Would you pay for subscription camera features?
Best of Pentax Forums Newsletter November 12, 2025
Would you buy subscriptions for camera features?
Most Pentaxians are willing to pay for firmware that adds new features, with 57 percent voting that they would buy updates that add specific features they want. Pentax now offers the AstroPhoto Assist for your K-3 III and K-1 for $79.95; and the Pentax Graduated Neutral Density Simulator for the K-1 and K-3 III for $79.95.
The general consensus was that being able to add new features without buying an entire new camera is A Good Thing. Some complained bitterly, however, that it’s all just a slippery slope to charging subscription fees.
So would you pay for a subscription for camera features? Vote in this week’s poll, and tell us why you do the voodoo you do so well in the comments!
Elsewhere in this week’s Best of Pentax Forums newsletter, Site Supporter Francisco Carneiro reviews the Sigma 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM (Contemporary); Junior Member ProfHankD takes a long look at the Sigma XQ Mirror 500mm F4; and New Member bjorn puts film through a Pentax Super A.
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!
Weekly Photo Challenges
Project 52-13-46: Transparency, 11/9 - 11/16 (Sunday)
This week, we’re seeing right through things—literally. Transparency is all about what light reveals and what it hides: glass, plastic, ice, fabric, even reflections layered on reflections. Play with clarity, distortion, and the in-between spaces where solid turns to shimmer… and most of all, have fun!
And here’s the entry by Site Supporter BertieK: K200D Zeiss Distagon T* 35/2
Threads of the Week:
Forum performance/security improvements - Cloudflare
November 9, 2025 • Site Suggestions and Help • 27 replies • 489 views
Site Webmaster Adam said — Over the past several months, we have seen a surge in non-human traffic, likely from AI crawlers and related tools. This has led to performance issues and occasional downtime for forum users when the system became overloaded. While we’ve been experimenting with various solutions since then, as of today we have onboarded Cloudflare as a reliable long-term fix. Note: The initial setup (past ~12 hours) led to some unpredictable behavior such as unintended block messages or inconsistent page content, which should now be resolved (apologies for the inconvenience!). This was preceded by around 6 hours of downtime on Saturday morning GMT where the site was broken or offline. These problems have now been solved. For most users, the forum experience will be the same as before. Pages and images will load faster. Read more »
Restoring vintage... binoculars? New rabbit hole
November 8, 2025 • Vintage Cameras and Equipment • 5 replies • 344 views
ismaelg said — Hello, Sorry I haven’t been as active as I used to be. Very busy at work, many other hobbies and life in general. While not exactly photography related, I’ve always liked everything optics. Magnifying glasses, telescopes, microscopes, and yes, binoculars. ... Read more »
November 5, 2025 • Welcomes and Introductions • 12 replies • 338 views
MagicalDonna said — I have been a Pentax user for many years and am happy to be a member of Pentax Forum. I have a K-5 and several lenses. I love how long the battery lasts and the great pictures the camera takes. I live in rural Nevada. ... Read more »
Pentaxian User Reviews
Third-Party Pentax Lenses
Sigma 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM (Contemporary)
Reviewed by Site Supporter Francisco Carneiro
Review Date: October 28, 2025 Recommended | Price: $27.00 | Rating: 10
Pros: Affordable, good quality, little, very good range/versatility. Overall it feels solid and sturdy.
Cons: Mine has not a very smooth focal ring, override would be really great. Focusing ring feels cheap.
Sharpness: 8 Bokeh: 9 Handling: 9 Value: 10 Camera Used: K-S2 Autofocus: 8 New Or Used: Used
I bought it “As new” for 25 euros because AF was not working. I sent it to the carpet at a distance of 30/40cm and then the AF began to work. Old school repair!!
I am very very pleased with it. For the price it deserves a 10. Regardless of price, it is a good zoom. AF is silent. MF is easy.
Makes pleasant backgrounds with accurate colors. 18-200 is a very convenient range and the compromises are more than acceptable - it’s a zoom. This is so far the only non-Pentax lens that I have for my K-S2.
Here’s a photo under not very good light, with a little PP. Had not time yet for a real session, so I may post a few more photos later.
Sigma XQ Mirror 500mm F4
Reviewed by Junior Member ProfHankD
Review Date: October 25, 2025 Recommended | Price: $371.00 | Rating: 10
Pros: Fast, smooth (donut) bokeh, IQ Cons:Chunky, heavy, and not cheap
Sharpness: 8 Aberrations: 10 Bokeh: 7 Handling: 10 Value: 5 Camera Used: Sony A7CR New Or Used: Used
My lens says “Spiratone,” but it is clearly the same Sigma-built lens.
This is pretty obviously a top-of-the-line lens, expensive and special-purpose. The lens is quite chunky and heavy, but what do you expect for a 500mm f/4? For that matter, any 500mm f/4 is going to have exceptionally thin DoF, so it is very easy to miss focus -- which I expect is why the other review here is so negative. Unless this is on a very solid tripod, you also desperately need good IBIS in your camera body because 500mm multiplies any camera shake.
