Some great images there, the fifth one in particular catches my eye. I think the sunrise light benefits these tremendously.

Regards
David

Are you having a go a the M-28mm F3.5? Best of luck with it, I got it stripped down so far but could not get into the inner assembly where the aperture pin had become detached.

Regards
David

6th or 7th April is now out for me Stuey as I have to go to the UAE on business, so a date change might work in my favour, but I think you should set a date and stick to it, otherwise you will be all over the place. You will never be able to please everyone.

Regards
David

Lovely shots Dave, all v. sharp.

Regards
David

A home-made double-header flash diffuser, tubes with adjustable arms, made from empty Pringles Tubes and fitted over the end of a cheap (but powerful) manual flashgun. Cost £24 (including the flashgun) and produces bright, evenly lit shots with no shadows at F16 and ISO200, like this one which was shot with the Sigma 105 DG EX Macro, 2x Teleconverter and the above-mentioned flash setup.




Regards
David

Generally transactions on the forum have been great; there's been one I wasn't 100% happy with, but I'll put that one down to experience!

I would add that I've also had the same experiences on ebay so far as well, bar one rogue seller in approximately 100 transactions.

All in all, it's a good way to do business!

Regards
David

I recently purchased a 150-500 without OS, so I use the in body stabilisation. So far, almost all my shots with this lens have been shake-free, even at 500mm, which is testament to the Pentax SR.

I don't know if the lens OS is any better, but I don't feel that I need it based on results so far.

Can the lens OS be turned off? If it can, you could test with this on and the Pentax SR off, then do the tests in reverse and check the results.

Regards
David

6th or 7th of April is good for me, thanks for this Stuey.

Regards
David

I really can't imagine where you are coming from with this Nigel, I've already said that the IIs meters slightly differently from the K-5 Mk1 and this could be the cause of the brightness difference. As stated, every single setting in camera was identical (including fine sharpness and all other custom image parameters) and all I did with each file was open it from Adobe Bridge into Adobe Camera RAW, then from there into Photoshop CS3 and adjusted only the levels in CS3 to make the images as close as possible to each other in terms of the levels. No other adjustments were made prior to saving as jpeg, each save to jpeg was identical, except for the filenames.

How this process could affect any custom parameters I cannot possibly imagine and I think you are barking up the wrong tree here. I took great care to follow the same process on each file, so as not to introduce any external influences.

That said, can we please end this thread now as it is doing my head in!!!

I like my K-5IIs, I like my K-5 and I like my K-x and that's all that matters to me

Best wishes
David

The Redsnapper is not 'light' but it's not 'heavy' either. It is well built and sturdy and will withstand heavy use. Try using a tripod in 60-70mph winds like we had in Derbyshire on a recent trip out. A Hama will just not cut the mustard in conditions like this. The Redsnapper will.

The Redsnapper also comes with 2 centre columns (short one and a long one), the short one for when you want to go down really low. The legs open out to a ridiculously wide angle, so the Redsnapper is one hell of a flexible tripod. It has clearly been designed by people who know what they are doing.

Back to the weight - if you are not prepared to carry around a decent tripod you are not really that serious about landscape photography - it is a necessity. The weight for me is not a factor and I am not a big bloke. I am happy to lug it around and would not go out without it.

All parts on the Redsnapper are metal, there's not any plastic anywhere on it, apart from the anti-twist bushes hidded within the legs and these are plastic because plastic is appropriate. For what it costs, it is the bargain of the century.

Regards
David