I'm not sure if there's a Windows version of Hugin, but it's a pretty handy piece of software for panoramas.

Get up to your nearest reservoir/lake. Should be able to get four or five contrasting shots tied together by being around the same landscape.

For example, if I was doing something like this here I'd go up the Elan Valley and shoot:

The buildings at the foot of the lowest dam (as a study in Victorian industrial architecture)

A shot out over the water which doesn't show any man-made structures

Some of the rugged moorland up at the top of the valley

The control tower on the top dam (already done, hanging in the toilet as there isn't much room in there so a sharp photo with a lot of detail works well)

The cutting known as "Devil's Gulch" on the railway trackbed, which looks nothing like the rest of the scenery up there

Well done, you'll love it!

I have both K and M versions and wouldn't part with either.

If it was sub-£20 I'd probably have bought it to see what happened.

I did go through the usual phase of thinking that it was only worth buying genuine SMC Pentax lenses, but I recently came across a Tokina AT-X 28-85mm (attached to an ME Super I wanted) which has turned out to be a cracking lens. I now keep an eye open for cheap Tokina K-fit lenses and then search for reviews on any I spot.

Problem is, the MES has a plastic top plate and the bit around the lens mount is the same. Can't really use aggressive primers on those.

The base plate was fine with a good rub down with fine abrasive paper and a few thin coats of orange enamel, the only problem was with getting paint to stick to the plastic.

I might have to do a black K1000 at some point, keeping an eye open for a cheap but working example. I will use an etch primer of some sort as I have had trouble with chipped paint on the orange ME Super

[IMG]http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x21/Kingofthemountains/IMGP3744.jpg[/IMG]

Will be getting a film test as soon as the new light seals arrive.

Hang on, hang on...

The original statement was that the lens will only be offered as a kit lens in Japan. It will still be available to buy in the UK (and elsewhere, presumably) from mid October, just as a stand-alone lens rather than bundled. There's nothing to stop dealers from offering them bundled with any Pentax body they fancy, in the same way as they split the existing kits to offer them body only.

To me, any halfway decent new AF prime for £150-£180 is a good deal. I've seen used F 50mm f1.7s priced higher than that!

Seconded, I scratched the original screen on my K-m while trying one of those cheap split screen things (which was horrible, but that's another story). That ebay seller was extremely useful!

Or a K 120/2.8, if you can find one...

Be a bit careful about that. I was reading the CL-1 manual recently (as I bought one a week ago) and Metz specifically say that you shouldn't put rechargeable batteries in the standard battery holder as it isn't designed for them - basically the flash will see too low a voltage due to the rechargeables having 1.2v per cell against the 1.5v of conventional AAs.