I don't think they have. I got a message regarding one of my reports which gave me cause for cautious optimism.

Trying not to count chickens, though.

Any news on the spot metering issues they report on their web site?

In the UK, presumably

Well certainly the definition of "acceptably sharp" on which depth of field relies, is open to debate. More so these days, with sensors of different sizes and types, and an ability that we never had before to examine so easily at pixel level.

But the 10-20 on the K10D is a funny beast. I've used it a lot over the last few months, and it takes a bit of practice. Sometimes if the AF sensors think it's in focus, it doesn't refocus, and the result can indeed by an unexpected softness.

If I need to be sure it's going to focus on the spot I want, I'll often make it start from one end of the focus range or other, to ensure that it starts, well out of focus. Then it will focus fine. As you said, the clue is in when you don't hear it refocus when you thought it should.

I think what it is, is that if the thing you're pointing at is within the DOF given by the previous point of focus, it won't necessarily refocus. The consequence being that if your DOF expectation was based on your aiming point, your expected DOF may be outside the previous one, with unpredictable results.

I had some soft pictures to start with, but I'm very pleased with the results from it now.

Imagine the deluge at the lower corner when the gutters get blocked

I do quite like the first one, though I can't really see it as a photograph.

But the second one shows the cyan banding that you get when the colour channels are differentially clipped, but not yet completely blown out to white.

I'd have thought fixing that would be a very good reason for using HDR techniques.

Well, sure. The closer you are, and the wider the subject, the larger these errors.

But once you get a decent distance away, they're insignificant.

The point I was making was that using a split prism will require the same reframing - and will give rise to exactly the same errors, for the same reason.

So if focus speed is the issue, MF won't help, unless you can see the sharpness of the off-centre subject clearly enough and quickly enough, which isn't always very easy.

Using the multiple focus points is fine when you have the time.

I'm not at all sure this is worth while in the first instance.

Before jumping through any of the hoops you have to, to start up an actual company (and there's no licence required in the UK AFAIK), surely it makes sense to find out if there's a market for what the OP is selling?

If it's a bit of extra income he's after in the first instance, then a little freelance work, as George suggests , obtained by word-of mouth, perhaps, will soon establish whether he has the skills and time to generate actual money from paying clients.

I find doing this quite fiddly with AF coupled to the half-press, since you have to hold the button half-pressed while doing this. If you let go, then it just auto-focuses again when you reframe and take the picture.

With AF-decoupled from the half-press, this isn't the case, of course.

Since you have AF lenses, you might consider using AF as follows:

- set the AF mode selection to centre spot
- half-press* to achieve focus with the camera pointing at what you want sharpest
- and then reframing to take the picture.

I find this is quicker than focusing manually, and still lets you choose what's sharp.

You can choose (in the Custom menu) to either lock the exposure with the focus or not.

Using a split-prism to focus manually still requires the camera to be pointing directly at the part of the frame that you want sharp, so reframing is still needed.

Therefore I don't see any advantage in modifying the camera, unless you start using MF-only lenses.

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*Alternatively, again in the Custom menu, you can uncouple AF from the half-press, and use the AF button on the back to focus if you prefer.

Here's one that can perhaps be tied to its owner

https://www.pentaxuser.com/photo/Portmeirion-montage-3