The Light is About to Change
Best of Pentax Forums Newsletter June 18, 2026
The Solstice is here
Photography is all about the light. And the light is about to change. Sunday is the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the longest day of the year. Every day in 2026 has been a little longer. Come Monday, every day will be a little shorter. The reverse is true south of the Equator. Every day in 2026 has been a little shorter. Monday the days start to get longer. The change in the light seems like a good time to assess your photographic year. How’s yours going? Vote in this week’s poll, and let us know why you do what you do in the comments!
Elsewhere in this week’s newsletter, New Member Valerie shows off a new Pentax M* 67 800mm F6.7; New Member Asherax reviews the Takumar/Tele-Takumar 200mm F5.6; and Site Supporter Fontophagus is impressed by the SMC Pentax 135mm F3.5.
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:
New-to-me Pentax M* 67 800mm f/6,7
June 14, 2026 • Pentax SLR Lens Discussion • 11 replies • 236 views
Valerie said — Hello good people of this forum, just wanted to share some sample images of my most recent purchase, the lens named in the title of this post, the Pentax M* 67 800mm f/6,7. I paid 800€ on a local marketplace site, included was the lens, the original trunk, the 1,4x converter, 3 macro rings, a Pentax K adapter and a backpack specifically made for this lens to carry it. I am in awe at the quality that this lens can achieve, if you treat it right. Read more »
June 13, 2026 • Welcomes and Introductions • 10 replies • 187 views
SubbieCoastie said — HI, my name is Ethan and I was an avid hobbyist, my first camera was a film camera back in 1999j which was an Olympus manual film camera. Somehow it got stolen. I had then went to the nearest US Military Exchange and they had an auto focus Pentax and fell in love with Pentax. Read more »
Pentaxian User Reviews
Pentax Lenses
Takumar/Tele-Takumar 200mm F5.6
Reviewed by New Member Asherax
Review Date: June 17, 2026 Recommended | Price: $25.00 | Rating: 10
Pros: Sharp, light weight, limited CA, beautiful build Cons: none
Sharpness: 10 Aberrations: 10 Bokeh: 9 Handling: 10 Value: 10 Camera Used: E-M1
I own quite a few Takumars, and have the 200mm f4 in my collection. I previously reviewed that lens and gave it a great mark, for it is indeed a wonderful lens. I finally succumbed however and bought the 5.6 version of the lens. Fortunate enough to find one in near mint condition for a very small price. Where as the F4 version can be a bit of a weighty tome, this F5.6 version of the 200mm is not much bigger than the excellent 150mm f4, at 370 grams and that makes a MASSIVE difference in how readily I pull this lens out and use it.
I cannot stress enough how light weight this lens is, and being so small, one might expect some compromises. NOT so, in fact I found this lens to be as sharp as the F4 version right from the get go, and at F8 it is just superb. What surprised me was the almost complete absence of chromatic aberration once stopped down to F8, with only minuscule amounts of red-green fringing wide open at 5.6, and then only in extremely high contrast areas. This disappears completely by F8, and the sharpness is maintained right up to F16, and on a M43 sensor where one might expect some softening through diffraction, that is no mean feat.
I tend to take high contrast B&W shots, and for B&W images this is an incredible prime option. Yet the famous Takumar colours and lovely soft bokeh, are present in any colour shots. I will supply some images taken SOOC, so that you can see what I mean, and of course with some processing you can improve these further should you so wish. My Only Caveat would be that I use a M43 Camera and therefore the cropped sensor limits any aberrations that may be present on the edges of the lens, but of course accentuates the excellence of the central portion of the optic.
For anyone looking for a 200mm that is beautifully engineered, has responsive focusing, and is light weight enough to carry with you all day without you even being aware of it, this just might be the best value lens on the market today. Highly recommended!
