The Police do have an alternate problem (which has been sighted at numerous riots here):

Self-styled activist throws self on floor kicking and screaming, while colleague films this. Later on they'll edit the tape to show as "police brutality". This technique has been seen multiple times during the same protest by the same actor. You also get the ones who will goad a cop for ages then cut the footage to make it look like an unprovoked shove.

Still not a reason for obstructing public photography, but I would like to see all Police carrying helmet cameras to protect themselves against these tactics. It'd keep both sides honest.

The stiff focussing could be down to dried-up grease. I've made up a syringe of standard automotive grease for dealing with these (syringe left over from an old printer ink refill kit). Worked very nicely on the two Auto Takumar 55mm lenses I've tried it on.

Yeah, I think Citroen tried something similar back in the '30s until someone pointed out that magnesium suspension arms near a large tank of petrol might not be the best idea...

I was surprised recently by the fact that the P30T has a titanium chassis. I'd rather assumed it to have some sort of metal under the plastic panels but didn't realise it was quite that exotic.

I can't help but think if he tried that with an MX the planet would come off worse!

Reminds me of the tale I once read about a Panasonic Toughbook laptop (scroll down to "caught in a blaze")

I have a Toughbook. I do not feel any inclination to set fire to it as a test!

They will all work, but they're not particularly good lenses...

Look for the Pentax-F 35-70mm instead of the 35-80mm, it's a much better lens. Also look for the f3.5 version of that 28mm lens (written 1:3.5) as it's a lot sharper. Finally, the Takumar zoom lacks SMC lens coatings and in my experience of other lenses in that range will struggle to match the colour vibrancy of your kit zoom. Look for the Pentax-F 70-210mm or Pentax-F 80-200mm instead.

Everybody needs a blimp

(link not recommended for work, child-infested areas or for those with an excessive demand for things that make any sense whatsoever!)

I've seen the results of underexposing colour slide film by a stop (ISO set wrongly) and to be honest it didn't look that bad, the images were salvageable although obviously some detail had been lost.

I recall reading somewhere that "Sankor" were a well-respected brand of movie camera lenses?

I have seen 35mm and 200mm Mayfair Sankor preset lenses, and I suspect a 135mm too. They wouldn't have bothered making a 50mm/55mm as their target market already had those.

I am still waiting for my Auto Takumar 55mm f2.2, which qualifies for this thread on price but not on the "generic lens" part.

Weirdly I'm keeping an eye open for the Mayfair Sankor 35mm, as I've got what I believe to be the original case for one (came with an Auto Takumar 55mm which it definitely isn't from). They seem well thought of and the case is in decent condition.