I know the difference between the two is that the "K" model will come included with the lens hood.... but my questions has more to do with filter attachment.

I read somewhere that if you remove the hood you can attach an 86mm filter. If I keep the hood on, is the thread still accessible for attaching a UV filter?

I would hate to leave myself exposed again by using a wide-angle adapter w/o a protection filter on it.


...and if I can attach a filter without detaching the hood, am I to understand that the thread-size I would need is still 86mm?

I use an 86mm UV filter on the lens that I keep on all the time. You have to remove the hood to screw it on the lens but there would be no reason to keep taking the filter on and off. The hood is very easy to detach - just a simple set screw. I am not sure why the emphasis on whether you have to remove the hood to place the filter on the lens - do you intend to remove it (the filter) after removing the lens? As a practical point, after shooting with the wide angle lens on a Colorado vacation recently, it is doubtful that I will ever use the camera without the wide angle lens again.

Oh no no, nothing like that. Once the filter is attached I plan to keep it on there for good. I just heard rumours that some wide-angle adapters don't have thread attachments and I wanted to make sure that 1) this one does and 2) that it isn't necessary to have the hood off in order to attach a filter.

I wanted to make sure I could have both the filter and the hood on at the same time. I guess it was a dumb question, but now I know.

:)