With very careful focus, this lens easily looks sharp at 24MP across the FF, but 60MP doesn’t reveal much more detail. I would say the resolution is better than average for a 500mm mirror, but not challenging the best. I was able to focus manually, even hand-holding this monster of a lens, but using a TechArt LM-EA7 to automatically tweak focus by moving the camera body helps a lot. Contrast is a little low, but the colors are good. The donut bokeh are all over and big, but have soft edges; I think they are nicer than most mirror lenses, but I still don’t love donuts in general, so that’s why a 7/10 for bokeh. It is a 10/10 if you love donuts.
How could I manually focus so well? The focus on this lens only moves the rear refractive elements, which is a lot easier than turning a huge-diameter focus collar. There is also an adjustment for the orientation of the T mount, so it is trivial to switch between horizontal and vertical orientations for the camera body. The tripod mount plate is at the correct balance point, and the lens weight doesn’t significantly shift with focus. I also think the handle on the lens is the perfect way to carry the whole rig around. In sum, it’s a chunky and heavy lens, but handling is really excellent. Still, this is too heavy a lens to carry everywhere, and that’s why I’m giving it a 5/10 for value: because it will not get used as much as I’d like for the money spent on it.
I’m giving it an overall rating of 10/10 because it deserves it, and I recommend it, BUT ONLY IF THIS IS WHAT YOU REALLY WANT. This is NOT a general-purpose lens, but a very specialized precision tool.
Pentax Cameras
Pentax Super A / Super Program
Reviewed by New Member bjorn
Review Date: November 8, 2025 Recommended | Price: None indicated | Rating: 10
Pros: All Cons: none
I got this from a friend for free. In mint condition. With a motor drive. A very good tool, not a toy. I had a Pentax M 35-70, f2,8-3,5 in my bag, and some call it “ a stack of prime” which it is. extremely sharp. and that lens is an excellent combo on this camera. Both the lens and the camera are heavy, but that is ok. It is no problem hand-held, it balance very good in my hands. I can walk all day with my camera hold in my hand by the grip, no problem.
The aperture mode is excellent in my style of use. use most of the time. The shutter goes all up to 2000, which is very good from that time. The camera is so far my go to analogue tool, it is very useable and always with me. This combo produce very nice result. I par it up with my Pentax K5IIs and a Sigma 17-50, 2,8.
I have recently bought a K1000 SE and a MX. So i am at the end of bying more Cameras (lol).
Comment of the Week:
Digitiser of Film BigMackCam Will you pay for firmware that adds features? The Best of Pentax Forums Nov 5 poll: Theoretically, I would pay for an optional firmware feature if I truly needed it - if, and only if, it was transferable to another body in case of failure outside warranty (otherwise, not a chance). Practically, though, I’ll never need to pay for additional features. Like @Dartmoor Dave; I want less clutter on my cameras, not more. I’d be deliriously happy with a DSLR that only offered M, Av, Tv and TAv exposure modes, perhaps bracketed exposure, spot / centre-weighted / whole-scene metering, centre-spot AF-S and a focus screen optimised for manual focusing. That’s all I really want - and most of the time, it’s more than I need... I could live with less.
Would you buy subscriptions for camera features?
The Best of Pentax Forums November 12 Poll
Most Pentaxians are willing to pay for firmware that adds new features, with 57 percent voting that they would buy updates that add specific features they want. Pentax now offers the AstroPhoto Assist for your K-3 III and K-1 for $79.95; and the Pentax Graduated Neutral Density Simulator for the K-1 and K-3 III for $79.95.
And Pentax is far from the only camera company offering paid upgrades; for example, Nikon offers the $199.95 Nikon RAW video output upgrade.
The general consensus was that being able to add new features without buying an entire new camera is A Good Thing. Some complained bitterly, however, that it’s all just a slippery slope to charging subscription fees.
So…would you pay for a subscription for camera features? It’s actually not an academic question: Canon’s EOS Webcam Utility Pro software is a $4.99 per month subscription. And Sony has tiers for its Monitor & Control software that allows you to use high-end Sony smartphones as monitors for Sony cameras: $4.99 a month for the Basic plan, and $22.99 a month for Premium.
So would you pay for a subscription for camera features? Vote in this week’s poll, and tell us why you do the voodoo you do so well in the comments!Vote in this week’s poll, and let us know why you do what you do in the comments!
This poll closes November 18
And here are the results of last week’s poll:
A Walk Down Memory Lane
Pentax FluCard O-FC1 Review
Introduction
The Pentax O-FC1 FluCard is a 16Gb SDHC memory card with a built-in Wi-Fi antenna and Pentax-specific remote control software. When inserted into a compatible Pentax DSLR, such as the K-3, the FluCard enables wireless tethering and instant image review, referred to as “Remote Capture” by Pentax. In addition, the card can be used for wireless file browsing and transfers when inserted into any camera, computer, or other device. For traditional photo storage, the FluCard functions just like any other SDHC memory card, of course.
