I'm guessing the K-x is the same as my K-m in this respect, but try flicking the control dial in "P" mode. It should cycle through combinations of aperture and shutter speed, if it doesn't I have a feeling that there's a menu option to set it to do so.

The principle advantage of P and Av over the green and picture modes is that you have control over ISO and white balance, as well as aperture.

The A1 has a light meter, and according to Wiki it offers a program mode too?

Dead easy to use in other words, just find a copy of the manual and learn what the controls do. Fully manual mechanical cameras are easier to use than a modern single dial body in manual mode (I love my all-manual MX, but my K-m is used in Av or P as manual mode when you only have one control dial to cover both aperture and shutter speed is a pain).

With the MX I find that if I meter for the lowlights and then shoot I get a decent tonal range without completely blowing out the sky or underexposing the subject (on Ilford HP5 anyway). You have to use tricks like pointing the camera at various bits of the scene to see what the meter says, then decide what settings to use with that as a guide. Have a look at my most recent gallery upload to see what I mean.

The only manual bodies I'm not so fond of are the KM and K1000, but that's because the KX and MX have the same features but also give you shutter speed and aperture readout in the viewfinder. The KX will also meter for 3200 ASA film - handy if you want to use Ilford Delta 3200 or similar.

Film becomes addictive, especially if you get hold of the gear to develop and scan at home...

If you have a look on the reviews section of the other forum you'll find various 28-80mm and similar length lenses listed.

The only one to watch for is the Pentax-F 28-80mm as there are two versions. The more common one lacks the SMC coatings and in my experience can't produce the vibrant colours or contrast of SMC coated lenses. Given that later SMC lenses can be had for the same money it isn't really worth buying the non-SMC lens.

I used one of these as my only other AF lens for a while, I can't say I regret buying it. I also have the FA 28-80mm with power zoom which is similar in performance, slightly faster at the long end but heavier too.

Mine's the larger one of the two, so I haven't tried the smaller one. I sometimes put a Bronica medium format camera on it which weighs rather more than any Pentax 35mm/digital gear, so I'm glad I bought the heavy duty head!

It does look slightly comical with my K-m and DA 35/2.4 on though...

I am currently awaiting a Slik SBH-100 ball head with a view to repairing my broken 500G lightweight tripod. The Red Snapper is great but you don't really want to carry it far due to the sheer weight and bulk of the thing.

Yep, I can see that would be a pain!

Have a look at the Red Snapper ball head, that has the friction control and with normal lenses you can set it up so that the camera stays where positioned "hands off" with a tweak of the locking control fixing it in place. It is a big, heavy head though, depending on what your tripod legs are like it may be a bit oversized. I use it with their own three section legs which makes for an incredibly solid support.

Well it was probably banned under communism, and as we all know banning something only increases its appeal...

The ball head should be ok, you're supposed to hold the camera rather than the head while positioning it and then turn the locking screw once you're happy. I'm not sure about the one you have, but most of the full size ones have two controls, one of which adjusts the friction on the ball (so it doesn't flop around while you're positioning it) while the other locks it in place.

True, I suspect that if anyone does live there they spend most of their time dealing with rather serious-looking callers who happen to be carrying cricket bats and looking for various names along with their goods/money...

Eastern Europe does seem to be the source of a lot of scam artists, but I think it's more a case of their Police lacking the ability to deal with them (or not caring, as the victims aren't in their country) than anything else.

I would love to see BT put ethics before profits and start kicking people off their network for scamming/spamming. They could very easily stamp out nuisance callers ignoring the TPS, premium rate scams and similar but fail to do so. I can only surmise that so long as they get their money, they really don't care what crimes are committed by users.

It's interesting to see that the K28/2 seems to have similar properties to the K28/3.5. Both are sharp wide open, but the f2 naturally opens wider.

I have a handful of K lenses (28/3.5, 55/1.8, 120/2.8, 28-50/3.5-4.5 and 85-210/4.5), none of them show their age although the zooms could do with professional attention. One has a blob of fungus and the other rather more dust than is healthy as a result of my cleaning fungus from it!

I knew there was a reason why I was only really happy using the K 85-210mm on the KX or MX. Something to do with the fact that it weighs the best part of a kilo and has no tripod ring, so you really want something which is metal from the tripod thread to the lens mount to attach it to!