Do you have levels of Every Day Carry camera gear?
Best of Pentax Forums Newsletter June 25, 2026
Do you have levels of Every Day Carry camera gear?
Do you have an everyday carry camera setup? More than one? Or do you just grab whatever catches your fancy on the way out the door? I have three setups, each packed in a little sling bag with extra batteries and lens wipes and such. Overly complicated? Maybe. But it suits me; I’m an overly complicated guy.
What about you? Do you have a neat stack of camera Go Bags ready at all times? Do you just grab whatever catches your fancy on a particular day? Or are you doing the one camera/one lens thing? For life? Vote in this week’s poll, and let us know in the comments why you do the voodoo you do so well!
Elsewhere in this week’s newsletter, Loyal Site Supporter cameragx-Xavier explains how he is inspired by the challenges of his Pentax 17; Site Supporter Q Fan says his SMC Pentax-DA 15mm F4 ED AL Limited is a little gem; and New Member tfb takes a Pentax K-3 III for a photowalk.
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!
Threads of the Week:
tfb said — This post is in part a response to the recent thread on DSLR futures. I am sorry if it stirs up more arguments: it is not meant to. Two days ago, I took this picture in the undercroft at Southbank. I used a K-3 III Monochrome with the 40mm lens. Read more »
June 22, 2026 • Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras • 1 replies • 154 views
ChrisPlatt said — The weather was good when my family and a friend from work traveled to Columbia County in Upstate NY this weekend. My daughter is a good photographer with her iPhone, but for the very first time she brought her K1000 with M28/2.8 lens (her choice). Read more »
SMC Pentax 500mm f/4.5 dissassembly to fix wobbles
June 23, 2026 • Pentax SLR Lens Discussion • 2 replies • 140 views
Angus_M89 said — I had previously posted a year ago about my SMC Pentax 500mm f/4.5 having the wobbles. Most threads show this to be a broken or not tightened screw under the aperture ring. This is true of the Takumar 500mm f/4.5 as well in M42 mount. Read more »
Pentaxian User Reviews
Pentax Lenses
HD Pentax-DA 35mm F2.8 Limited Macro
Reviewed by Loyal Site Supporter cameragx-Xavier
Review Date: June 21, 2026 Recommended | Rating: 10
Pros: Incredible micro-contrast - superb colors - compactness
Cons: I don’t see any
Sharpness: 10 Aberrations: 10 Autofocus: 10 Handling: 10 Value: 10 New or Used: Used Camera Used: Pentax KP
This lens is exceptional - and one of the reasons I shoot with Pentax cameras rather than ...
I absolutely love the micro-contrast, and the colors of the images shot with this lens - it’s my go-to lens for rural landscapes, river walks, hikes in the forest.
As a macro lens, it holds its rank - it’s sharp, and as an all-around lens, it’s light and compact. Of course, it’s a “screw drive autofocus” and it only opens at f/2.8, but it’s not an issue for the type of picture you take with it.
It’s the lens most frequently mounted on my Pentax KP - but I also shot with a Pentax K-3 III Monochrome (close-ups of cameras) and the images were superb. Highly recommended.
SMC Pentax-DA 15mm F4 ED AL Limited
Reviewed by Site Supporter Q Fan
Review Date: June 23, 2026 Recommended | Price: $400.00 | Rating: 9
Pros: Price, starbursts, size Cons: edge sharpness
Sharpness: 8 Aberrations: 10 Bokeh: 6 Autofocus: 6 Handling: 10 Value: 10 New or Used: New Camera Used: K-30, K-01, K20D
I love this little gem. Love the starbursts! Not the fastest lens, but with SR it can be used in available light:
Pentax Cameras
Pentax 17
Reviewed by Loyal Site Supporter cameragx-Xavier
Review Date: June 21, 2026 Recommended | Price: $375.00 | Rating: 10
Pros: No equivalent - Tactile experience - Challenges the photographer - Half Frame: twice as many pictures on a roll of film
Cons: Half Frame is more difficult to enlarge than full frame; the electronic flash is as crappy as ever
Years Owned: 1 Ergonomics: 10 Build Quality: 10 Features: 8 Value: 8 New or Used: Used
I love this camera - because it’s not a re-edition of a Pentax point and shoot of the nineteen nineties - it’s something totally original and without any equivalent, past or present.
It’s a half-frame camera - it means twice as many pictures on a roll of film (you’re more inclined to test bizarre stuff)
It’s really a pleasure to hold in your hands (I love the feeling of the film advance lever)
It keeps you involved - you have to think about focusing, and anticipate...
It incites you to experiment (diptychs, close-ups, ...)
I find it more difficult to use than a film SLR (manual focus or autofocus) because it leaves you only an indirect control of the shutter speed and the aperture, and a very approximative control of the focusing distance. There is a lot of guess work involved. But to me, that’s where the challenge sits, and it’s what makes this camera unique.
