I have been reading quite a bit yesterday about lenses. The FA31 seems to be an excellent lens from the reviews. I would probably get one of the 31/35/43mm limited lenses.
However if I get the K5iis I would also like to use a zoom and I am a bit concerned about the mixed reports about the 16-50mm.
May I ask if you do not find the M9 and the K5 to have a lot of overlap (medium size camera with very good primes)? When would you prefer the K5 and when the M9. How would you compare the IQ from both systems?
Thanks a lot, Tom
There is overlap with the two cameras and here is how I intend to use the two. The first point is that I carry a camera with me everyday.
My initial interest was to find a weather sealed camera since I enjoy walking and Seattle has a fair amount of inclement weather. I had been thinking about buying a weather sealed camera for some time when this past May I was out and about with my M9 on a day with some steady rain. After this walk with the camera being used sparingly I decided to just go do it. I came across this video,
PENTAX DUST AND WEATHER SEALING IN AFGHANISTAN - YouTube , where a combat photographer doused his Pentax cameras in sand and rinsed them both in a shower. Then is when I decided to take a closer look at the Pentax.
As I stated above, after reading the reviews of Sean Reid, Jim Radcliffe, along with comments from the threads in the GetDPI and the Pentax forums made the decision to buy the K5IIs a comfortable decision for me.
The second justification for purchasing the K5IIs was to have an autofocus system for use when I get to hang out with my two grand daughters. There are some photographs that I have missed while carrying the M9, the kids are getting faster and I am slowing down, and the autofocus system will improve the keeper rate.
I have not performed any side by side comparison of the K5IIs and M9. I am impressed with the IQ of the K5IIs. As with any tool the user influences the results.
So in the long run there will be days that I use a digital camera and other days that I use film.
As far as zoom lens goes. I did buy a used 16 - 50mm zoom lens and from a very brief period of use I found that I prefer using prime lenses. I did return the zoom lens. I choose the 16-50 zoom because it was weatherproof and after doing some research I found that most of the complaints regarding zooms were with the K5 and earlier Pentax models. Comments from users with the K5II and K5IIs were positive regarding the use of zoom lenses.
For comments on the 16 - 50mm zoom from users you may want to take a look here:
SMC Pentax-DA* 16-50mm F2.8 ED AL [IF] SDM Reviews - DA Zoom Lenses - Pentax Lens Reviews & Lens Database
Hope that was of some help.
Good luck with your research and decision.
Dan