Pentaxophile - yes, that's the one.

Thoughton - will check out your Flickr later (it's blocked from work).

Seems I might have to hunt down a PK adapter then, I doubt I'll use the lens that much (I already have a 55-300 DA) but I'd like to keep using it a bit if I can...not worth selling and I don't like to just keep it in a cupboard.....

I have the above lens with (ahem!) Canon FD mount, does anyone have experience of using it on Pentax DSLRS. I have a K10D, might possibly upgrade to a K20D/K-7 at some point.

I'm aware the lens isn't of great value, but if I can find a Pentax K mount for it (though they seem rare/expensive) I could maybe give it a new lease of life (it served me well on film)....

Just thought I'd seek opinions....

Bit of a lurker here, but just wanted to say "thanks" to the OP and others - I'd read of focus adjustment before but not really understood and had been wary of trying it.

What an improvement.

Thanks again.

I've used Ffordes a few times for s/h kit (not Pentax though, I'm a very recent convert) and always found them to be if anything conservative in their ratings. They sold some of my old (Canon FD) kit last year on commission and I thought their descriptions were fair.....

Maybe you were just unlucky, or maybe their standards are slipping.

Cheers again folks.....

Beakynet, as it happens I tried photographing ducks on a pond yesterday, and found auto area to work better than I'd found with other subjects....

(But I will probably stick with SEL for most other things)

Thanks again guys....

Iceblinker, will try the 7DS battery when they have some in stock.

I don't intend using auto selection too often, just thought it might be useful for any "grab" shots, or if handing the camera to someone else to take a photo. So far it doesn't seem too reliable, in fact my son's £50 P&S seems to do a better job at auto AF point selection....

Sorry if these have been asked before, couldn't find the answers on here, so please bear with me.

Batteries - any issues with "compatible" batteries? Recommended suppliers? (Have used non OEM batteries in other devices without problems, so presume OK with Pentax?)

Auto select AF point - is this as useless as I think? 99% of the time I would use manual selection anyway, but thought "auto" might have its uses. Seems to default to centre point most of the time?

Screen protection - recommended or not? Research seems to indicate the screen is tough/resistant to scratches but it just looks, well, vulnerable...

P.S. For those who helped me through my "sharpness" issues, I have got it well and truly sorted now, so many thanks....

Cheers again....and thanks for the critique of my Flickr photos.

Stefan - yes I think I screwed up on the first shot (looks Ok on one of the monitors I use, terrible on another), I've re-done it and it looks much better (not reposted on Flickr yet).

Shim - Yep Clive Sullivan Way is the A63 into Hull ,named after the RL player (he died just before the road was opened). The "old" shots were taken by my Great Uncle in the 1960s, I have a stack of his negatives which I am slowly scanning so other people can appreciate them

Peter - thanks for the comment about the Engine Driver shot, I took it in the 1990s on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. I rarely "do" people shots but that one stands out...

Thanks guys.....I think I am getting there......been playing with RT since posting....

I think several factors may be at play here.....

My images are pretty much as sharp as the Sigma 10-20 sample MikeW posted, but not as sharp as the 35mm f/2 sample (but then that's a "better" lens than the kit).

Viewing at 100% is showing up errors in my technique, as some images are very slightly sharper than others which I thought looked OK. I ned to use a tripod more.

I need to work (harder) on my RAW processing. - I'm used to processing (ahem!) Nikon D70 RAW files, DNGs need a different approach.

For the record, this is one of my first (resized/compressed) K10D images, processed from DNG:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53761336@N00/3360825222/

- Another couple on my Flickr if you're interested.

I should add I am very pleased with th K10D - will be even more so when I have got my RAW workflow sorted .....

Well, my K10D/18-55 lens finally arrived, "mint as new" it indeed is

I'm having trouble getting completely sharp images (OK I admit I am pixel peeping at 100% a little bit). Compared with a friend's EOS 30D (sorry!) images taken with a similarly priced Sigma lens, my K10 RAW images seem to lack "bite", (I am aware K10 JPEGS are not over sharp).

As far as I can work out this could be either:

Incorrect sharpening (using RAW converted with Raw Therapee) - could someone suggest any recommended settings for sharpening here or in PS Elements

Bad kit lens sample (only lens I have is the 18-55 so I can't try another.

Poor technique - I shot everything with SR on (my mistake), but mostly the shutter speeds were handholdable anyway (1/250 plus) - could SR have induced some "movement??

(Will try uploading a sample file at some point, don't have access to my files right now)

Thanks in advance....