[matix]

They are really great shots of Peru Russ, I think I really lucked out on this lens purchase...

Phil

[MShawn63]

Ok, this is killing me. I'm going to have to trade in and trade up and get the Tamron 18-250. Based on the images everyone has posted, all of which are really wonderful, you've convinced me.

Thanks
Shawn

[Confused]

Hi Shawn

Have you heard that Tamron have just released a 10mm - 500mm F1.2 Super-zoom with no barrel or pincushion distortion whatsoever. It only weighs 2 tons and simply requires a mule to transport it !
I hope that the Shake Reduction on my K10D is working properly, because my pictures have all started going ever so slightly fuzzy. Goodness, I DID have a lot more to drink than I thought this evening and my eyelids are getting very droooopy. I'm just going to put my Tamron 18mm - 250mm to bed now, so sweet dreams.....

Best regards
Richard

[Confused]

On a more serious note, I've posted this thread on the main Pentax DSLR page, but had no response so far, so here goes:

I've been noticing some weird auto-focusing anomalies/problems lately with my new Pentax K10D body, D BG-2 grip and Tamron 18mm - 250mm DiII lens. With the camera in Green (Auto) mode, the K10D 'AF point switching dial' is normally set to either Auto or Centre and the D BG-2 grip is attached to the camera with batteries in both body and grip. If the camera is switched ON I initially half-depress the shutter button on the main body, the AF square lights up red and the lens focuses. However if I lift my finger off the shutter and then half-depress the shutter button again to recompose, NOTHING happens ! It's as if something freezes or locks-up internally ? What I did notice the last time I used the camera was that the shutter-release on the D BG-2 grip had somehow been inadvertently switched ON without me noticing !! Turning the shutter-release switch on the D BG-2 grip to the OFF position immediately cured the problem !!!! I thought that it was o.k. to have BOTH shutter-releases switched ON at the same time and to simply select the one on the body or grip as required (when shooting landscape or portrait mode respectively). I have set the battery select option to exhaust the battery in the grip first and then to switch over to the battery in the body if required. If I have missed something 'obvious' or made a 'stupid mistake' (it's not entirely unknown !), I'm prepared for the ear-bashing that will inevitably follow.......any thoughts on this matter would be gratefully received !!

Best regards
Richard

[daacon]

On a more serious note, I've posted this thread on the main Pentax DSLR page, but had no response so far, so here goes:

I've been noticing some weird auto-focusing anomalies/problems lately with my new Pentax K10D body, D BG-2 grip and Tamron 18mm - 250mm DiII lens. With the camera in Green (Auto) mode, the K10D 'AF point switching dial' is normally set to either Auto or Centre and the D BG-2 grip is attached to the camera with batteries in both body and grip. If the camera is switched ON I initially half-depress the shutter button on the main body, the AF square lights up red and the lens focuses. However if I lift my finger off the shutter and then half-depress the shutter button again to recompose, NOTHING happens ! It's as if something freezes or locks-up internally ? What I did notice the last time I used the camera was that the shutter-release on the D BG-2 grip had somehow been inadvertently switched ON without me noticing !! Turning the shutter-release switch on the D BG-2 grip to the OFF position immediately cured the problem !!!! I thought that it was o.k. to have BOTH shutter-releases switched ON at the same time and to simply select the one on the body or grip as required (when shooting landscape or portrait mode respectively). I have set the battery select option to exhaust the battery in the grip first and then to switch over to the battery in the body if required. If I have missed something 'obvious' or made a 'stupid mistake' (it's not entirely unknown !), I'm prepared for the ear-bashing that will inevitably follow.......any thoughts on this matter would be gratefully received !!

Best regards
Richard

Richard

I trierd various combinations of Meter Mode , leaving both the grip 'on' and then swtiching it off to on for the second half way shutter release and was unable to reproduce your issue. Each and every time the Lens re-focused.

I left the battery consumption to whatever is default and I am also running the latest firmware 1.3 I think - have you updated your firmware ? Try unseating the batter grip and plug it back in. These are just like computers sometimes they just need a kick in the A$$ (try reseating the Lens as well).

[Confused]

Hi "daacon"

Thanks for your reply. My K10D is still on Firmware v. 1.0 and having read the thread about the poor guy who totally 'screwed-up' his camera by doing so, I'm somewhat reticent to upgrade as I have no intention in purchasing any DA SDM lenses in the immediate future. I really wish that the photographic store from where I purchased my camera could have offered to do this for me, because if something had gone wrong then it would have been their responsibility and NOT mine !! I suppose I shall have to gather up the courage to do this, but why I should have to return the camera to Pentax in the unlikely event that something goes belly-up during the process is quite beyond me !!! On a separate matter, I also read somewhere that when the battery in the grip dies first, the camera subsequently has to be switched OFF and then ON again BEFORE it will start using the second battery in the body ! Seems like an preventable 'oversight' to me.....would v. 1.3 Firmware possibly cure this anomaly ? What do YOU think ?

[daacon]

Hey Richard

You can call me Dave - it is burried in my sig . I have successfully updated two versions of firmware and I would assume so have thousands of others. As to what each version fixes you can review the Read Me Files which have a list of fixes. Version 1.1 fixed quite a few things and only version 1.3 added SDM support. The instructions are on that page as well. Personally I think the biggest issue you can run into is if your power dies during the upgrade and that warning is there as well. If you are not comfortable doing it , download the file , print out the page and ask your camera store to do it , they may or may not. I suggest you do it , yes something can go wrong and fry your camera , out for repair, but the same can be said for every time you jump into a car something could go wrong. Anyway your call.

