Try turning the selector switch back and forth repeatedly, as this sounds like gungy contacts.

I've evidently been very lucky in finding winders (have two ME IIs and an MX) which weren't abused or neglected!

You can buy the Tamron to fit many different cameras IIRC, just ask for a Pentax-fit one when you buy. The current Pentax mount is called the K mount and has been around since 1975, so anything made since then by Pentax will fit with some limitations on earlier lenses.

I would imagine the kit lens* is the better one. Generally megazooms are forced to have more compromises than a normal zoom, which reduce image quality. While the latest ones are more than adequate I'd still expect better performance from an 18-55mm than an 18-250mm.


*no "e", it's lens or lenses!

I had an interesting run-in with three squirrels in a local park. They took off like rockets when I stepped onto the grass and disappeared up the nearest trees. I'm not sure whether they were more surprised than me!

I definitely remember reading that on here a while ago - an interview with a Hoya bigwig who wanted to make Pentax an aspirational premium brand like Leica. Commercial suicide IMO - the mass market keeps a company afloat and allows them to research and develop the more upmarket parts of their range. They need to offer more sanely-priced lenses to tempt newbie DSLR owners to buy Pentax rather than any other brand.

I still think the SMC Pentax 28mm f3.5 or the M version (the former is the better lens, the latter is generally easier to find and cheaper though) are brilliant walkabout lenses if you can't raise the £150 for the DA 35mm f2.4. With a bit of cunning and waiting you can bag one for about £50.

Mine don't see much use on digital now but if I'm out with a film camera I will always have one or the other in a pocket. The M 28/3.5 and 135/3.5 make an excellent ultra-compact outfit and will fit into a waterproof box like this along with an M-series body, 40/2.8 lens, AF160 flash and three or four rolls of film.

I find a cotton bud dipped in lens cleaning fluid (or the spray you can buy to clean computer screens) works pretty well. It's gentle enough not to damage plastics or paint but will loosen dirt enough to remove it.

I can't remember whether I tried it with centre spot AF, but I'm pretty sure I did. I can focus it easily enough manually but that doesn't really help for wildlife!

I did hear a suggestion to leave the lens hood off but couldn't really see why that would make a difference. If the hood cut down the amount of light getting in (as the suggestion had it) then you'd get vignetting. The hood doesn't block any light from reaching the AF sensor, it just stops strong side or top lighting from causing flare.

I had one which did this, but stopped when I turned it off, connected it to a camera, then turned it back on again.

It could be that the contacts on the base of the camera need cleaning? Most M series bodies have never had a winder fitted so the contacts filled with 25 years of gunk, which now prevents the camera and winder from communicating.

Is the SMC Takumar 135mm f3.5 that rare? You can have mine for £8000 or swap for a K 50mm f1.2!

Interesting - I always put it down to the K-m using an older AF chip which didn't like the slow aperture at 500mm, but I'd be amazed if Pentax fitted something less capable than the K20D's chip given that the K-m was later and the K7 had taken over as the top spec model.