring, and a focus limiter may prove burdensome for mode advanced users.  Cheaper quality lenses are also out there.  Read the full review to find out more!

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As you may have already read, a devastating earthquake (the most powerful to ever strike Japan, and the 5th-largest earthquake in history) stuck Japan today.  It originated in the north, but affected cities as far away as Tokoy and beyond.  While we've heard that no significant damage has been done to Pentax facilities, the overall descruction of this quake was truly devastating.  Read more about it at BBCNews.

• Discuss on the forum
• Donate ot the Red Cross

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