Hi mat, I saw that too. That was one of the surprising things about the situation today. The magpie was so close to the Sparrowhawk that it might have made an easier dinner than the duck. I had the camera on manual focus but the action took me by surprise and I forgot to readjust.

Cedric

Spent the morning at RSPB Minsmere today. A Sparrowhawk took a duck for lunch, not unusual except that the duck was the size of the hawk. I could not see through the camera but those alongside with binoculars could see the duck being held head under water until dead. This all took place with a Magpie about a metre away. Suddenly the Sparrowhawk launches from the ground with an amasing effort with the duck clutched in it`s talons. As it does so the Magpie also flies up and mobs the Sparrowhawk who is now rapidly losing height and drops down into the reeds. The image quality is very poor but it gives an idea of the sizes of birds involved. Another really strange thing though, none of the other birds took any notice of the Sparrowhawk whatsoever.

Cedriclink

Superb! congratulations to you all. Being a grandad is wonderful, unbelievable fun. We have twin identical grandsons and I got a trainset.

Cedric

Hello david, welcome to the site. Youv`e got a grand bit of kit with the K10. You are able to alter so many settings you can experiment for ever. Enjoy using it at every opportunity. There are so many questions answered on here you will be amased.

Cedric

Welcome Richard, look forward to some pix with your new Pentax.

Cedric

Hi Amin

Well funny, thanks for the link. Just what is needed at the end of the weekend.

Cedric

You can`t be too careful how you clean the screen. Actually you can`t be too careful doing anything in that area. I know it`s difficult but the best way to deal with it is to keep it as clean as possible in the first place. About the only thing that won`t stick to the inside of a camera is a housebrick. After using my K10 on a `scope I had debris on the filter, as I was whisking about moving stuff out of the area with the mirror down I hadn`t noticed the two scratches I had put on the focus screen till the lens was back on. SRS do a nice line in focus screens.

Cedric

I bought my T mount adaptor from London Camera Exchange in Norwich. I got the adaptor for the scope as part of the kit. A bargain Konus scope for a £100. (New). I tried my K10 on it but it was well heavy. However I tried a W80 attached to a Viking adaptor bracket. A good balance but iv`e yet to give it a try. The other issue with using a DSLR is the probable ingress of debris without the lens mounted.

Cedric

A week or so ago someone had a similar issue. They cured the issue by careful cleaning of the cameras battery contacts.

Cedric

Hi George, I have great expectations. (Typo really) totally shattered after a day with one of our twin grandsons. Amazing how a four year old can run you ragged.

Cedric