SMC Pentax 135mm F3.5
Reviewed by Site Supporter Fontophagus
Review Date: June 15, 2026 Recommended | Price: $80.00 | Rating: 10
Pros: Solid build, IQ, easy to control, very limited CA
Cons: 3.5; awkward balance on the K1
Sharpness: 8 Aberrations: 9 Bokeh: 9 Handling: 10 Value: 10 Camera Used: K1ii
I am quite impressed with the performance of this not much loved lens, especially when it comes to CA, which is even more impressive given that this is just a 4 element design. Added photos are in terms of CA reduction only processed in camera.
Accessories
Kenkoj MC Skilight 1B MC Skilight 1B
Reviewed by New Member shure58
Review Date: June 11, 2026 Recommended | Price: $10.00 | Rating: 10
Pros:Very good for daytime landscapes and portraits. Cons:No !
Very good for daytime landscapes and portraits. I really liked it with the SMC Pentax-F 70-210mm f/4-5.6 lens. They may be from the same era. I inherited it with the SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/1.4 lens. I confirm everything described in the AI! Daytime landscape enthusiasts should give it a try.
Comment of the Week:
Loyal Site Supporter BertieK on How much image processing is too much? The Best of Pentax Forums June 11 Poll: For digital I don't really think there's too much, I really have no interest in making things look like reality. So after I'm done with some global & local adjustments in LR, I'll take it into PS for some finishing touches. I don't generate anything new into my photos but I will use the AI tools to remove things.
The Light is About to Change
The Best of Pentax Forums June 18 Poll
Photography is all about the light. And the light is about to change. Sunday is the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the longest day of the year. Every day in 2026 has been a little longer. Come Monday, every day will be a little shorter. Every day I’ve gone photo walking a little later to catch the golden hour. Time to rein that in.
The reverse is true south of the Equator. Every day in 2026 has been a little shorter. Monday the days start to get longer.
Photography is all about the light, so the change in the light seems like a good time to assess your photographic year. How’s yours going? Are you pleased with your 2026 photography? Are you meeting your goals? Do you have goals? Or are you like me — you like to just wander with a camera and see what you will see? Vote in this week’s poll, and let us know why you do what you do in the comments!
This poll closes June 24
And here are the results of last week’s poll:
Weekly Photo Challenges
WEEKLY CHALLENGE #743-Hair Today
Posted By: noelcmn: Thanks to Tom (Ramseybuckey) for choosing my image as the winner for Challenge #742. For this weeks Challenge, we are going for Hair- in whatever form you can think of. Hopefully it will not prove to be a “bad hair day” for anyone. Thinks wigs, outrageous hair do’s, Mohican/mohawk haircuts, Braids and of course red heads. Not forgetting beards. I’ll accept any interpretation of hiar for this challenge, provided it connects with hair- such as feathers, animal fur etc.
This challenge will run until midnight next Sunday 21 June 2026 at midnight in your time Zone. Hopefully Judging will take place on Monday 22nd. .
And here’s the entry from Site Supporter Q Fan: Pentax Q7, Pentax 110 50mm f2.8 lens, heavy cropping and PP:
A Walk Down Memory Lane
Pentaxian Profile: Juan Roldán
Wedding photographer from Colombia
By PF Staff in Pentaxian Profiles on Feb 11, 2016
I am a graphic designer by trade, but I've also been a professional photographer for about ten years now. When I previously worked with one of the two "big brands", I was in a bunch of different fields like food, jewelry, architecture, and models. Things changed when I got married and learned the real meaning and beauty of that special day. And so I had a revelation and decided to start shooting weddings seriously.
PentaxForum Front page stories June 11-17:
May “Monochrome” Contest Finalists Announced
Vote for the overall winner!
By PF Staff in Photo Contests on Jun 15, 2026
After the end of the nomination phase of last month’s official Monochrome photo contest, we’re now ready to announce our top 15 finalists! Click on the link below to view the photos in full size and cast your vote in the poll: Vote for your favorite photo in the poll As usual for our monthly photo contests, voting closes in a week, and then we’ll announce the winners.