As for the battery grip - I am not sure. I don't think I have ever been close to having the batteries drained. I tend to recharge them after a day of shooting. That would indeed suck as you know the power would go out on that once in a lifetime shot ! Might want to start a new thread with that question.

Good Luck

[MShawn63]

Hi Confused, do you think my monopod can handle the new 2 ton lens

Seriously, with the added range and quality that I'm seeing not only from the pictures posted here in the forum but from the reviews I've read on the lens it just seems to make sense to trade up.

Don't leave your 18-250 alone to long I might cross the pond and "borrow" it.

[Confused]

Hi MShawn63.

I might cross the pond and "borrow" it.

You'd better wear 'Wellington Boots' and two pairs of warm socks for the journey, because it's only fair to warn you that the water's 'quite deep' in places ! As for the 18-250, FYI I currently store it under the wife's pillow at night-time because she's way more vicious than the rabid pack of '250' Doberman's which currently patrol the grounds of our Country Estate ! It's been in our family for '18' generations, don't you know !
I'd also keep a look-out for the floodlit machine-gun towers on the roof and my personal Aircraft-Carrier concealed in the reed-beds !! Sleep tight y'all.....

Best regards
Richard (the Lionheart)

[Confused]

Hi "you can call me Dave"

Well just "Dave" then and thanks for the useful 'Read Me Files' link. It seems that v 1.1 addresses more issues than I'd at first realised, so I'll probably go ahead with v 1.3 in the near future. I received advice to use the Firmware download from Pentax's site in Japan rather than the UK one, which I find slightly odd ?
Incidentally, I wonder why it is that new K10D's over here in the UK are still currently being sold with v 1.0 Firmware and not the latest v 1.3, for 'gawds sake'.

Best regards
Richard

[guygharvey]

Thanks for sharing this. I am excited about this lens.

For me photography is about fun. It's not about getting the sharpest, most perfect image.

A lot of my photography is telling the story and capturing the mood of family trips, hikes, camping trips etc. I am with my 6 year old son. I often want to take a wide shot of the scenery and then get a closer shot of my son doing something fun. With two lenses I have to make a choice either to focus on getting closer shots of my son or focus on the scenery etc. 90% of these photos stay on my computer in the form of slide shows that I share.

If I can capture a great expression on my son's face, the power is in the emotion it conveys. Yeah sure it might look better if it were taken with a Canon L lens but what the prime poopers need to understand is that I may have never gotten that picture because the right lens was in the camera bag.

So all power to all of you that get this lens and just enjoy the freedom to shoot whatever you feel like at the time as it comes up.

I think this lens can replace my 18-55 and 50-200 kit lens. I'll probably need to get 30 mm or 50 mm prime for inside people shots.

By the way, any reason to wait for the Pentax version?

[bymy141]

By the way, any reason to wait for the Pentax version?

If the optical results are the same; depends if Pentax is cheaper. Some will go for a brand name.

- Bert

[jgredline]

Hi Folks.
How does the 18-250 compare to the tamron 28-300?
I do have the 28-300 and am wondering if I should spend the money for the 18-250..Last week I bought the Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 and I love it!!!, but it did come down to a choice between the 18-250..Comments would be appreciated.

[Confused]

Hi jgredline

Here's what a forum member had to say about the Tamron 28-300mm he was selling......hope this summation may help ?

"Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3: Now $80 (was asking $100) shipped to US 48
This was an impulse buy. I had looked at several "superzooms" and wasn't impressed. I then saw this used in "EX" condition at KEH for around $120 total shipped. Most people said both this older circa-1999 model 185D full frame and the 25% smaller circa-2001 newer A06 full frame were better than the latest APS-C sized circa-2005 version, so I figured I'd try it. I then did some "test shots" of a letter with print on it from about 20' away with the DA 18-55, AF 28-105, DA 50-200 and this Tamron 28-300mm at 50mm, 100mm and 200mm (sans the DA 18-55 at 100/200 and the AF 28-105 at 200, obviously). No comparison, the text was barely legible with the Tamron 28-300mm. I guess that's why I hate superzooms, including this 10.7x. But you may not. The most I'll ever go with personally is the Sigma 18-125 (6.9x), and I probably won't even get that until I hand down my K100D to my wife. I'd rather just change lenses. Again, you may not want to".

Best regards
Richard

[bymy141]

Hi Folks.
How does the 18-250 compare to the tamron 28-300?
I do have the 28-300 and am wondering if I should spend the money for the 18-250..Last week I bought the Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 and I love it!!!, but it did come down to a choice between the 18-250..Comments would be appreciated.

Hi,

Sometimes is helps to look at hard facts and measurements.
Why don't you have a look at the following reviews:

Tamron Lens: Zooms - Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di AF (Tested) - SLRgear.com!

Construction Quality --- Image Quality --- Overall Rating

6.20 --------------------------- 6.20 ----------------- 6.60

Tamron Lens: Zooms - Tamron 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II LD Aspherical IF Macro AF (Tested) - SLRgear.com!

Construction Quality --- Image Quality --- Overall Rating

7.40 --------------------------- 8.20 ----------------- 8.20

Perhaps this works for you. It does for me.
Succes.

- Bert