That's incredible!

The ES II seems so rare that I'm seriously considering emailing one of the camera repair places to ask if they've got spares and can restore mine. It needs a CLA, new battery door, new rewind crank, and a sheared self timer bolt removing and replacing.

Normally I'd regard it as spares, and if I see a completely dead but cosmetically tidy ES II I would probably swap the panels onto mine. But given they seem sought after dead or alive I'm inclined to see how much it'd cost to get it back into full health.

I've looked at the FA 28-200mm and if I see a good one for sensible money I may well buy it. I realise the quality isn't wonderful but it'd be handy to have one fairly light and compact lens covering those lengths. The last one I saw had marks on the front element, I suspect these megazooms are pushing the technology so far that any imperfections will cause major problems so passed on that one.

I have no compulsion regarding AF primes as they're all way out of budget, however if it's genuine Pentax, £20 or less, and a lens I don't own I'm very likely to hit the button. This is how I come to have two M 80-200mm lenses (one with a sticky aperture but otherwise very tidy, the other fully functional but cosmetically scruffy) and also the F 80-200mm (£10 with an easily removed bit of fungus).

The old Pentax-F 100-300mm isn't a bad lens either, there's also an FA version with Power Zoom although I'm not sure whether the K100D supports this. Again, the new 55-300mm is probably better but for £60 a year or so ago I'm happy with it, shows no signs of trouble and will work on all my K mount bodies.

Ok, that is weird!

Tokina were founded by rebel Nikon designers weren't they? Might explain why they focus backwards.

The AF ones must focus the same way as Pentax ones, unless they've put reverse gearing in for the screw drive. The camera body is used to turning the screw in one direction to focus further away and vice versa, it'd get confused if you suddenly had the infinity and close focus at opposite ends of the scale to normal!

The 28-85mm zoom control is the same as my Pentax ones - turn to the right (when holding camera to eye) to zoom in. It's just the focus which is backwards.

My only complaint with my 28-85mm is that it focuses backwards compared to Pentax lenses. It's very pleasant to use otherwise.

Were those manual lenses Bret?

There doesn't seem to be a Tokina history site, but from what I've gleaned elsewhere the ATX badge has always been found on their top spec glass. I have one of the old 28-85mm zooms from this range and it's definitely one of the better 3rd party lenses in that focal length. Not especially fast, but light, smooth focusing, and producing sharp images.

Does anyone know if they did an ATX 80-200mm or so to partner this lens? Would seem odd if they hadn't. I know about a 70-210mm which I've been tempted by on a few occasions but I already have a Pentax-M 80-200mm so it would be a tad pointless.

This would be why I tend to scout photo locations which can be reached via the "car and short scramble" approach rather than all-day hikes. Given how many deserted mountain roads Wales has it doesn't really limit you as much as you might think, there is after all a reason why Evo and Top Gear come up here on a regular basis.

Survival kit advice still applies though. No phone signal up there and it'd take the AA a long time to get to you if you broke down or slid into a ditch. When you turn off the tarmac nobody will come to get you, so go in pairs with a decent tow rope.

Worst so far? North Wales, fixing dead tail lights on another vehicle miles from civilisation with a blizzard in progress in the dark. Engine temperature was actually dropping at tickover due to the freezing wind blowing into the grille!

IIRC they're an unusual genetic mutation of the greys, although I didn't pay too much attention to the article.