20 Years of Pentax Forums
Best of Pentax Forums Newsletter July 9, 2026
Pentax Forums Turns 20!
On September 6, 2026—in just less than two months—PentaxForums.com will officially turn 20 years old. Soon, it will be time to celebrate! To mark this milestone, we are planning an extravaganza of giveaways, forum events, contests, deals, and special merch throughout the rest the year. In line with the occasion, our goal is to make these events and prizes the most meaningful of anything we've hosted to date. Spoiler alert: we will be giving away a lot of cool camera gear! Let’s start with a poll: what’s your fav thing about the Forums? Vote in this week’s poll, and tell us all about it in the comments!
Elsewhere in this week’s newsletter, Loyal Site Supporter and Moderator jgnfld has been working out by handholding his HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm F4.5-5.6 ED DC AW; New Member Valerie, on the other hand, is using a tripod for the also ginormous SMC Pentax-M* 67 800mm F6.7 ED [IF]
If you’ve been forwarded this newsletter, please take a moment to join the almost 1,600 Pentaxians who have subscribed to our free curated compendium of the hundreds of great images and post shared each week in our Pentax community. Please let us know your thoughts here in the comments and on our Pentax Forums, and have a perfect Pentaxian week!
Pentaxian User Reviews
Pentax Lenses
SMC Pentax-M* 67 800mm F6.7 ED [IF]
Reviewed by New Member Valerie
Review Date: July 7, 2026 Recommended | Price: $800.00 | Rating: 10
Pros: Perfect image quality, Automatic Diaphragm, Easy focusing
Cons: Size and weight (obviously), somewhat small max aperture makes critical focus challenging
Sharpness: 10 Aberrations: 10 Bokeh: 10 Handling: 6 Value: 10 Camera Used: Eos 6D Mk2, Pentax 6x7 MLU
Some Backstory: Ever since buying my Pentax 6x7 and scouring the Internet I dreamt of owning this lens one day. I love shooting wildlife, especially analog, but 35mm always just lacked detail for me, so medium format was the obvious next stop. It came with a specific backpack, the original teleconverter, a 67-PK Adapter, and a set of macro rings.
The lens + setup: The lens has the same off-white finish as the other ED [IF] lenses and an integrated extendable hood, which does its job well. The camera mount is rotatable with a set screw to lock it in place. Also included is a lock-in filter sled for 67mm screw filters. (I have a UV filter here to reduce haze) Build quality is extremely solid, no creaks or wobbles. Focusing with this lens is actually very nice with the rack-and-pinion method, it’s very easy but has some resistance as to not feel floppy,
though you have to lock the focus when tilting the lens vertically, otherwise the focus elements will slam into the end stop, which is probably not recommended.
For mounting on a tripod I fitted a long Arca-Swiss plate with a custom stabilizing clamp at the front, to reduce vibrations.
HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm F4.5-5.6 ED DC AW
Reviewed by Loyal Site Supporter and Moderator jgnfld
Review Date: July 5, 2026 Recommended | Price: $1,094.00 | Rating: 10
Pros: Wonderfully sharp, very thoughtful and useful controls
Cons: Well it is one big chunk of glass and metal!
Sharpness: 10 Aberrations: 10 Bokeh: 9 Autofocus: 7 Handling: 7 Value: 10 New or Used: Used Camera Used: KP and K-70
This is one big honkin’ chunk of glass and metal. While I have both a good monopod and a good tripod, I have mostly used it handheld so far. I have also used in in my sailboat cockpit in gray weather. Between boat, muscle, and sea movements the IBIS seem to function perfectly well even at > 400mm.
I can also add that it does well on an APSC body (KP/K-70) together with the 1.4x teleconverter but absolutely requires a solid rest in that case. This pic was taken handheld from the top of a bluff down into a nest on a ledge 10 stories down and call it 8 stories out. This is at 574mm (410mm on the lens * 1.4x). It is handheld as well but movements were minimized due to the down angle was able to balance the lens on my knees while holding the camera sitting down on a ledge.
This pic was taken from the cockpit of my boat out on the water The land in the distance is about 11km away. The boat is 100 meters or so away.
This is definitely a specialized lens but if you need what it is special at it is pretty much perfect.
