Very impressive capture!

I really must try tempting one of our resident bumblebees into landing and staying still for long enough to get a few shots. They keep trying to get into the house at the moment for some reason.

I think Samyang are doing well from offering focal lengths nobody else makes for the money. You won't find another 85mm f1.4 for under £300, and definitely not one offering the image quality the Samyang is capable of. Likewise the competition for their 8mm and 14mm is over twice the price.

About the only criticism I can make of them is the lack of auto focus, but with the 85mm it doesn't seem to be much of a problem. There's plenty of light and the narrow DOF means it's usually pretty clear when the subject is in focus.

Even better then!

I'd previously thought that a fisheye was simply a very wide angle lens, with the distortion an inevitable side effect of trying to squeeze that field of view onto a relatively small frame/sensor? Obviously this isn't strictly true!

The Samyang 8mm seems well thought of, but if I was after something wider than 18mm I'd probably go for their 14mm instead. It's full frame compatible so would double as a fisheye on film as well as an ultra wide angle on digital. Most of my subjects involve some straight lines, and I just find the distortion painful with a fisheye.

Edit, as I realise the above makes little sense! I mean that I could use it on film to satisfy my curiosity about fisheye lenses then keep it on digital as an ultrawide.

It looks like an out of focus rubber rat?

I have the Samyang 85mm and I can definitely see it as a sport lens for very specific sports. I don't think it's long enough for something like a rugby match, but something fast moving where you can get relatively close to the action such as motorsport (where the focal length will put you at a safe distance while filling the frame with the subject) or fencing (where you can stand well back and shoot in low light without flash) would use it well.

Mine replaced a 120mm f2.8 in my bag, that lens is now used for similar subjects on film. I also find this length (85mm on APS-C is roughly equivalent to 127mm on film) works surprisingly well as a walkabout lens for subjects such as architectural twiddly bits on the top of a five storey building. I just like capturing things which hundreds of people pass each day without noticing, and thinking about the attention to detail the builder showed in adding decoration which is so little seen.

My nearest Waitrose is about 40mins drive. I'm actually having to fight the urge to go down there and look for one of the breakfast pies!

From what I've seen, Pentax seem to have kept PZ on the more expensive bodies and those with rechargeable batteries. The K7 will do it but not the K-m/K-x/K-r which are designed to be able to run from AAs. Presumably they decided that there would be too much current draw from AAs to ensure 100% reliable operation.

I can't help but think the multicoloured cameras are intended to have an opposite effect to camoflage!

If you want really unobtrusive then a black M-series body with the 40mm f2.8 does the trick.

Well, I think I've solved it in a slightly Scrapheap Challenge way!

I managed to get the knurled metal casting out of the top of the 500G's centre column. I then cut the top off to produce a roughly top hat shaped part with a hole in the centre. The original camera mount screw from the broken head was a tight fit after I trimmed the handwheel on the base down (it had to be hammered into place, so shouldn't fall off).

Result: My perfectly serviceable Slik 500G legs are now fitted with a standard head mounting thread and awaiting delivery of a Slik SBH-100 ball head to return them to service. I've checked the weight limit on the head and given I only plan to use the K-m with 35mm prime or similarly light lenses on there it'll be perfect.