Do you still shop at local camera stores?
I was fortunate to spend my first years as a photojournalist near New York City. We’d periodically head into the city to visit our idea of Toyland: Adorama and B&H, where we could check out all the latest cameras and lenses and accessories. And my own personal fav, Olden Camera, with its dusty nooks and crannies and all sorts of weird, ancient gear: Speed Graphics and housings for giant flash bulbs and field cameras and cut film holders. Then I joined the Army and went to the Defense Information School in Indianapolis. We’d head downtown every weekend to hit Roberts Camera.
These days you can buy everything online — have you checked out the PentaxForums Photographer’s Marketplace lately? — but I’m still old school. I like to wander the aisles, checking out gear new and old. Here in Dallas/Fort Worth we have a bunch of great camera stores; way too many to list them all. I tend to hit Fort Worth Camera when I’m on the west side, and Garland Camera when I’m out east. And then there’s Don’s Photo Equipment in middle. Do you have a fav brick and mortar camera store? Do you do all your shopping online? Do you do both? Vote in this week’s poll, and let us know in the comments why you do that voodoo you do so well!
Also in this week’s Best of Pentax Forums newsletter, New Member Magnesium checks out the SMC Pentax-FA 77mm F1.8 Limited; Site Supporter mroeder tries the 75 Focal MC Auto 28mm F2.8 on his ME Super; and Site Supporter Matthew is disappointed by the colour from his Ricoh Caplio GX100.
If you’ve been forwarded this newsletter, please take a moment to join the more than 1,500 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!
Threads of the Week:
Back from a 12 days trip to Spain
October 25, 2025 • General Talk • 0 replies • 87 views
ismaelg said — Hello everybody! I just landed from a fabulous 12 days vacations in Spain with my wife. Multiple cities, tons of locations, many train rides, hotels, AirB&Bs, walked the equivalent of multiple marathons, found myself in the middle of not one but TWO massive protests (and swiftly ran away on both), airline lost my luggage in the return flight, etc. The whole nine yards.
Beautiful country, great people and great food. A few more days eating and I would have been returned as “livestock cargo” rather than “passenger”
But, photography wise: As usual, this was NOT a phototrip. Of course my wife disagrees. My definition of a photo-trip involves tripods, filters, multiple cameras and lenses etc. But for this trip, and just like I did in Italy 2 years ago, I only took my trusty K5-II with the Tamron 17-50 F2.8. The Metz flash went for the ride and never came out of the bag. Read more »
October 26, 2025 • General Photography • 30 replies • 709 views
Fontophagus said — So one of the 3D pop cultists came up with a pop calculator for lenses: (#complex groups - #ED elements)/#elements -> higher number = more pop Read more »
October 24, 2025 • Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories • 10 replies • 159 views
Minimonster said — Daily in November 2025 - discussion thread Welcome to the “Daily in” November 2025 Challenge (aka DIC) here at Pentax Forums! Aim of the Game: Shoot daily and post one picture each day of the month to this group challenge using any camera gear you want. Our desire when starting this challenge was to be similar in culture to the popular “Single In” Challenge (aka SI or SIC) here at Pentax Forums, while instead being able to use any lens/gear we want each and any day of the month. There is no limitation to what camera gear you use for this challenge. Read more »
Pentaxian User Reviews
Pentax Lenses
SMC Pentax-FA 77mm F1.8 Limited
Reviewed by New Member Magnesium
Review Date: October 22, 2025 Recommended | Price: $450.00 | Rating: 10
Pros: Outstanding control of the lens size and texture Cons: Moderate dispersion
Sharpness: 10 Aberrations: 10 Bokeh: 10 Autofocus: 8 Handling: 10 Value: 10 New or Used: Used Camera Used: Pentax MZ-S
At first I had to choose a len between this one and the FA 85mm F1.4 as my medium-telephoto lens. After a long period of thinking and judging, I finally chose this lens.
Of course, it doesn’t disappoint me. It give ma a unique focal length of 77mm instead of the conventional 85mm. I love to use 70mm while using the 24~70mm lens, and I have get used to it. So this lens doesn’t pose any difficulty for me to handle.
Sharpness and bokeh is perfect, however, there is some dispersion.
Third-Party Pentax Lenses
Focal MC Auto 28mm F2.8
Reviewed by Site Supporter mroeder75
Review Date: October 22, 2025Recommended | Price: None indicated | Rating: N/A
Pros:Sharp in good lightCons:Sharpness: 9 Aberrations: 6 Bokeh: 5 Handling: 10 Value: 10 Camera Used: ME Super, K200D, K-5, K-3 iii
I uploaded copies to Copilot AI. It projects my copy was manufactured by Chinon based on markings and serial number. The metal build quality is excellent. You could not criticize it when printing 4x6” film prints in the 1980s. It was fairly sharp in the 1980s with the ME Super. Here is an image with the ME Super:
Microbus - photographed in 1983 by Mark Roeder, on Flickr
In broad daylight in the digital age it delivers sharp photos with a K-5. Not surprisingly it does not shoot well into a backlight background with the K-5. With a digital camera, you can find criticisms, such as it doesn’t shoot well into backlighting.
