[KC0PET]

It's a great camera to learn with, I think! At least it was for me. Of course the quality of the pictures will have more to do with the lenses. I believe you have quite a few good ones

Here's something I just edited from over a year ago, when I still had the K20D, with an old cheap 24mm manual focus lens.

Here is one with a somewhat cheap 24mm (Sigma Super Wide II) and the K20D. On the subject of lens quality I believe there are better inexpensive lenses in this focal length. I have gotten some great photos with this lens and camera combination, but it has been trial and error. I have a Vivitar 28mm manual lens that was cheaper and has better IQ.

[ChristianRock]

Here is one with a somewhat cheap 24mm (Sigma Super Wide II) and the K20D. On the subject of lens quality I believe there are better inexpensive lenses in this focal length. I have gotten some great photos with this lens and camera combination, but it has been trial and error. I have a Vivitar 28mm manual lens that was cheaper and has better IQ.

28mm lenses will always be cheaper and are generally sharper than 24mm lenses. And the Sigma Superwide II has quite a few fans here in this forum.
I love 24mm lenses on APSC by the way. Currently I have a Vivitar that is made by Cosina. Other than poor flare resistance it's a very sharp lens.

[E-man]

Please define ! :-)

Tony

I've just got more gear than I can reasonably use and there's quite a bit of redundancy in the lineup. You can see my cameras and bodies listed in my signature. What you don't see is I have three Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ50 cameras. I really love the FZ50, which is essentially a re-badged Lieca, although some might argue that the Leica V-LUX 1 is more accurately described as a re-badged Panasonic. Whatever... It's my favorite bridge camera and I took my avatar photo with it but do I really need three of them?

Meanwhile, back on the Pentax front, I'm thinking of letting the K2000 and the K100D go and I've got to get my lens fetish under control. I've got about 15 K-mount lenses, mostly kit quality zooms, including several with redundant focal lengths. I'm going to have to do a few shoot-outs with the various lenses to decide which to keep and which to send on their way. I've got two DA 18-55mm kit lenses. Do I really need to keep both? I've got four slightly longer zooms of various brands, a Takumar 28-80 macro, Sigma 28-28 macro, Quantaray 28-90 and Tamron 28-105. I'm definitely keeping the Tamron and at least one more. I've also got three longer zooms, a Tamron 70-300, a Pentax 100-300 power zoom, which I will likely keep, and a manual focus Sigma 100-300 that I will likely sell. I've also got a Sigma 70-210 that's pretty well covered by those longer lenses as well as a Tamron 28-200 (keeper), so it may go in the sell pile as well. Then I have are a couple of manual primes, a Pentax 50mm f2.0 and a Vivitar 28mm f2.8 macro made by Cosina, both of which I plan to keep. So yeah, there's plenty of room to prune.

BTW--The Samsung GX-20 arrived Thursday and I'm initially quite pleased with it although I'm annoyed with the fact that the battery grip for my K10D doesn't fit it because the holes for battery grip's locator pins don't quite line up. Really, there's no excuse for that. But hey, it's easy enough to swap batteries and not have the added weight and bulk to contend with. I'm looking forward to taking it out for some exercise this weekend and will post more about it later.

[KC0PET]

28mm lenses will always be cheaper and are generally sharper than 24mm lenses. And the Sigma Superwide II has quite a few fans here in this forum.
I love 24mm lenses on APSC by the way. Currently I have a Vivitar that is made by Cosina. Other than poor flare resistance it's a very sharp lens.

I am a fan of the 24mm on APS-C also. I also have a Cosina 24mm but it needs repair and has been sitting on the bench for a long time. I would like to get a hold of a K 24mm f/3.5 someday but they are hard to find. Not very many options of Pentax 24mm 1st party lenses.

[ChristianRock]

I am a fan of the 24mm on APS-C also. I also have a Cosina 24mm but it needs repair and has been sitting on the bench for a long time. I would like to get a hold of a K 24mm f/3.5 someday but they are hard to find. Not very many options of Pentax 24mm 1st party lenses.

What is wrong with it?
I took mine out earlier this week and got better results by completing the hood with my hand. So before I give up on it I think I will try to find a better hood.

[KC0PET]

What is wrong with it?
I took mine out earlier this week and got better results by completing the hood with my hand. So before I give up on it I think I will try to find a better hood.

The main problem with it is when you mount it on the camera the focus binds up and is hard to turn. It is something in the aperture lever and the way it is adjusted. The focus is pretty smooth off the camera. It also has some large debris inside the lens (lots more than the usual dust). I guess it needs a major overhaul and I am not sure I have the time and expertise to really fix it. I have done some minor repair and cleaning on lenses, but nothing like this. Realistically I will probably sell it for parts/repair and look for something else.

[35mmfilmfan]

I've just got more gear than I can reasonably use and there's quite a bit of redundancy in the lineup

Thanks, E-man. You could always use the excuse that you are protecting it from someone who might not be as careful with it as you are . . . . . This 'occasionally' works, for all manner of things !

[ChristianRock]

The main problem with it is when you mount it on the camera the focus binds up and is hard to turn. It is something in the aperture lever and the way it is adjusted. The focus is pretty smooth off the camera. It also has some large debris inside the lens (lots more than the usual dust). I guess it needs a major overhaul and I am not sure I have the time and expertise to really fix it. I have done some minor repair and cleaning on lenses, but nothing like this. Realistically I will probably sell it for parts/repair and look for something else.

