Hi Peter

Thanks for the comment about the images .
I have the Sigma EF 530 DG SUPER , not sure how different that would be from the AF500FTZ, and by the way what is the difference between the AF500FTZ and the Pentax AF-540FGZ version?

Thanks

Thanks Cliff,

I love playing with these droplets. I have to admit that compared to smoke images these ones are really great for relaxation , and addictive

Thanks Grantham

The first one to offer a better deal I am going to go for it.

Fiona

you will have plenty of fun, try them.

Macro lens, I use the 100mm but I am sure the Tamy also will do Fiona. Work around the F stops, I usually keep them between 8 to 16 but mostly 8 to 11, below that it starts becoming darker and I have to play with the lights much more.

By the way sorry for the late reply, had a long long day

Well, I am still interested but would be looking for a slightly cheaper price.

Keith, sorry if I didn't answer any of your PMs,
Yesterday was an unusually hectic and stressful day

But thankfully all ended up well

I just thought that I wanted to leave things in the clear, even if I had to explain it all over again.

John
I am sorry if I sounded a bit over sensitive. I do apologise for that.
It might have been because of the follow through process of thoughts that I was going through while writing the whole explanation.
Again I do apologise I might have misinterpreted your request for a comment..

But keithross comment certain sounds a bit out of place and I didn't like it, which prompted me to write it all

By the way John, I think it would be nice of you to allow Shim in again to post any comments. I understand the reasons why he was banned and I am not disputing that fact. But with this particular issue it would be nice to have him back here if not at least to comment how intensely and constantly I had been in touch with him and while I spent a heck of a time trying to get the lenses for the forum members. As I mentioned I managed to get three and I was quite happy that at least got those three and some even though very few members benefitted out of it.

Did anyone of the remaining members who now are complaining come to me and offered a nice pleasant word of understanding or a thank you for my efforts? Only a handful few had the decency to extend their sympathy for what I went through and my frustrations. Some still wanted the lenses at £370 and very kindly offered me extra £30 for the troubles and postage, but most of them I just come back here to read that they are moaning and grumbling for the fact that they did not get what they wanted. A simple thank you for the effort would have made me really feel great.
But instead they are cheesed off because they find out that I have put a lens for sale and have already let their imagination run wild and make silent accusations. What a way of appreciating someone's efforts, really.

Well, I just got back after a tedious day at work and am catching up with this thread.

I definitely DO NOT want to go into details AGAIN.
If only people read the comments properly in order and checked the dates accordingly they would avoid making any wrong assumptions.

But for what is worth I will have just this to add to my yesterday's long comment.

Oh and also to make matters probably more easy to understand to those who have trouble following and get dates and times confused I will jolt down it in steps. And all can be traced back and checked in this very same thread.

Monday - I volunteered to help to acquire the lenses. If you read my comments on that day you will realise that I mentioned my hesitation in contacting the person who worked at the airport. So much so I even mentioned that if there is another way that I can help other than having to contact the person then I would prefer that method.

Waited for a good couple of hours and in the meantime asked who was interested. Check Shim's comments also regarding his letter to Dixon.

On monday evening I got in touch with the person and there were certain issues (issues that I do not need to proliferate around here but they were strong enough for me not to fork out money in advance to give to someone to acquire ten at least 11 lenses without any type of reassurances). Has anyone calculated how much that was going to be? I had promised £220 for each lens to the chap and the total for 11 was going to be £2,420.
In my book this is a tremendous amount of cash to give to someone without any reassurances and then expect lenses.

For those who are going to read my comments on monday note that I specifically mentioned that I already had a pentax version and did not need one, but agreed to help others acquire it. My thoughts were that I would get hold of one of the lenses and sell it and cover my costs rather than asking you to cover the charges expenses running around and any extra for my troubles. (thinking about it may be, with the risk of sounding with lack of humility, I should add that I regret even having thought that way, as some, and please I stress SOME of the members did not deserve it after all, and me having to write this all justifying it is proof of that).

Tuesday morning I decided to deposit enough only for 3 lenses into the chap's account so that he could bring me 3 units in the evening and then next day carry on doing the same and take it from there, rather than risking the whole amount.
Tuesday evening I drove 12 miles at 8:30PM to collect the lenses from this chap's home and I called Shim on his telephone to tell him I had in my possession 3 lenses. Him and couple of other members were all kept inside this situation and they knew what was going on. There was no need to plaster across the thread the problems that I faced at that time and the reasoning behind not being able to get all the lenses as expected.

Wednesday morning I PMe Shim and the other member in the list and told them I had 3 lenses, and was going to post it to them and was keeping the third one to sell it off and cover my costs and make a profit.
I then proceeded to put it on the pentaxforum and on ebay my lens for sale.

All of the day on wednesday I didn't hear back from the chap and I think you can now link this comment and go back to my post where I explained the whole sage that happened yesterday.

So, do I feel bad in putting the lens I got for myself on ebay and pentaxforums? Absolutely not. That was my intention from the very beginning.
Am I happy that I managed at least to get two more costing £220? Yes absolutely delighted, because as I had committed myself I passed it to two fellow members exactly at that price plus carriage.

Did I do anything wrong in going through the hassle of getting more lenses although at £370? I do not regret it at all. I already had a profit in mind in case the members who had initially wanted the lenses at the original cheap prices had decided that they were not ready to pay that much for it. When I went to meet the chap yesterday night I had already done my calculations as I had researched prices around ebay and other places in order to put my lens for sale. Inclusive I asked advice from one very knowledgeable and very helpful member to give me some tips about selling it, which he kindly guided me and recommended me accordingly.

Am I going to sell the lenses I got and benefit out of it? Absolutely yes, if not from any fellow members then I am sure I will manage to sell somewhere else as I have already sold most of them and just got very few left. I sold them for £400 each.

Now I fail to realise what is the big fuss about this all and why are some members criticising me and pointing the finger at me for not having their lenses at the cheap price. Did anyone offer to pay for the lens before I had even acquired it? Nope, the expectation was that I was going to fork the whole amount to get the lenses and then distribute it. And even that I was ready to do it, but definitely wasn't going to risk my cash in a very dodgy situation. I risked £660 and when I didn't hear back from him the whole day on wednesday and thursday I went up through the roof, and had I lost my money would the members who were eagerly awaiting for the lenses had chipped off to cover my losses? I doubt very much.

This is all that I had to say, and that'sm it.

My grievance now is that why the heck did I need to have to explain all this. That is what annoys me actually. I didn't steal nor done anything wrong except probably in the minds of some of the members become one that made them lose the deal. Strange really, how one learns lessons as time progresses about human nature. Its not the first time that I have volunteered to help some members to acquire cheap deals and I have often done it all with immense pleasure. They are here and they can vouch it for me, even though I think I shouldn't need that. There was nothing wrong that I had done here.

And now lastly, John I fail to understand why a comment is it expected from me in reply to a comment from keithross that even to begin with is redundant. If only the he had read the thread properly and followed up my comments he would have followed the situation. Am I forced to justify any of my actions here? That's what cheeses me off actually.