[kyteflyer]

Well, if you buy the camera TODAY (sat) you can join us for World Pentax Day tomorrow. Look in the group meet forum - there's a few of us meeting at St. Peters station at 11am - great opportunity to meet other Pentax owners. Even my non Pentax friend is coming along!

LOL! Thanks, Christine... I do have two other Pentaxes I could use... however, I am unsure if I could make it to Sydney tomorrow, though I'd love to come. Which train line is St Peters on? I'd be having to come by train if I did come, so would be coming in to central from the Newie line. Just considering it right now, there are other variables which will come into play, over which I have no control.

[edit] silly me, totally forgot about Tripview on my iphone. St Peters is on the bankstown line... however... I won't be able to come, I'm just not up for train-bus-train, and train-bus-train on the return. Trackwork between Gosford and Central and my motivation just ebbed away at that. I'll do Newcastle stuff.

[Christine Tham]

Trackwork between Gosford and Central and my motivation just ebbed away at that. I'll do Newcastle stuff.

Yuck - how awful - that would be a real pain.

Glad you told me about the trackwork - that would affect me as well :-(

i was planning to drive anyway, but was considering the train as an option. not any more.

[Edit: apparently not. Just checked CityRail, and trains still operating between Gordon and City. Thank goodness!]

[kyteflyer]

Yuck - how awful - that would be a real pain.

Glad you told me about the trackwork - that would affect me as well :-(

i was planning to drive anyway, but was considering the train as an option. not any more.

[Edit: apparently not. Just checked CityRail, and trains still operating between Gordon and City. Thank goodness!]

Oh maybe it was Gosford to Hornsby. Its still a bit of a pest

[macTak]

I'm probably about to pull the trigger myself. Epson has come back with the $400 rebate on DSLRs +R1900 printer. By the time I sell the printer, etc. I figure my total (purchasing from B&H) will be about $1140. That may have just hit my range. The rebate is good through April 2, so the only question is whether to buy now or wait and see if the price of the K-5 falls a bit more before then.

[Chex]

I can't see it dropping more than $50-$75 in that time unless they have production numbers up... then they could drop it to compete with the D7000's price and really mop the floor with the competition.

[macTak]

I can't see it dropping more than $50-$75 in that time unless they have production numbers up... then they could drop it to compete with the D7000's price and really mop the floor with the competition.

Agreed, if it will even drop at all. But every little bit less helps...

[weatherwise2]

We I read this last week and the comments put me over the edge and got it delivered from B&H on Wednesday this week. Tested for the stains today no problem. Love it. going to a flower sow tomorrow. will drive everybody crazy while I make all the adjustments. don't stand behind me!

[TOUGEFC]

Being looking at the K-5 serial database and it seems that almost all of K-5's with serials 392xxx and higher are problem free and these all have purchase dates of January and Febuary.

[kyteflyer]

I'm now torn between K5 and Fuji X100. I'm selling my Tammy 18-250 tomorrow (last time didnt come off) and will then have some $$ to put toward whichever I decide on... but I am having a great deal of difficulty making a decision. Already have K200 and K-r... which I would feel obliged to sell if I went K5, (no need for both, then)...maybe I could get both the K5 and the X100 and sell everything else I have!

Blinkin' 'eck!!!

[Wheatfield]

How ironic. I've been reading about the big questions, i.e. is the FF issue fixable and will Pentax do so, if it is? My doorbell just rang and it was UPS delivering my 2 year extended warranty on the K5 I just returned for exchange to B&H. I am very happy to hear that some members have been spared the angst buying an expensive camera that in many instances and for many people does not work as promised. I don't see the warranty as having any benefit if what is wrong with the camera can't or won't be fixed by Pentax. If there is no cure for the FF issue, for those affected, then having a warranty will be of little use. If Pentax had acknowledged the problem and confirmed that they were indeed working on it (timeline not required), I might have a little more hope than I do right now. The returned K5 won't reach B&H until Wed. of next week. If Pentax hasn't announced a firmware fix by then, my Pentax lenses will be up for sale in the Marketplace and Nikon will have another customer. The thought makes me really sad.

Just don't buy a D7000. Apparently it is plagued by focus issues as well as a few other things that are making users unhappy.

[Christine Tham]

I'm now torn between K5 and Fuji X100. I'm selling my Tammy 18-250 tomorrow (last time didnt come off) and will then have some $$ to put toward whichever I decide on... but I am having a great deal of difficulty making a decision. Already have K200 and K-r... which I would feel obliged to sell if I went K5, (no need for both, then)...maybe I could get both the K5 and the X100 and sell everything else I have!

Some thoughts - since you already have the K-r, you already have good high ISO performance coupled with a fairly good sensor, and decent fps.

The X100 would be attractive as an alternative camera for the times when you don't really want to carry a bunch of lenses with you.

The K-5 does have a better sensor with more resolution, higher dynamic range, a better viewfinder, and slightly better specs all round (compared to the K-r). I'm not sure that's a compelling upgrade for you - but of course it is your decision - you need to weigh when you will need the extra specs.

PS - raining at the moment, so not going to the Pentax meet up in St. Peters. Blasted weather!!!

[lsucadien]

I wouldn't buy it. I just received mine two days ago and the autofocus is beyond disappointing. I want to love this camera more than anyone, I'm a traveller and backpacker who got tired of the Nikon bulk I owned. I'm afraid the camera has to go back, along with the limited primes I bought for it. This camera has an obvious design flaw, I don't know how anyone can accept this for 1400+ bucks.

[macTak]

Well, I couldn't resist and ordered mine tonight! It's certainly is going to be an upgrade over my K100D, and AF doesn't really matter as I use almost entirely MF lenses (and will put it a split-screen).

[Chex]

Yeah, that crazy manual focus setting must not work for those situations that you would normally FF in...At least Pentax is acknowledging and working on it. If the store won't take your Limited's back, please put them up in the market! I would assume frustraded people wanting to get rid of their pentax gear would be willing to take a good hit on their stuff... $200 for your 70/77mm?

[lsucadien]

Yeah, that crazy manual focus setting must not work for those situations that you would normally FF in...At least Pentax is acknowledging and working on it. If the store won't take your Limited's back, please put them up in the market! I would assume frustraded people wanting to get rid of their pentax gear would be willing to take a good hit on their stuff... $200 for your 70/77mm?

Return policy = full refund.

Before I got my own K5 and experienced the front focus issues I just assumed these people were being too picky. I no longer feel that way.