Yes it sounds like it needs some internal cleaning, which I can't do either... hopefully you can find another one! They're usually not very expensive, but I think they're not as common in the used market as they used to be. You used to be able to find the Cosina as Cosina/Cosinon, Vivitar (of course), Miranda and other brands. Now I just don't see them showing up hardly ever on Ebay anymore... so it might be worth it to find out if someone could clean yours, if the glass itself is good.

Edit: I just verified Ebay and one just showed up for 80 dollars plus shipping - a bit more than they usually go for, I'd say. There's also a Pentax K 24 2.8 for the same price and free shipping, because someone wrote their name on the metal barrel with BIG letters. Otherwise the lens seems to be in fair shape. If you don't mind the aesthetics, that would be a fantastic deal!

[mzsaunders]

Thanks for help and advice on my detached lens mount. In the end, I went for the original screws supported by correction fluid on the threads and a bit of non-permanent glue around the screw holes. The worst part was trying to reattach the spring to the earthing cable. In the end, I gave up trying to solder it and used a spring from a dead body with cable attached, so I soldered cable to cable.

Here are a couple of shots I took early yesterday on a cold and murky Hastings beach. The previous evening was fine and clear and I was hoping to catch the sun rising, but it didn't show its face into well into the afternoon.

[ChristianRock]

Thanks for help and advice on my detached lens mount. In the end, I went for the original screws supported by correction fluid on the threads and a bit of non-permanent glue around the screw holes. The worst part was trying to reattach the spring to the earthing cable. In the end, I gave up trying to solder it and used a spring from a dead body with cable attached, so I soldered cable to cable.

Here are a couple of shots I took early yesterday on a cold and murky Hastings beach. The previous evening was fine and clear and I was hoping to catch the sun rising, but it didn't show its face into well into the afternoon.

Yay! She lives!

[E-man]

Thanks, E-man. You could always use the excuse that you are protecting it from someone who might not be as careful with it as you are . . . . . This 'occasionally' works, for all manner of things !

Very true. I use that excuse for a lot of stuff.

[35mmfilmfan]

Used it myself today :
'Why do you need a Helios 58mm f2 lens ? It won't even fit your camera ?!'
'It was in a charity shop, so I'm doing good in two ways - significant pause - dear !'

[E-man]

So I got this Samsung GX-20 camera last week (K20D's evil twin) and I like it very well except for one annoyance. I have a generic battery grip for my K10D but it won't fit the Samsung. My battery grip, like the genuine Pentax model, has three positioning pins while Samsung's equivalent battery grip (SBG-D1V) has only two and the GX-20 has only two corresponding holes. The Pentax BG2 grip has two pins on the grip side, one near the leading edge of the grip and one near the rear, and a third pin on the other side. Pictures of the Samsung grip show it only has only one pin on the grip side. The one on the leading edge is missing. Has anyone tried that or do you know if it would work? I'm kind of tempted to try to remove that pin on my grip or grind it down with my Dremel tool. To be sure, I wouldn't even think of trying this with a genuine Pentax grip but we're talking about a $20 generic grip here and the genuine Samsung grip was apparently next to impossible to find outside of Korea even when the cameras were new.

[mirosn]

So I got this Samsung GX-20 camera last week (K20D's evil twin) and I like it very well except for one annoyance. I have a generic battery grip for my K10D but it won't fit the Samsung. My battery grip, like the genuine Pentax model, has three positioning pins while Samsung's equivalent battery grip (SBG-D1V) has only two and the GX-20 has only two corresponding holes. The Pentax BG2 grip has two pins on the grip side, one near the leading edge of the grip and one near the rear, and a third pin on the other side. Pictures of the Samsung grip show it only has only one pin on the grip side. The one on the leading edge is missing. Has anyone tried that or do you know if it would work? I'm kind of tempted to try to remove that pin on my grip or grind it down with my Dremel tool. To be sure, I wouldn't even think of trying this with a genuine Pentax grip but we're talking about a $20 generic grip here and the genuine Samsung grip was apparently next to impossible to find outside of Korea even when the cameras were new.

Remove the pin, grip work

[E-man]

Remove the pin, grip work

Thanks. I'll let you know how the surgery goes. It looks like the top plate on the battery grip is held on with a few tiny screws but should be pretty easy to remove to gain access to the pin.

UPDATE—Why can't things be easy? This thing is fighting me every step of the way. Removing the pin turned out to be very easy. Unfortunately, I discovered another minor difference. While I was focusing on the pins, I forgot to look closely at the actual shape of the camera relative to the battery grip. On the side opposite the camera's grip, the raised lip on the battery grip dips in slightly to match the contour of my K10D (and presumably the K20D would be the same) but the Samsung camera doesn't dip right there. Also the Samsung has a slightly chunkier grip, which overhangs the battery grip by a good 1/8 inch. I knew the Samsung felt better in my hand than the K10D and now I know why. The contours on the back of the camera seem to match the battery grip perfectly. I briefly thought about shaving some of that plastic lip down on the battery grip to make it fit, but in the end, I decided it wasn't worth it. Still, I have no regrets about extracting that one pin from the grip. it makes the thing easier to mount on the K10D.