Only ever took one roll of slides. All dreadful. Vowed never to use it again.

So how did it work? Did you choose subjects where the dynamic range wasn't all that much? Or expose for the bits you wanted and put up with the dark bits?

5 stops seems incredibly limiting...

He refers to "stupid multi-function scroll wheels".

Has he ever actually used a Pentax dSLR?

The elegance of the twin-wheels approach, which default to sensible things in different exposure modes, but can also be set to do pretty much whatever you want, is hard to fault, I'd have thought.

Possibly because they have only the one machine.

Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, it makes K-xs.

Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturday mornings, it makes K-7s. Sundays, the man that operates the machine has a day off, and Saturday afternoon he's winding the lens-element polishing machine. Once a month, another £1200 12-24 comes out at the end.

I hate to agree with him, but as the editor man at AP said, "Two cameras does not make a range."

Well it must slow it down a little, since by definition, dark frame subtraction adds a shutter-closed 'exposure' equal in length to the actual exposure. Then, presumably, there's a little processing time.

Whether this is significant with already very short exposures, I'd doubt, but isn't this the sort of thing you'd want to know for certain, by trying it out for yourself first?

Yes, I know, it hasn't got the very best reputation of the various A-series 400s out there.

Wide open it can be a bit grim, but stopped down a bit, I've had some quite reasonable results from it. The only reason I don't use it more is that I have the 55-300, which is more useful, and a prime isn't as useful as a zoom in the conditions I usually want it for.

The Sigma A-400 is very light, and very quick to focus, which does compensate a bit for its shortcomings.

As I think we'd established when anyone complains about Pentax AF, it's all about understanding the limitations of the equipment.

Edit: an example, and another. The second is an example of why a zoom is more useful than a prime

I've got an AF one that I'm thinking of selling.

For a lot more than £35 though

If the exchange rate changes really are responsible for the price hike, surely no one is making any more of a profit per lens?

Can I put myself down as a possible?

That's just nuts

I've never heard of a macro lens that fast.

For macro, depth of field is crucial, and F2 ain't gonna give you much of that.

Once you get to F2.8 there are several options - but nothing for the tight budget I suspect.