They are a great bit of kit, I use mine all the time.

Example image here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidbladon/5837041560/in/photostream/lightbox/

or go through my feed, most of the recent portrait ones have the Flashbender attached.

Waste of time, better off just saving up and getting a dedicated Macro lens.

Mark,

I do a fair bit of Strobist work and I use a Micansu portable softbox (£60) and a silverwhite brolly (£18.00) from Premier Ink.

Flash wise I use a Metz 50 AF-1 and I also have an old Cobra D650 flash that I picked up for 12 quid, it's fully manual and ideal for back lighting.

I use a set of iShoot triggers, £35 for a set from a company called UK Highland Photography, got them delivered next day and never had an issue with them, just make sure you use lithium batteries in them, rechargables seem to cause problems.

A sandbag is invaluable to keep your standbrollysoftbox steady.

I also use a rogue flashbender or a Stofen diffuser sometimes.

That's pretty much all you need to get started and it will certainly get you heading in the right direction.

Check out my Flickr page here for some of the results I achieved.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidbladon/page4/

I love shooting at f1.8 - f2.2 on my Pentax FA 1.4 and using the HSS on my Metz 50 AF-1 during sunny days.

You can get some remarkable shots.

Taken at f1.8 1/800 HSS on the Metz and a rogue flashbender to direct the light.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidbladon/5836492801/meta/in/photostream/

at f2.8 the lens is superb but if you nail one at f1.8 you get that lovely blurry background.

I picked up a Sigma 17-70 f2.8-4 HSM/OS for £275.00 from Park Cameras, heavy but a great bit of glass especially on the K-5. I use that most of the time for everyday shots such as landscapes and portraits. I use the K-5 SR and switch the lens OS off and I get consistently great results, just head over to Flickr and check my feed for some examples.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidbladon/

I think if you are on a budget and want a seriously good upgrade to the kit lenses then bang for buck it's a great lens.

I would be interested in the Samsung 12-24

How much?

I use the Sigma 70mm f2.8 MACRO, you can pick them up fairly easily and they double as a fantastic portrait lens as it equates to 105mm on a crop sensor.

Never had any issues with mine either, built like a tank and cost less than £300

Hi,

I use the Metz 50 AF-1 in HSS mode quite a lot, I can also recommend spending £30.00 and getting a Rogue Flashbender as it softens the light greatly.

Summer portraits turn out lovely and I use the 50mm 1.4 FA to get a really shallow DoF - at f1.8 the lens and HSS combination are hard to beat.

Check one of my images on Flick:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidbladon/5836492801/in/photostream

look at the EXIF data f1.8 @ 1/800 and flash fired.

I can honestly recommend the Sigma 70mm Macro f2.8 1:1 as it acts as a duel purpose lens, superb for Macro but doubles up as a fantastic portrait lens, sharp as a tack.

I recently owned a 16-45 and it was terrible, maybe just a bad copy. sent it back and got the Sigma 17-70mm 2.8-4 DC Macro and it's superb.