Threads of the Week:
July 6, 2026 • Homepage & Official Pentax News • 0 replies • 82 views
PF Staff said — PentaxForums.com turns 20 on September 6, 2026! Join the celebrations with giveaways, contests, special events, and exclusive merch — plus two community events already live. All Pentaxians welcome. Read more on the PF homepage... Read more »
Stl of Pentax MZS eyecup to 3D print
July 2, 2026 • Pentax Camera and Field Accessories • 5 replies • 263 views
disconnekt said — For anybody that needs an extra eyecup for the Pentax MZ-S, I made a stl on Tinkercad of the Pentax MZ-S eyecup for anyone to 3D print at home/at your local library. I stll have the MZS & OG eyecup, so I measured it a with a digital caliper, and made ... Read more »
July 4, 2026 • Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras • 42 replies • 1026 views
Doormat said — Well We are driving up to Scotland tomorrow Had decided that my canon would be a better bet than Pentax Just checked weather… 😩it’s raining almost every day… So put the canon back and grabbed the K3 + 18-135wr But maybe this will ... Read more »
Comment of the Week:
Pentaxian w/o Portfolio robgski on Are you photographing fireworks? The Best of Pentax Forums July 2 Poll: I didn't know what real beer tasted like until I was stationed in Germany in the 1980's, and when I returned back to the United States, I despaired of finding real beer. By the 1990's I would often volunteer to be the designated driver for my friends on a night out, knowing i wasn't missing much and waiting for my next German tour of duty. Fortunately, after my last 4 years in Germany ended, I returned to an America transformed by small batch craft beers, many of which can stand proudly next to their German and British ancestors. Within 10 miles of my home I can go to multiple breweries, as well as local wineries, distilleries, and cider houses.
Oh, and unlike the British and German counterparts, it's served cold.
Hooray for the red, white and brew!
What’s your fav thing about the Forums?
The Best of Pentax Forums July 9 Poll
On September 6, 2026—just less than two months—PentaxForums.com will officially turn 20 years old. Soon, it will be time to celebrate! To mark this milestone, we are planning an extravaganza of giveaways, forum events, contests, deals, and special merch throughout the rest the year. In line with the occasion, our goal is to make these events and prizes the most meaningful of anything we’ve hosted to date. Spoiler alert: we will be giving away a lot of cool camera gear! Let’s start with a poll:
Why are you here?
No, we don’t mean existentially. That’s Rubbish! The Ego posits itself my foot!
Sorry.
We mean what’s your fav thing about the Forums? There’s a million photography communities on the Internet; what keeps you coming back to this one? For me that’s easy; it’s all the things I learn in discussions with other Pentaxians. Oh and the Lens Database, of course. And the in-depth reviews, natch. And the user reviews…
OK, not so easy. So vote in this week’s poll, pick your top three, then tell us why you picked them in the comments!
This poll closes July 15.
And here are the results of last week’s poll:
Weekly Photo Challenges
Project 52-14-27: SUMMER (Winter), until 7-12 (Sunday)
Capture the season in a picture.
We will encounter the four seasons this year, and you have the opportunity to choose one depending on where you are (Northern or Southern Hemisphere).
Take your best shot, but most of all, have fun!
I'm looking forward to seeing many old and new participants in Project 52 and to see your summer (winter) pictures from around the world.
And here’s the entry from Site Supporter xs400: Summer, several miles south of San Francisco is characterized by the hills being covered with dry grass and a chaparral bushes. Fog rolling over the coastal mountains is also very common. The cool, foggy weather here is called the "June gloom". This image shows the fog coming in over the hills.
A Walk Down Memory Lane
Pentaxian Profile: Peter Maasewerd
What the eye can’t see and the brain must guess....
By Pete_XL in Pentaxian Profiles on Jan 23, 2017
As I am an applied natural scientist also addicted to photography, the work with an advanced camera like my Pentax K-3 II offers an extension of the human senses to me. The camera can combine space and time in a way the human combo of two eyes and a brain cannot— just by variation of exposure time and sensitivity. Together with some fantasy, factual knowledge and processing skills, this ability gives the photographer room for the aesthetic visualization of real world issues that the human senses miss. And this is what I’m after!
PentaxForum Front page stories July 2-8:
Pentax Forums is Turning 20!
Special anniversary celebrations and events await
By PF Staff in Site News on Jul 6, 2026
On September 6, 2026—in just two months—PentaxForums.com will officially turn 20 years old. Soon, it will be time to celebrate! To mark this milestone, we are planning an extravaganza of giveaways, forum events, contests, deals, and special merch throughout the rest the year. In line with the occasion, our goal is to make these events and prizes the most meaningful of anything we've hosted to date. Spoiler alert: we will be giving away a lot of cool camera gear!