I've had one of the cards of LR44s before, so will suggest sending one of them out with the camera. The group isn't coming over until late next month (after exam season is over) so there's plenty of time yet. I've also donated an old Centon PKA-fit 70-210mm zoom to the cause (I never use it, you can barely give them away on ebay, and it'll work with both the cameras collected so far).

I didn't - I used a fine marker pen to ink the lettering in after painting. It doesn't look that good at the moment as it's awaiting a complete strip and rebuild due to the paint flaking off and the fact that the shutter fails to cock if left for a few weeks.

A good day - I swapped an unwanted MZ50 for a Makinon 500mm f8 mirror lens.

The school I'm currently working in has twinned itself with one in Uganda which is after cameras (amongst other things), so staff and students are currently trawling wardrobes. I managed to fix a dead P30t dug up by one teacher to send out and swapped the MZ50 body for the lens as he'd also found an AF zoom and we reckoned two cameras with lenses would beat one camera and three lenses. Apparently they can get hold of film relatively easily out there, just hope LR44 and CR2 batteries aren't too hard to find...

I'll second the K 55/1.8, keep an eye open for KM/KX/K2 bodies too as it was one of the standard lenses for these and you might find one that way.

I've seen a lot of FUD about plastic lens mounts, all I can say is that Pentax have been making cameras with plastic mounts since the Z-series era and I don't seem to see many broken examples (or not as many as you'd expect to see if they weren't robust enough for normal use). Don't throw it off a mountain and it'll be fine!

That follows the reviews I've seen elsewhere - the general feeling seems to be that the Sigma's the better lens, but with the new prices of both it's uncertain whether it's twice as good to match it being twice the price!

If SRS have any left at that price I'll be able to bag the lens and a UV filter to protect it for about the same as the price of the Tamron. I don't normally fit UV filters but with a lens costing that much I will!

It could well be - just compare your iphone light meter to a known good camera first though as it may be that the iphone isn't sensitive enough.

Shutter capping is when the second shutter curtain catches up with the first one - usually this results in blank or partly exposed frames at higher shutter speeds.

The 35/2.4 is a brilliant lens, but by the sounds of it you'd do better with the 50/1.4. I just find 50mm a bit long on digital, in fact I reckon the ideal standard lens would be something like a 28mm f1.8 (which Pentax don't make, but we can dream!)

About the only criticism I can level at the 150-500mm is that it struggles to AF at the longer end, on my K-m and Dad's K7. It may be better with newer bodies, but on these two it can't usually lock on. It focuses easily enough manually and I'm hoping this is just due to lack of light/contrast for the camera AF chip to work on.

My situation is that I have 55-120mm covered with three fast primes (55/1.8, 85/1.4 and 120/2.8 ), so the 50-135mm doesn't really appeal.

I will be offering some lesser zooms and a few 35mm AF bodies for sale next week with a view to boosting my funds toward a 70/80-200mm f2.8, preferably the Sigma but if that sells out before payday next month I'll have the Tamron.

Assuming SRS have any of the previous generation left for £600 by the end of next month I'll probably be ordering one. If not, I'll have to buy the Tamron instead as there's no way I can stump up £900 for a lens!