Remind me of fruit flies, but their eyes are usually red (too many late nights ).

Can't say I've looked at too many headless bees here to know if there are any tiny flies on them.

Dan

Excellent shots Clarky. I like the cheeky little flies coming in for a free meal.

Dan

It also works if you imagine the carrot is coming out of the cows mouth! Puts a whole new slant on things...

Dan

Yeah, see what you mean, just tried ringing it myself. Even pressing '0' for the operator ends up with the message "This mailbox is full".

Try sending a PM to PentaxMike from this thread, you never know...

Dan

Sounds like a silly question, but have you rung any of the numbers on here?

http://www.pentax.co.uk/_uk/company/contact.php?company&contact

Dan

Perhaps I should start sorting out a list of who to contact in what region...

Dan

That's fair enough. I think we'd all feel a bit cautious if someone who'd never posted said "Can I come round your house and try out your DA*300mm".

I've met people at visitor centres in country parks before, but that's where you'll often find me. A coffee shop in town would be another good place.

And, once again, this is as a 'last resort' really, if the problem's been thrashed out online, but it needs some 'hands-on' to get it sorted. Hopefully by then, you'd have got a fair idea of what the person's like.

Dan

This forum is obviously a great place to get answers to questions about all sorts of equipment and techniques, but occasionally there are times when we struggle to get a definitive answer from online help alone.

You may have a lens that you don't think is working correctly, and the best way to test it is on another camera. Perhaps something odd is happening with your new DSLR, and you want someone else to have a look to make sure it's not 'just you'. Or you have a hankering for a particular lens, but the nearest shop with stock is 600 miles away and you'd rather try one out before spending your hard-earned.

There are plenty of us here with either the knowledge or the equipment to help in these situations, and it might be helpful to be able to ask those that are happy to be asked, if perhaps you could meet up and get the help you need.

I know this goes on anyway, but I'm suggesting that if you're happy to be contacted with a view to a meeting, then pop your name down here and say whereabouts you are. Someone with a problem that hasn't already been sorted online, could then send you a PM and ask if you're available to meet up. If you're not, then that's that, no questions asked.

The onus of travelling would be on the person with the problem. I think we should be clear that we're talking about a brief meeting, it's not fair to expect hours of time to be devoted, unless the contactee is happy with that. Twenty minutes is often more than enough.

If you are contacting someone, please state the problem in as much detail as possible, and the times when you would be available to meet. If the person you contact says "Sorry, I can't help you with this", then please respect this. There are many reasons why they might say it, and it's not for them to justify their decision. Do not take it personally. They might be about to go on holiday, have no experience of your problem, or may have alreasy met up with ten people in the last week and be wanting some peace!

Hopefully, we might end up with a network of people covering much of the country, who can offer assistance when all other options have been exhausted.


So to start the ball rolling...

I'm based in Brentwood, Essex, and would be happy to meet up to help if I can. I have done this a few times already, and have found it's often a week or so before a meeting can be arranged, so don't neccessarily expect to see me the next day.


Hope this helps those who need it.

Dan

Yeah, we had to beat him up, that's why he's not around any more.

Dan

Er, have a look at this thread...

https://www.pentaxuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=22101



I wonder what happened to Tom...

Dan