Honestly the balkans isn't as bad as most people would imagine! They are actually known for great hospitality!

Last time when I went on a long trip to Morocco with the Km and W60, the W60 took a mere 2 pictures for the whole trip, the XA is, despite limited, a very good thing to play with and as its a fixed focal length, I will know when I can use it, and the K5 itself is versatile enough with the 18-250mm.

Promise that I'll share some pictures, but no garuntee of quality though

So I'll be going solo through the Balkans from Pristina (Kosovo) through Montenegro and Bosnia for 17 days, in 2 weeks time!
The trip's likely to involve a fair amount of time in the mountains, but also some evenings out! Can't be more excited about it though it's my first long solo journey. Even the fact of 7 exams in the way can't stop the excitment!
I'll probably be taking the K5, 10-17mm fisheye, 31mm and the 18-250mm, a mz-5 body and a olympus XA (point and shoot in the pocket!)

So has anyone done a similar trip, and would know what to expect, or else, what would they bring if they were me, and had the choice of the equipment mentioned above, plus: smcM 28mm f3.5, vivitar 55mm macro 1:1, adaptall 70-210 f3.5, and some macro tubes?

Thanks, PM replied.
I'll wait for Gartmore for now since he offered first as I quite fancy the sound of having a Pentax made filter (well, they're probably both made by hoya)
I'll get back to you if Gartmore's doesn't fit me but thanks for the offer

That'd be nice, thank you Gartmore

Looking for a 58mm UV filter to go with the FA 31mm.
Would like one of a decent quality (e.g. Hoya Pro 1D?) but I'd see if anyone has a spare or unwanted one happy to part with before I venture onto the well known auction site! (Hopefully cheap-ish too )

Thank you!

Thanks for the suggestions! If I see another road like this next time I'll give it a try! Not sure I'll take the time to walk down the hill next week, rather get home quickly and keep revising!
Or if I walk, it'd be a late night

If you're finding the kit lens OK, why bother changing it?
The other lenses mentioned like the 17-50 or even 16-45 or 17-70 aren't any smaller than the kit lens, won't have WR. If it ain't broke, why fix it when you're happy with it. For me, to keep it small I just got a M28mm prime, which is about half the size of the 18-55 kit lens, and it performs well enough and I only lose AF, not too important for landscapes and it's cheap as we all know. Mine was under £20.
If you really want to go down in size the limiteds seem to be the only thing that really offer a significant enough reduction in size.
Saw your thread in the classfields, have you thought about using a raynox-250 clip on converter? Keeps the size similar, and it's compatible with more than one lens. No real need to trade off the 40mm for a 35mm macro then.

Depending on how wide it is, when I first started off I would've opted for the widest thing I have, so 18mm, on the kit, 17mm on the 17-70mm, and 16mm on the 16-45mm.
But now I'm using the "wide" end less and less and tend to use a M28mm f3.5 or the FA31mm for landscapes. If the view is very wide and open, a longer focal length would still be able to show the vast space but enables me to find a focus better.
Ocassionally I use the 10-17mm fisheye but often find it a bit too wide. It's better for creative and architectural shots for me.
Although, on a big field I wouldn't hesitate using the fisheye, and on the mountains I'd opt for a prime.

Thanks guys, definitely helps. I was trying very hard to avoid the sky as it was just a single sheet of grey, explaining why the light patch was at the top left.
Not sure I'll take the picture from across the road as I wouldn't want to get ran over But certainly a person in the photo would have made it a lot better. I tried it with a car but it more or less spoiled the whole thing.
And yes, Smeggy, that is the spot. well done

A place that I will pass by everytime I walk down hill from Uni, but since I had the camera with me I found this scene quite attractive, though I'm not sure I've done the best thing I could with the picture. It has been cropped a little bit from the original.
Really asking for ideas and C&C
Thanks