My boss just purchased a K100D Super, the same Pentax DSLR model that I have. We have been chatting about lenses and RAW editors. Here is a list of my lenses:

• SMC Pentax-DA 1:3.5-5.6 18-55mm AL (autofocus, kit lens)
• Takumar 1:2.5 135mm Asahi Optical serial #5571462
• Super-Takumar 1:4/150mm Asahi Optical (M42 screw mount) serial #4089969
• SMC Pentax-A 1:2 50mm serial #3759657
• Kalimar MC Auto Zoom 1:4.0 80-200mm serial #K9564679
• Tamron 70-210m 1:4-5.6 158A134937
• Kalimar MC 50mm 1:1.7 coated serial #1053122
• Tamron 70-300 f4-5.6 Di LD Macro 1:2 (autofocus)

I found basic reviews of most of my lenses at Photozone’s lens survey. Amazing how many variations there are on some lenses. There are several entries for the Tamron 70-300. The quality of the lens varies depending up the letters after the lens. The DI Ld that I have seems to be a little better than others.

Dealing with RAW files

Even though I have Adobe Photoshop CS4, I’ve been using a great little photo editor called Lighzone, by Light Crafts. It will do some batch processing, cropping, and image retouching where you can get as nitty gritty or as “Wizard-like” as you want. The software costs about $99 and runs on Mac, Windows, and Linux. Good stuff.

Other RAW image editors that read Pentax’s PEF RAW file format include:

• Google’s Picasa
• RawTherapee (open source for Windows and Linux)

FastStone image viewer will also read and convert PEF files. It has a free home edition and is only available for Windows.