I know this camera can be used as you would use a fix focus single use camera (Pentax call that pan-focus) but I’ve never shot any picture in that mode - I don’t see the point. And the drawback of the half frame format is that the negatives are twice as small, and processing and digitizing require more attention than on a “full-frame” film camera. A more developed analysis in my blog: https://cameragx.com/2026/05/26/pentax-17/
Comment of the Week:
Subscriber Mike Rank via email in response to the Best of Pentax Forums newsletter How much image processing is too much? I use Lightroom classic for 95% percent of my development & printing of my nature images. I openly use the ever-improving AI power to remove tree branches/leaves that obscure my subjects. I don’t add anything & I don’t replace skies or backgrounds but often adjust tonality. I use Lightroom’s powerful masking and noise reduction to reveal the details of my subjects.
I just reprocessed some five year old images of Egrets in breeding plumage at the Venice, FL rookery. I was surprised & very pleased by the increased impact that resulted from the removal of nesting material that was in front of the birds and the increased detail in their feathers. I also eliminated shadows as well. All in all, a very enjoyable experience for me!
Do you have levels of Every Day Carry camera gear?
The Best of Pentax Forums June 25 Poll
Do you have an everyday carry camera setup? More than one? Or do you just grab whatever catches your fancy on the way out the door?
I have three setups:
I’m Not Planning To Shoot Anything, but just in case: a Nubia Z70s Photographer Edition smartphone for colour, and a Huawei P9 smartphone with a Leica Monochrom sensor
Photo walking and other photography activities: My primary camera is a Pentax K-3 III Monochrome; I usually have one lens on the camera, and a second in a little sling bag. Lately I’ve had the SMC Pentax-DA 10-17mm F3.5-4.5 Fish-Eye ED [IF] on the camera; my second lens is almost always the HD Pentax-DA 55-300mm F4.5-6.3 ED PLM WR RE because it’s such a great all-around performer on the Monochrome.
I mostly shoot black & white with the Monochrome, but colour does crop up occasionally. So I carry the Pentax 17 loaded with Kodak Ektachrome 100 when I’m shooting for myself.
If I’m shooting for family and friends…they don’t want to wait a month for film processing. So I carry my Fujifilm GFX 50R; these days I usually have the SMC Pentax-M 28mm F2.8 on this medium format quasi rangefinder.
Each setup is packed in a little sling bag with extra batteries and lens wipes and such. Overly complicated? Maybe. But it suits me; I’m an overly complicated guy.
What about you? Do you have a neat stack of camera Go Bags ready at all times? Do you just grab whatever catches your fancy on a particular day? Or are you doing the one camera/one lens thing? For life? Vote in this week’s poll, and let us know in the comments why you do the voodoo you do so well!
This poll closes July 1.
And here are the results of last week’s poll:
Weekly Photo Challenges
Posted By: gibikote: Thanks to nolecmn for choosing my image as the winner for Challenge #743. For this weeks Challenge, we are going for Indoor, mundane. Anything indoor, that is otherwise routine, dull, usually overlooked (as a photography subject), that becomes interesting by the use of lighting, angle, or placement etc.
This challenge will run until midnight next Monday 29 June 2026 midnight in your time Zone. Hopefully Judging will take place on Tuesday 30th
And here’s the entry from Pentaxian atupdate: Sew What?
A Walk Down Memory Lane
Pentaxian Profile: Franc Demšar
By Franc III. in Pentaxian Profiles on Apr 28, 2016
My name is Franc Demšar, and I am just capturing the light in time. I started my photographic journey in the second half of the previous century in a darkroom with the smell of developer and fixer. Now I am chasing the light with digital equipment, but still with the same intentions. The tools have changed, but the magic of photography hasn’t!
I live and work in the “heart of Europe”, in sLOVEnia (LOVE supposedly always come from the heart). I work in advertising and business photography. Plenty of examples of my work are spread throughout this article. Click on any thumbnail to enlarge.
PentaxForum Front page stories June 18-24:
10% Off the Printed Pentax K‑3 Mark III: Ultimate Guide
Prime Day 2026 Special
By PF Staff in Deals and Savings on Jun 22, 2026
For Prime Day 2026, enjoy a 10% discount on the printed paperback edition of our Pentax K‑3 Mark III: The Ultimate Guide book — the comprehensive 230+ page reference designed to help you master both the Pentax K‑3 III and Pentax K‑3 III Monochrome in real‑world shooting.
Buy the Printed Paperback on Amazon
With this discount, the printed books are being offered at-cost for the benefit of the community. The book is available across worldwide Amazon marketplaces, including the US, UK, Canada, EU, Australia, and Japan. If you also want to support the forum, please consider making a donation.
May 2026 “Monochrome” Photo Contest Winners
Announcing the winners of our monthly contest
By PF Staff in Photo Contests on Jun 24, 2026
It is our pleasure to announce the winners of our May, 2026 “Monochrome” photo contest! In first place was forum member david94903 from USA who captured “Monochrome Ford” (pictured above). This photo was shot with a Pentax K-1 and an smc Pentax-FA 77mm F1.8 Limited lens.
Our runners-up were forum member Kamil_Duda from Poland in second place with “Iza - Suloszowa, Poland” and kmarceau from USA in third place with “Making Tracks”.