If you haven't already seen it, you might be interested in http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2014/03/19/farewell-to-flare-pentaxs-hd-lim...

I'm as happy as the next person to be sceptical of manufacturers' claims, but the coating does seem to be more than moonshine! Mind you, whether to the individual photographer it's worth the hefty premium is another matter.

Hello. You are not going to go wrong with either the Nikon 7000 or the Pentax K5 -- both are good cameras. When they were launched I looked closely at both and in the end selected the Pentax. Why? First impressions count for a lot and the Pentax just seemed such a rugged, well-engineered camera that was a delight to hold. The Nikon wasn't bad, but it was bulkier and a bit heavier. Reviews at the time tended to give the K5 the edge on a number of important measures.

You ask where you can find second-hand Pentax gear. A pretty good place to start might be the classified advertising on this site. If you are patient, and drop by frequently, what you are looking for will come along.

I'd second that view of the 17-70. I hummed and ha'd for a while over whether to get it or the *16-50. In the end, reviews (including the Photozone ones) inclined me towards the (usefully cheaper!) 17-70. It is not as good as the *50-135, its partner in my bag, but that says more about the real quality of the longer lens than any deficiencies in the 17-70, which renders nicely, with good colours.

What coincidence. Had I won (a fatal touch of hubris!), I'd have set precisely the theme you've selcted for the competition. Like you, I do not do find myself doing much bokeh, but I'll try to find something to enter ...

No need to go overboard like that: a K3 body can be had in the UK for less than £1,000 (just!)

From today the Hungarian civil code has been amended to make it illegal not just to publish a photograph without the consent of everyone in it, but even to take the photograph in the first place without such permission.

For anyone contemplating a trip to Budapest, looks like you'll need to stock up on model-release forms! Or else just ignore what must surely be one of the most unenforceable laws ever devised.

to celebrate three years of publication. Download from http://landscapephotographymagazine.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=91295ee27...

It even has an appreciation of the Pentax 645D...

The issue is important and complex, so it's not surprising it generates so many misapprehensions. Eg Starbucks does pay VAT, no VAT is payable by Amazon (or anyone else) on books in the UK. These companies do, however, tell different stories about the profitability of their trading in the UK, depending on whether they are talking to investors (when the picture is rosy) or HMRC, when the emphasis is on limiting liability to Corporation Tax. They do nothing illegal, and they do employ (and pay NI for) thousands of employees.

But it is not a level playing field and what they do may not be illegal, but that does not make it 'right', either. It is up to politicians to change the rules, and that requires international as well as national agreement. It won't happen swiftly.

With cameras, as any contributor to this forum knows, Amazon are not always cheapest. A small shop in Watford will always get my custom ahead of a small office in Luxembourg.

I can see that there must be all sorts of anomalies that have a cumulative effect on the price the consumer pays, including those you mention.

Without disputing that, or it's significance, it is none the less relatively easy to show that some markets are simply more price elastic than others. It works two ways of course: it determines that any company wanting to make sales in central Africa, say, will normally have to accept that it must charge significantly less there than in (say) Europe.

The US/UK example is one I am more familiar with. The argument often goes that economies of scale are the reason that some prices are frequently lower in the US than UK. There's something in that but not as much as might be thought. Likewise, the different movements of exchange rates have a fluctuating impact (ie if the ¥ appreciates or depreciates faster against the $ than the £ that will impact differently on Pentax prices in both markets). But overwhelmingly, at least in the sectors with which I'm familiar, US prices are lower than the UK's because they're lower!

In other words, ingrained economic and cultural behaviours, and companies' perceptions of them, lead in a self-reinforcing way to some markets tolerating higher prices than others.

Like any reputation, this can change over time, but it's a difficult transition. And meanwhile, in the UK we sometimes find ourselves paying more than on any rational understanding we 'should'.

A barge pole is much too short. Even two lashed together would be inadequate. The only reason such operations keep going is because they can persuade some buyers that the risks are worth taking for the (alleged) saving. If the camera ordered were to arrive poorly packed and badly damaged, beyond economic repair, I'd lay odds that a complaint would meet a deep silence. Although, regardless, there would of course be duty, VAT, and handling charges to pay.

Life is much too short knowingly to get ensnared in the hassle of dealing with an unresponsive supplier unwilling to do anything beyond ringing up a sale.

The best way for Pentax and other companies to combat these 'leaks' is for them, within reason (given that currency fluctuation is a daily business), to price more globally than they do at present. But I won't hold my breath. They, like any business, will usually charge the maximum they think a market will bear ... and unfortunately the population of the UK is often willing to accept higher prices than that of the US for the same goods and services.

Perhaps I should, after all, be encouraging everyone to take advantage of this fabulous offer on the K3. (I'll hold back for now ...)