Before I order it new - does anyone have a copy in good condition for sale? Give us a shout.

I love these autumn mornings. Everything seems so... pure.

Truly amazing, very nice series indeed!

Amazing pictures. I like #2 and #9 the most.

Thank you Stuey, David & Bob!

Not sure how willing you are to order from an EU site, but on the French amazon site they are currently offering a 10% discount on selected (although I think all of the ones they carry) Pentax lenses: http://www.amazon.fr/b/ref=amb_link_190059247_3?ie=UTF8&node=6801292031

I just bought a 15mm HD DA LTD for €376.53 - or £268 including shipping!

Seeing as it's in French, here's a small IFU

1. Go to the url above
2. Add a lens from that page to your basket (panier). Important: if you want the 10% discount you can only buy 1 lens, doesn't work for multiple lenses for some reason.
3. Go to your basket to place the order
4. The discount is automatically deducted from the total amount (on the summary page of your order)

Regards,
Wouter

Thanks everyone for the positive comments so far! Also thank you in particular for the tips Daron, they are most helpful!! I did take around 600 pictures when we went to Isle of May, those are really the best ones.

And indeed - you learn as you do. The ones of Kilchurn are terribly over-exposed. I shot most of them with the fish-eye and it was then I found out about its faults. But by the end of the two week holiday I had more of a "feel" for it as I did in the beginning already. The puffins and everything on the Isle of May were indeed shot with the 55-300, which really is a sharp lens for its price. I was very pleasantly surprised by it - even though it obviously has good reviews. I'm quite proud of the puffin shots, although I like the one of the gull and its chick the most. Not sure why, I just do.

I always thought the little kit lens was not too bad either, and it gave me plenty of range on the wide end. Picture quality looked OK to me - that is until 2 days ago I bought a second-hand "plastic fantastic" DA 35mm which quite frankly just completely blows the 18-55 out of the water. I never really got what people meant by "tack sharp" and "creamy bokeh" until I shot a few with that little miracle! I understand the DA 50mm is even better but I've already found it's just not my focal length. Now I just need to find something that gives me a bit more range and sharpness on the wide end. The fisheye, once it comes back, is great and fun to use, but 8mm is VERY wide. At the moment I'm considering the Sigma 10-20 or DA 15 LTD - not sure yet if I want to have the luxury of the zoom or go for superior picture quality.

Hi guys,

My name is Wouter, I'm Belgian. I bought a K5 two years ago and, probably like many beginners, never really used it properly and had it stuck in a cupboard. Until a couple of weeks ago when we decided to go on holiday to Scotland. My girlfriend who's been living with me in Belgium for 6 years now is English and I've always wanted to do a trip through England up to Scotland. I only had the 18-55 WR kit lens and thought I would at least need a decent zoom lens to go with it, so I stumbled upon this nice forum (thank you again alexvick for the 55-300). In the week before we left I also bought a Samyang 8mm fisheye. Sadly the copy I received is terribly front-focused and deals with incredible overexposure & CA. I only found out when I was actually there already so I tried to get the most out of it, but it's going back next week.

Keeping all of the above in mind, I thought I'd share my album and see if I can get any pointers/tips/tricks and just your general thoughts. I found I really enjoyed taking the pictures - I have some Photoshop experience from my professional activities so I was able to do some PP - but honestly I don't have any true background in this. Think I'll sign up for a beginner's course in photography during the winter months.

Without further ado, here's the album. There are quite a few pics there, most of them shot with the kit lens, most of the animals with the 55-300 and some with the fisheye. Here is the link. I set it to public so everyone should be able to see it. Please let me know if you can't.

Looking forward to reading your reactions.

Regards,
Wouter

Hi,

Would you mind sending me a PM? I can't yet seeing as I've been registered for less than 30 days.

Thank you.

Title says it all Want to see if I can find a second-hand copy first before buying it new.