John,

I am doing some more tests, but first impression is it doesn't change, nope. Am about to display a couple more so all your views are appreciated.

This one I am compiling I opened up the lens totally, the first batch came up pretty dark, but that was more a mistake from the photographer's part rather than the software itself , so to carry out the experiment I forced the flash also.

Uploading into the server now

Thanks Stoupaduck at least I know it was not a total waste

By the way, gosh you live just around the corner from me. What part of harrow are you in? I am in Ruislip, actually just on the borders of Pinner and Ruislip as such. Used to live in Harrow, close to the Stanmore side, and I know Harrow reasonably well. Wife still prefers St Ann's and St George's Shopping Ctre instead of Uxbridge one , I guess old habits die hard huh? .

We should meet someday, I would learn a lot from you

I have been wanting to try this technique ever since I read it and today I decided to give it a go as a trial. Even without choosing the appropriate subject I was quite keen on having a go at it. I am quite fascinated with the result. Now you got to really consider my limitations in experience and knowledge in photography so please do cut me some slack , and also about the fascination issue, as it might not even be that good, but as a newbie and looking at the technique itself and the difference that it made to the images taken at various focus points the result for me was really worthy of an exclamation.

So here is the result and any comments and suggestions are greatly welcome. I am looking for sharpness and good DOF here so please disregard the light and composition issues , at least for now. These ones I will tackle next

I used helicon stacking software, and it was my first go at it.

Am off to loook for some more interesting subjects now and giving it a go. For me it definitely makes a huge difference as I was struggling to find the points where to focus and let the other bits suffer. This way its so much better as I can end up having all the bits in focus.

Comments and suggestions please, let them come.

I might get a lot of stick for posting this link because it was sponsored by Olympus, but I couldn't resist to show it to the forum readers.
I am sure quite a few of you might have already seen it but just in case any newcomer or someone who hasn't they might enjoy it.

The images are well captured and the sound enhances the whole viewing experience

I guess Africa can be addictive . I have left the country now over 30 years but everytime I go back just feels as if I have never left .

Oh by the way, I forgot to mention, I am an african lad , born and spent a good part of my childhood there. Parents still live there and I visit them often.

Gwyn,
How did you like Tanzania? The country south to the border of Tanzania is where I come from. I usually fly to Joburg and then drive through the borders of SA, across Swaziland and then into Maputo. Then I usually go exploring and revisiting all the places again all the way to the north of the country.

Polchraine,

what countries have you had the pleasure of visiting across Africa? I assume you must be quite stunned with the wildlife and sorroundings to have visited so many countries across the continent

Amin

Right, so let me see if I got this correct :

a)Too dusty to change lense
b)300 probably too short for some of the captures I would want
c)300 also too long to capture some of the landscape

Probable solutions:

a) Get another body (hmm which would be more economical and is also closer in functions or settings to the K20D)
b)Get a 300mm and also a TC
and lastly... get a earache from the wife and probably cold dinners for the rest of the week for daring to suggest I need some more stuff besides the DA300mm for my birthday hahaha

Hmm I wonder if the extra gear is worth a few cold dinners and a sulking from the wife, they seldom last long anyway lol

Precisely hardgravity. That's why I calculated the % and I tend to think that for such an item in order to take the risk the discount should be justifiable. A mere 19% doesn't seem to be enough.

For a mere £160 I think its far better to head to SRS and get the peace of mind and deal with the friendly and great staff, if anything goes wrong you know you are in good hands

I wrote to the seller and asked why he was selling it, just found it curious as the item is being sold as new, for my peace of mind also and probably to pursuade the wife to buy me the present ahead of my birthday and with a commitment to put my head down and improve on my shots LOL.

His reply did satisfy me and if the item will really come with 2 years warranty from pentax then I would be inclined to think its a good buy.

Toying with the idea of having a DA 300mm f/4 for my future trip to Africa, well the trip is in December but by that time I would have practised a lot on the new lens, aaahhhh so tempting

Amin

Let us know when you get it and let's see some of those wonderful images you got us used to see .

I have been promised one of this for my birthday by wife , but the condition is she wants to see by then some major improvements in the shots I take to impress her with the lenses I already own. LOL, yup, she has raided my camera bag ha , so she knows what I have.

So I got to get cracking and you all can contribute for that lovely addition in my camera bag by guiding and helping me improve .

Now on the more serious side, definitely your help and advice here in the forum has helped me notch a gear higher and I can feel treading the waters much better and with much more confidence too . So a huge thank you to all you people.

Amin