I've given into temptation, and gone for one of SRS's Bigmas, which I hope to be picking up within the next few days. I couldn't pass up the opportunity at that price, but it puts me in the position of having to make some big decisions about my lens collection.

You can see the stuff I've got in my sig, and I think at the very minimum I need to keep the following:

Pentax 50 F1.4, Sigma 10-20, Pentax 17-70, and the Bigma once I've got it, but then what?

For old times sake, I think I'll keep one of my 50mm F1.7s, but I don't need more than one. I'm tempted to keep the FA 28-200 since it's such a good range for air-to-ground shots.

Do I need the 55-300 as well as the Bigma? Either of the 400mm primes? I think the A 28 will go, since I never use it. Then there's the A100 F4 macro - a thing of beauty, but it very rarely comes out to play.

I realise I'll have to make up my own mind, but I'd be very grateful for any thoughts that could help steer me to a sensible decision, and away from bankruptcy.

Ideally, I'd get rid of enough to completely fund the Bigma, or as close as possible.

Well yes, but the depth of field is enormous with extreme wide angle lenses.

If you're going to use a lens as a fixed focus lens and rely on DOF, you'd be better off setting the focus to the hyperfocal distance.

Not the same thing at all as actually being focused on infinity, and nor is turning the focus ring as far as it will go.

True, but you'll still find that with many lenses, the hard stop at the infinity end of the focus throw is actually beyond infinity.

The green hexagon at the bottom of the viewfinder is the only way of knowing whether the camera has confirmed that it has focused.

I'm amazed by this. I've never had a lens that will focus reliably on featureless anything at all, be it sky, wall, cloth, or anything else.

You're saying you actually get 'green hexagon' focus confirmation, pointing the camera at uniform, featureless, blue sky????

50mm SMC-A F1.7

Apart from the rubbed paint visible on the inner rim, just outside the front element, in the first picture, and the slight wear on the mount (top left), it's pretty much perfect, optically and cosmetically. No other scratches, marks, fungus, oil (whatever that is), and the aperture stops up and down perfectly (I can't bring myself to use the term 'snappy', sorry!!). The focus ring rotates smoothly and is well-damped, as they're supposed to be.

There's a speck or few of dust inside, as usual, but less than in many lenses I've seen.

I should have worked a bit harder at rubbing off the dust that's visible in the pictures, but that's all it is.

Front and rear caps included as shown.

£45 delivered (UK only), open to offers.

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I describe and photograph things as accurately as I can, but if I've missed something that materially affects the deal then I'm more than happy to take it back and refund you. And if I've cocked up you shouldn't pay for my mistake so if it came down to it I'd pay the postage both ways. Local collection in person would be fine.

I love your IR shots, but these aren't really very IR-ish, are they? Except for the 'crop circles' one.

I also love it the way you say things like this:


Are you a brain surgeon in real-life?

I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, but the background's too busy and distracting, and the head detail has been lost in the highlights.

The only thing you can do with this sort of thing is throw the background completely out of focus with a wide aperture, and underexpose so as not to lose the highlights, and then pull the underexposed shadow up.

I mean, you could mess about in PS, but it probably isnt worth it.

Sorry, but you knew all that already

-cough-

Only you, in all the world, would find that something to drool over John

(or is there something super-special about that sensor, that I'm missing?)

Pentax probably have hundreds of sensors, maybe thousands, kicking about, after the stain fiasco.

Not sure it would be prudent to buy a K-5 in Jessops for the foreseeable future