The K-S1 and the 18-135 lens

Historicity wrote:

Xiaomao wrote:

I like this lens on K-5 IIs, too. Nothing to complain for me. Excellent lens as an all-in-one. Now the combo is going to my son. I hope he'd like it.

Very nice images from your link, and the hike should have been interesting with the companion of 3 friends.

Thanks, Xiaomao,

I see you are giving your K5ii and your 18-135 to your son now that you have the K-1. I give my older cameras and lenses to my son as well. I've given him my K20D and my K-7. The K-5 will be next, but I'm reluctant to let go of my K5ii. Being a hiker who doesn't like to carry a lot of weight if he doesn't have to I plan to stay with the Pentax APS-C cameras as long as they make them.

Hi, Lawrance. It's K-1's advantage that it's both a full-frame and an APS-C camera, one can switch to either mode in one second. I switch to the crop mode when shooting birds with the 150-450, and it reaches 675mm, and the continuous drive is faster, too. I seem to begin to miss this lens and might get another one since the price is much lower now. Here's a shot of the Ailao mountains in Yunnan, China with this lens, it seems to have reached the sharpness of DA 70 or DA 15.

Ailao Mountains

Settling in with the K-3 I went all out and got almost every lens I thought suitable for hiking. I have the 60-250 but must get into better shape before I'd be willing to carry that regularly. And then I have quite a lot of primes. I see you have the 31. I don't have that one yet but I'll probably get it soon.

The 31 is excellent on K-1, it's sharp even at f1.8 and I like this focal length. It stays most often on K-1. I don't think you'd regret getting this lens.

Girl & Sunflowers

When I go on a hike like the one yesterday I look at the focal length of the shots later on in Lightroom. Yesterday for example I seemed mostly in the middle ranges of the 18-135. When I was at 18 or 135 it was mostly to test the lens with the K-S1 to see how well it was doing, but once I settle down with the K-S1, I can imagine hiking, with for example, the 21, 43 and 70 and not missing the range of the 18-135.

Maybe you will be using only a K-1 from now on, but in my case I like to have more cameras on hand for different hiking situations. Also, when I take an older lens off the shelf as I did with the 18-135 it is almost like trying a new lens. I've perhaps learned some things since I last used it. And indeed I may have because I don't recall earlier shots with the 18-135 being quite as good as many of the shots in the Dec 2016 gallery, especially with the K-S1 yesterday.I also like to have backup cameras. Hiking where there is a lot of fallen brush and holes dug by small animals I am at risk of falling and have fallen several times but always thus far managed to keep my camera from hitting the ground, but I know my cameras are at risk; so if I broke my K-3 i could use my K5ii (while I waited for my K-3ii to arrive from Amazon. :-))

I could live with the extra weight of K-1 over K-5 IIs, about 300g heavier, and I have enough confidence in the toughness of Pentax's cameras. I've never had one broken or fallen or had any problems up to now, having used Kx, K-5 and K-5 IIs. I know it's risky, but I've been safe from 2011. Well, I have a D-Lux 4 as a companion to K-1, and love it, I've had it since 2009, a good old friend!

Then during hot months I often like to go as light as possible; so I hope to be happy with the K-S1. The first outing with it was encouraging. I'm guessing that its 20mp sensor and the software that goes with it are superior to what's in the 16MP K5ii, but I don't know. When I first got the K-3 I couldn't tell any difference between the shots from that and the shots from the K-5ii.

I skipped K-3 and waited patiently until K-1 appeared. And the waited proved worthwhile. Not just more pixels, but also pixel shift, dual mode, faster focus, ... ...

I'm guessing from your icon that you are a "cat person." I have always liked cats as well, but my wife didn't want another one after we lost our two. She didn't like their scratching the furniture and we didn't seem able to stop them from that. I've taken all my dogs on hikes so they become comfortable in wilderness-type situations off leash. The small black one, Duffy, I inherited from my wife after she died. He is a 23.5 pound Schnoodle. The large one, Ben, is a Rhodesian Ridgeback from a breeder in New York. The shaggy medium sized one is an Irish Terrier from a breeder in, I think Kansas, She is still a puppy, hence the running off when approached by the speeding off-road biker. She is only 8 months old and needs more work.

You're right, both my wife and I are cat persons. We've been feeding the cats almost everyday in a garden nearby for more than 5 years. And my icon is the cat that looked most beautiful and graceful to us. What's more, we are "dog persons", too. We had a dog, named "Gray", for 8 years and loved him, he could actually understand some words that we repeated time and time again. For instance, he could understand "You can't go out", "OK, you can go with us", etc. I'm glad that you could enjoy your hike with the lovely friends while recording the memories with your cameras.

Lawrence