We've got thousands of Ladybird nymphs and pupae in our garden at the moment, both native and Harlequins. I've not seen as many for some years.

Regards
David

It's a great TC Dave, no doubt about it. Mine is almost permanently attached to the DA*300 when I take this lens out. I also like the fact that it's small enough to whip off and stick in your pocket when not required. It really is a gem of an accessory.

Regards
David

PS: Fabulous shot of the Kingfisher, wish I knew where to go to get images like this!

Has anyone got any butterflies in their locality at the moment? We had loads in early Spring, Brimstone, Orange Tip, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Small and Large White, Comma and others, but at the moment I'm not seeing any at all. What has happened to them?

Regards
David

A lovely, dynamic landscape image, it has your trademark look Alistair.

Regards
David

The Sigma 17-70 is also excellent, I tested it against the Pentax DA 17-70 and found the Sigma to be sharper, except from 60-70mm where the Pentax was better. It is also good from F2.8 and has nice bokeh.

Regards
David

I don't think there's necessarily a 'correct' or 'incorrect' way to use tubes Nigel, it's down to what results and effects you wish to achieve. The aperture you chose will give very shallow DOF, this may be what you want or it may not be. The tubes have certainly allowed you to magnify the image and this will be enough for most flower shots. The DOF will work against you for flowers though, as usually they require a bit more depth than the shots above are giving.

When I said 'we need to see some shots from out in the field' I wasn't necessarily meaning 'insects', I was meaning shots of your intended subjects, whatever these may be. I think you'll find it difficult in outside conditions to get the sharpness demonstrated above, as even slight breezes will mean a fast shutter speed is required and inevitable compromises start to come into play between aperture, shutter speed and ISO settings. It's all great fun though, so have a go! You might find you get on fine with it, or you might find yourself yearning for that Sigma 105 Macro which is sharp from F2.8 and has great bokeh!

Regards
David

These are the easy ones Nigel - now it's time to try some on live subjects! It's difficult to provide any constructive comments on this set as it is purely a set of test shots. We need to see some from 'out in the field' so to speak.

Cheers
David

The second shot in particular is superb. I like the M50 F1.4 very much and tend to use mine on the K-01. The focus peaking on this camera makes it simple to get accurate focus, especially at wide apertures.

These shots have made me think about giving the lens a run out soon!

Regards
David

I think Carl is spot on with this observation. I've had two K-5's, one was way off on the AF and required a big adjustment on all lenses, the other was spot on and only required a small adjustment on a couple of lenses. Both the K-5IIs and K-3 have required some minor adjustment, but once adjusted the important thing is that they both focus consistently, so I know I can rely on them. They are both excellent in AF and do exactly what I expect of them, the K-3 seems marginally the better of the two.

Regards
David

I've had a K-5IIs for about 18 months and a K-3 since last November. For me, the K-3 is the better camera and gets used a lot more than the K-5IIs does. It's not so much about sharpness, although the K-3 does edge it due to the higher pixel count. It's more about the WB, the metering, the warmth of the images, the performance with P-TTL flash, the rear screen etc. I find the K-3 to be a more competent all rounder and I prefer the look of the images, which to me are more akin to a CCD sensor than any other Pentax CMOS body I've used. I don't find the image noise to be a problem with the K-3, yes it is slightly more than a K-5IIs from 1600 upwards, but it's not really problematic to me. I also find the K-3 to be marginally more reliable at nailing focus. The K-5IIs is good in this respect, but I think the K-3 is a little better.

Regards
David