Agreed... I'd much rather accidentally scratch a £30-70 UV filter than a £200-700 lens...

I now use Hoya UV's (they come off when using polarizers or ND's) on all my lenses and am yet to notice any loss in image quality...

In terms of flair (most of) my lenses are also fitted with hoods as well...

I do take off and reverse hoods when in transit however and think it is here when UV (or protection filters) are also pretty useful... Lens caps do occasionally come off in the bag and although my bag is generally pretty tidy sometimes you need to pack up and leave in a hurry, and thing can rattle around inside... UV's mean even if the cap comes off, the front element of the lens is protected from other items in the bag...

I know many will disagree in this thinking... UV filters are consistently a contentious issue on photography forums... But they work for me... So if people ask why... I'll most likely tell 'em...
Don't buy cheap ebay UV's... Hoya do a few variants... their mid-range coated ones cause me no loss in IQ... Those are what I use (49mm £30ish... 67mm £60ish)

My V4's sync fine at 1/180 as did my YN-04II's

Will people who bought into the first generation of pocket wizards not be in the same (if not worse $£$£!!) boat?
From a quick search the RF-602 is still widely available on ebay... In fact they can be also be obtained from yongnuo directly as they have (as yet) not been discontinued...

I have a YN560 flash that give good and consistant results... And a set of YN04ii's (good at distances less than 4.5 metres) that I use as back up triggers should my CactusV4's fail

I think 'writting off' a company because one new product is incompatible with the pentax system is a little harsh... They have a good deal of products that do work very well...

The RF-602's are widely used by pentax shooters with little complaint and their manual flashes (460-II's and 560's in particular) are becoming incredibly well used accross the board, whichever brand or system you buy into...

Although I'm assuming it's the DA-40mm and not the M-40mm...

If the 'M' version you'll struggle to get many people in the frame without backing right up...

Hi Abdysanders...

Where are you based?
Seems as new members we're both unable to PM at this time... But I am interested...

If you have a working one you don't want or need... Please let me know how much you'd like for it...
Many thanks
Dave

LOL!
I was thinking about something like these http://www.tlsfx.co.uk/p-40-150-second-smoke-grenades.aspx

Could well be... I have an idea... Never used a model before... may ask a friend to model... Thinking carpark... smoke... backlit left and right in blue... off side forward fill...
Is your smoke machine portable? Battery powered?

Erm... I might have ignored what I said about shipping... Vivitar 285hv on route from the states...

Read a load of reviews... You never know when you'll need the most powerful hotshoe flash around...

Lets not mention this to my girlfriend...