Pentax Cameras
Ricoh Caplio GX100
Reviewed by Site Supporter Matthew
Review Date: October 22, 2025 Recommended | Price: None indicated | Rating: 8
Pros: Great lens (super sharp and good at all zoom levels), adaptable and light
Cons: Difficult to achieve strong colour saturation, battery was a bit small
Improvements over the original GX were a bayonet system for the add-on lens/filter mount, a slightly better lens able to go to a 24mm equivalent and you could push the ISO a little more on this camera. Ultimately I used this camera less than I had anticipated because I was always a little disappointed in the colour. The image processing favoured resolution and noise reduction and minimised the risk of chroma noise so it was actually great for producing black and white images but the colour was difficult to correct, particularly in lower light situations. The firmware on this camera was somewhat buggy and it had a number of updates which never really made it bomb-proof. Particularly using the built-in flash was quite unreliable. Using an external thyristor flash worked well though.
Comment of the Week:
Pentaxian StiffLegged on Are you buying a GR IV Monochrome? The Best of Pentax Forums October 21 Poll: Whatcha mean it’s available in the spring, I need it NOW!! This is October and the weather has gone completely monochrome, there’s no colour for months, I need uncoloured images and gritty skies (which always struck me as odd, they spread grit on winter roads, not scatter it to the heavens - at least they do hereabouts). Ricoh, get the finger out and get it to market and hurry up, why doncha!! I don’t know, they expect us to just wait in line …
Do you still visit local camera stores?
The Best of Pentax Forums Oct 29 Poll
I was fortunate to spend my first years as a photojournalist near New York City. We’d periodically head into the city to visit our idea of Toyland: Adorama and B&H, where we could check out all the latest cameras and lenses and accessories. And my own personal fav, Olden Camera, with its dusty nooks and crannies and all sorts of weird, ancient gear: Speed Graphics and housings for giant flash bulbs and field cameras and cut film holders. Then I joined the Army and went to the Defense Information School in Indianapolis. We’d head downtown every weekend to hit Roberts Camera.
These days you can buy everything online — have you checked out the PentaxForums Photographer’s Marketplace lately? — but I’m still old school. I like to wander the aisles, checking out gear new and old. Here in Dallas/Fort Worth we have a bunch of great camera stores; way too many to list them all. I tend to hit Fort Worth Camera when I’m on the west side, and Garland Camera when I’m out east. And then there’s Don’s Photo Equipment in middle. Don’s was in the same old small store for decades; it was so jammed with boxes of used equipment that it became difficult to navigate. I went in once and asked if they had a copy stand; the owner said “I’m pretty sure I saw one in that stack over to the left.” So I went through a dozen boxes until I found a 60s era Copylight made by Testrite Instrument Co. of Newark, NJ, which is now my film digitization station. Don’s moved last year to a new store big enough to house the Great Wall of Film…but the boxes are starting to stack up again, thankfully!
Do you have a fav brick and mortar camera store? Do you do all your shopping online? Do you do both? Vote in this week’s poll, and let us know in the comments where you shop and why its your fav camera store!
This poll closes November 4
And here are the results of last week’s poll:
Weekly Photo Challenges
Project 52-13-44: Selective Color, 10/26 - 11/2 (Sunday)
This week, we’re letting one color steal the spotlight. Selective Color is all about restraint—mute the world to black and white, then let a single hue shout for attention. Whether it’s a red umbrella in a gray street or a lone yellow leaf in the fog, make that color count… and most of all, have fun!
And here’s an image from Loyal Site Supporter BertieK:
A Walk Down Memory Lane
First Impressions: Ricoh GR vs. Nikon Coolpix A
By PF Staff in Hands-On Tests on May 29, 2013
In March, Nikon entered the world of premium compact digital cameras by announcing the Coolpix A, the smallest digital camera to feature an APS-C sensor. Just a month later, Pentax Ricoh announced the new Ricoh GR, an evolution of the Ricoh GR Digital IV (GRD IV) that was fitted with an APS-C sensor similar to the one in the Coolpix A. These two cameras are built for professionals who cannot always justify carrying around a bulky DSLR, and they promise to deliver DSLR-grade image quality in a much smaller package (as long as you can live with the fixed 18mm focal length).
It seems that Pentax Ricoh did their homework when developing the new GR, for in almost every area, the GR’s specifications are either better than or the same as those of the Coolpix A. On top of this, at a MSRP of $799, the GR is $300 cheaper than the Coolpix A, which retails for $1099. This makes the GR one of the most affordable cameras in its class.
PentaxForum Front page stories Oct. 22-28:
September 2025 “Flowers” Photo Contest Winners
Announcing the winners of our monthly contest
By PF Staff in Photo Contests on Oct 24, 2025
It is our pleasure to announce the winners of our September, 2025 “Flowers” photo contest! In first place was forum member gjm from USA who captured “Sunflowers” (pictured above). This photo was shot with a Pentax K-1 and an Rokinon 14mm F2.8 lens. Our runners-up were forum member Geodude from USA in second place with “I can only leave you my heart” and BertieK from USA in third place with “Queen Anne’s Lace”.