[NZ_Ross]

Please accept my very best wishes for your future and I do hope Pentax finally gets it act together; it will be too late for me but just now I'm one seriously happy chap.

Brian

Hi Brian - that is some very nice gear you have purchased. The D800 is a superb camera, and as you know will give you MF performance in a 35mm DLSR package. So have a very happy Christmas, and enjoy your photography.

Just because you have purchased Nikon gear, does not mean that you can't still contribute here - Arpe still does and he has had Nikon for a while, and it is all ok.

Honestly, if I was wanting a fully serious MF level landscape camera the D800 is almost impossible to beat on price / performance. Thankfully 16MP APSC is all I need for my photography, and the K5 does the trick nicely. It is all horses for courses ae.

Ross

[Class A]

Hi Brian,

I trust that you'll be happy with your new equipment and I don't want to criticise your move at all, but I don't agree with all your reasons to leave.

1) I now have a gold card and I really can't hang around for Pentax to get its act together which is sad as I really liked the K5 but there is no room for progression beyond that in the Pentax road map, certainly not in the immediated future.

There will be a new APS-C 24MP flagship in a few months. It is most likely that it will be followed by a full-frame model at the end of 2013. There will be new full-frame lenses as well, I'm sure.

2) My two stalwart lens, the DA*16-50 and the DA* 50-135 were fine performers but each time I turned the camera on the thing that was formost in my mind was "will it work?", enough said. The silence from Pentax is deafening and until that issue is formally resolved I was not prepared to invest in further glass and any enjoyment I had in owning those lens evaporated long ago.

Not sure why you stopped enjoying these lenses, despite the fact that your copies seemed to be immune to the SDM problem. I agree that the SDM issues of these two lens models have been an issue (other SDM lenses are nowhere near as problematic), but luckily there are a lot of alternatives.

3) Finally the lack of support from the local distributer along with difficulty in getting product - again enough said.

I agree that the local distributor is a catastrophe for the brand. However, there are alternatives, such as T-Dimension, Expert-Infotech, etc.

Again, I don't want to criticise your decision, just present a different viewpoint. I think even if I had all the money in the world, I'd stay with Pentax rather than going with Nikon. I'll have a Nikon as well, for the applications where Pentax isn't quite there yet, but my main gear would be from Pentax.

P.S.: I hope you receive this in the right spirit, Brian. Just regard it as a plea to my fellow Pentaxians to not all leave me as well.

[NZ_Ross]

Just regard it as a plea to my fellow Pentaxians to not all leave me as well.

Having moved the other way - from Nikon to Pentax a year ago, I'm good - really enjoying my K-5 and old and new Pentax lenses . So you won't be on your own...

Ross

[NZ_Ross]

Wishing everyone on this thread a very Happy Christmas and New Year, and much success and happiness with your photography.

Ross

[clevo]

Hi Brian,

I trust that you'll be happy with your new equipment and I don't want to criticise your move at all, but I don't agree with all your reasons to leave.


There will be a new APS-C 24MP flagship in a few months. It is most likely that it will be followed by a full-frame model at the end of 2013. There will be new full-frame lenses as well, I'm sure.


Not sure why you stopped enjoying these lenses, despite the fact that your copies seemed to be immune to the SDM problem. I agree that the SDM issues of these two lens models have been an issue (other SDM lenses are nowhere near as problematic), but luckily there are a lot of alternatives.


I agree that the local distributor is a catastrophe for the brand. However, there are alternatives, such as T-Dimension, Expert-Infotech, etc.

Again, I don't want to criticise your decision, just present a different viewpoint. I think even if I had all the money in the world, I'd stay with Pentax rather than going with Nikon. I'll have a Nikon as well, for the applications where Pentax isn't quite there yet, but my main gear would be from Pentax.

P.S.: I hope you receive this in the right spirit, Brian. Just regard it as a plea to my fellow Pentaxians to not all leave me as well.

Class A

One of the things I really like about this group is the feeling that we can say what we think without fear of flaming. I appreciate the fact that we all see things differently as do you, and in this forum we have the freedom to express our views as we see them. Your comments are welcome mate and they are taken in the spirit they were given.

Best regards
Brian

[pixelsaurus]

Youse guys have a Kule Yule. Cheers.

[cpopham]

Merry Christmas Everyone!

[NZ_Ross]

When there is a Pentax M 85/2 under the Christmas Tree

[Class A]

Your comments are welcome mate and they are taken in the spirit they were given.

Thanks!
Merry Christmas and I wish you a lot of fun with your new gear.

[Class A]

When there is a Pentax M 85/2 under the Christmas Tree

Oh, a nice one, that one is.

Congratulations!

[Transit]

When there is a Pentax M 85/2 under the Christmas Tree

Lucky sod

[Transit]

Bi-dom - kish. (that's a drum sound )

Pete

[Transit]

Sadly one less now, I confess I've just defected. I will miss this group, while I've had little to say I have called in each morning as part of my start up process at work and at various times on weekends. I haven't always logged in but it has been a long term part of my routine and one I have enjoyed very much indeed - thank you all for making this group sing.....

Good onya Brian, lifes too short etc.
Stay on board and let us know how you get on with all that bulk
cheers
Pete

[Transit]

... I'll definitely be heading over to Masterton on Wellington Anniversary weekend.

I'm tempted, need to leave at about 5 am if the Ohakea traffic debacle is any indication !

[zkarj]

I'm tempted, need to leave at about 5 am if the Ohakea traffic debacle is any indication !

Nah. I've been to all but one show at Masterton since '99 and they never have anything like Ohakea managed to create. I've also been to a number of events at Ohakea and not had those problems.

The sole issue with Ohakea '12 was they completely ****ed up traffic management – apparently by outsourcing it. Although I never saw anything which would constitute traffic management. As soon as we got in the vicinity things weren't looking normal. No diversion down Speedy Rd, the sign for Fagan Rd was small and buried in some long grass, and I never saw a police vehicle until we turned around and left, and even then he was nowhere useful for event management. He was just dealing with the heavy traffic that had been created on SH1.

I used to respect the RNZAF (my father served), but I think after successive governments ignoring the whole defence force, the last Labour government gutted them and they just don't care any more at the higher levels.

Masterton is a commercial event that has been successful for 12 years (6 shows), subject to weather.