I've been following the efforts of a group trying to preserve the harbour railway as the "Remembrance Line" although I'm not sure how successful they'll be. By the sounds of it the developers want the land, and that generally means that a group trying to save some of the history of the area stand no chance.

I went down there a few times in the mid 1990s during family summer holidays, bought my K1000 on one of those trips although I don't think it came from anywhere in Folkestone. The ferry port and railway were still active then although rather faded. If you look on Google Earth the ferry linkspan has been removed, meaning that chances of any operator wanting to re-open the link and thereby bring a few jobs and some economic life to the area are slim in the extreme.

I don't think there was ever an official Pentax 135mm f2.8? There was a K series 135mm f2.5 and a Takumar Bayonet one (which doesn't seem particularly well thought of despite the ebay prices).

The M 135mm f3.5 is also worth a look as a first prime, it's a lot faster than comparably-priced zooms at the same focal length, is sharp, and doesn't take up much space.

If you decide to try a prime and don't mind manual lenses then I'd suggest finding a good example of the Pentax-M 28mm f3.5. You can pick them up on ebay in good condition for about £50 and they're brilliant, much sharper than the f2.8 version. I don't think I'd swap mine for an FA 28mm, and as the only upgrade route is therefore a few hundred quid for the DA 21mm I'm hanging onto it!

The 28mm focal length is a good general use lens on digital, and this lens is sharp enough that you can get away with quite heavy cropping. See these two images (one cropped from the other):

[IMG]http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x21/Kingofthemountains/Landscapes/IMGP1377.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x21/Kingofthemountains/Landscapes/IMGP1386.jpg[/IMG]

My bag usually holds:

Pentax-M 28mm f3.5
Pentax-A 50mm f1.7
SMC Pentax 120mm f2.8
Pentax-A 200mm f4

and the 18-55mm kit lens if I need a wider angle, although I find panoramic shots with the 28mm work very well.

Carmarthen Cameras have one listed but £70 is a bit much, given I really only want it as a standard lens for the MX (more flexible than the 50mm).

Someone listed a very nice M 35-70mm for £35 a couple of weeks ago, really annoyed that I didn't pounce on that one fast enough. That's also on my wish list to complete my set of M series zooms

The main thing to be aware of is that the MX is slightly wider, so cases made for the other M series bodies won't fit. I'm therefore a bit puzzled by that listing saying "MX-MV-ME" as the same case will not fit all three bodies properly!

The two problems I'd have with an ERC now are that it doesn't have room for the winder and that some lenses won't fit. Having bought the winder I'm inclined to keep it attached now, also on the look out for a sensibly priced example of the M 28-50mm zoom but there don't seem to be many about at the moment.

Talking of the 40-80mm I think this is a lens which suffers from poor reviews on the other site. It's a very handy macro lens and I find it very sharp when stopped down, for normal outdoor photography around f8 it's a cracker. If you look at the reviews it seems to be criticised for being chunky or being a two-touch design which is daft - all modern Pentax zooms are like that!

I wouldn't bother, £400 is far too much for a not-quite-perfect lens.

I was looking for an MX ERC, then I managed to get my hands on one of the winders. The ERC would be a bit superfluous now, especially as I've taken to leaving the M 40-80mm zoom on the front!

The zoom probably won't be that impressive, but the 50mm should be pretty sharp. You'll need to do the following:

In the camera menus, set "use aperture ring" to "allow"

Switch to manual focus and either Av or M mode

When you switch on with the manual lens fitted the camera will ask you to dial in the focal length for shake reduction - just use the thumbwheel to select and press ok.

In Av mode your camera will meter and shoot with the lens held to its largest aperture (f2 in this case). In M mode the aperture ring will make a difference, but you need to use stop-down metering. You set the aperture, press the +/- button, and the camera will stop the lens down (to your selected aperture), take a meter reading, and offer you a shutter speed.

Focussing manually can be tricky - you will still get the focus confirmation light (a green hexagon in the viewfinder) and the beep though, which should help.

I think the NRM's main problems are that they're now obsessed with "interpretation" and they also seem to have selective blind spots. They're happy to spend millions on Flying Scotsman but won't allow other exhibits to be restored to working order because it would "damage the originality". Never mind the fact that components were replaced all the time in the loco's service life, so it probably has very little of the original remaining anyway!

Mallard is a case in point. There's a good chance that none of the parts on that loco were fitted when it hit 126mph (and nearly melted its bearings in the process), and now they won't steam it because it's too original...

Put Scotsman back together as a static exhibit and get the LMS streamliner running instead. We already have a main line LNER pacific in the shape of Tornado, a streamlined Princess Coronation would be an even bigger draw.