Problem with the *ist is that it has the crippled K mount, so won't work with anything earlier than A series lenses. I also find it a lot more fiddly to set aperture on the body than it is to just turn the aperture ring.

The SF series are good cameras, just huge and heavy. The SFX was the upmarket one of the two with various extras, it can also use a different grip to take AA batteries. Often found with the Pentax-F 35-70mm which is also a great lens for your DSLR.

Samyang have good build quality and make some excellent lenses, I haven't tried their mirror lens though so can't comment. My advice would be to go to the shop with your camera and ask if you can test it with a view to buying. A quick shot of the brickwork on the shop over the road from the door should give you some pointers, although you really need a tripod to get the best from long lenses.

It would probably work best if you set the camera to Av mode and use an ISO which gives sensible shutter speeds (1/500 or better is the usual guide for a 500mm lens).

They do have limitations, the f8 ones will be very dark and tricky to focus while the f5.6 ones are likely to have very shallow depth of field. You can get great results but I'm not exactly rushing to buy one as it seems hard to get a straight answer about picture quality rather than the "it isn't £800 so it must be junk" reviewers.

Wasn't me!

Looking at it the clock sticks out a fair way, so they may not have had to gut the camera to make it. I've seen similar clocks sold for motorhomes where they press fit into a hole in a panel with rubber fins to hold them in place (simply pull it out to change battery or set the time).

I've got a handful of decent Pentax-M zooms for my film bodies, and don't use them much either. Thing is, the M series primes are smaller and lighter as well as being sharper (although I doubt there's much in it with some of them).

I do find uses for the zooms, but today I had a 28mm in my pocket and the 50mm on the ME. I don't feel that I missed anything by having nothing between those two, although I would have liked the 135mm or the 75-150mm on a couple of occasions.

I saw that a while ago - interesting use for an old body. Only snag is that those I have which are completely dead have usually been stripped of any reusable parts to keep the rest going.

I've heard tales of their prices before, sounds distinctly as if you'd only bother having one made if you desperately needed to fit this lens to that body (and couldn't do the job with a lens/body combination which you can fit together easily).

Or in other words I'm better off financially buying the Bronica and tracking down the 35mm back for it, if I want to shoot 35mm film using those lenses!

I have been looking for an adapter, believe it or not! They exist for Pentax 645 or 6x7 lenses to fit a K mount but I can't find any reference to a Bronica ETRS-K mount one. I did find a photo of one someone had made, but no advice on how they'd made it.

I guess the obvious one is to look for a cheap broken Bronica body and swipe the lens mount, then combine it with one of the spare K mounts I have from broken lenses.

I can see one very simple solution: Ban children from public places! Zero risk of their being photographed then. Those of us who like our shopping, eating and travel without uncontrolled monsters rampaging around will also benefit.

Oh dear, what's this I read, the majority of abuse cases involve a relative or friend of the family who the child knows well? Not the faceless stranger beloved of tabloid scaremongers?

I've tried to explain this to others before now. I don't use the 35mm because it's my newest lens, or because I don't have any zooms worth using. I use it because I find the angle of view perfect for day to day use, it's also compact and very sharp. It's a great lens to leave on the camera because when you see something interesting and grab it you know you'll get a decent result, rather than finding you've got some huge zoom on that can't focus on things closer than the other end of the living room!