Barry, ask the question on here. Just choose the appropriate heading and ask away. There will always be a wealth of knowledge for sharing.

Can`t have alcohol on a Saturday night gotta do a taxi run from the station. still looking on the bright side there's more for tomorrow!

Ricoh Pentax need to produce not just for "Pentax Forumers" but to supply and fulfill the requirements of the rest of the populace. If other makers have video capabilities then so must Pentax. If not, there`s a whole bunch of prospective DSLR buyers that will bypass the brand and choose something else. I`m guilty of this in buying a camera with NFC and wireless connectivity because that`s what I, as a customer needed and Pentax don`t have this facility on anything. I`ve been a Pentax owner since the early 80`s but if they don`t make what I want then I shop around for it. They will have done market research before investing in design and production they will survive or fail in selling volume numbers.

Hi Barry, appreciate your honesty. You won`t be alone on here at 72 and as for shaking I give you 11 years and shake like crazy which is why I just bought a decent tripod.

Welcome Barry, wonder why you want a timer? The camera will give 2 or 10 seconds, I use a Hama cable release on a K30 and K5.

Thanks everyone for your input. Choices, choices! The Benbo for me is too unwieldy but is no doubt a good bit of kit nevertheless. I settled on a Manfrotto 055XPROB with a 804RC2 head. A good deal at £169 for both I thought just need to get out at the weekend for a test.

Why this one? good price for the combination, a nice wide footprint, not overly heavy and quite tall which I like as in the past I`ve had issues with the centre column being a bit too flexible.

A group of us from work (Ransomes Sims & Jeffries)trolled over to Southern Norway way back in 1978. Our hosts were well chuffed with the donated duty free that we all took in. Don`t know why the visit was classed as work but never mind.

I`m sure there are enough folk on here that can suffer a wee drink on your behalf. Purely for celebration purposes that is.

Well, Iv`e just pulled the cork out of me birthday Talisker. Angels tears tickling my tonsils with a strong peatiness I`m so glad that alcohol preserves

I`m contemplating a new tripod. My current Velbon with a fluid head won`t hold a K5 with Sigma 150-500 now without drooping. I looked at red Snapper but the head i liked the look of is out of stock and has been for a while now - this is a bit of a concern. I want a fluid head as I often drop a video camera on a tripod. Weight isn`t too much of an issue but something rigid and durable with cam operated clamps is important.

Be good to have some suggestions please.