I will definitely be there Andrew. For those interested in quirky personalities and portraits there's a great shop in the back streets of Castleton that is worth a visit. I think it's called the 'Carlton Emporium' and it's filled with all sorts of bits and pieces. The owner is mad as a hatter.

Regards
David

The image is sharp / well focussed and I know from experience that the Pentax 50mm F1.7 lenses are fantastic. Try using it for some (human) portraits with the aperture set wide and I'm sure you will get some great results.

Regards
David

These aren't HDR shots. I know that Shaun doesn't use HDR (at least very rarely) and he will disclose that they are HDR if so.

They are very well processed though

Regards
David

Marvellous shots Gary, you must have some sort of hide or static camera with a remote trigger to get this close?

Regards
David

Very nice Shaun, the second one is by far my favourite. It looks like you had a good day weather-wise!

Regards
David

For me it is the SMC Takumar 135mm F3.5, a common lens, so cheap to buy (mine was £22) and takes beautiful images. It runs my K135mm F2.5 very close indeed for IQ.

I also have a fondness for my Tamron Adapt-a-matic 300mm F5.6. It's in beautiful condition and cost only £20. The only issue is that it needs stopping down to at least f8 before images are sharp, so this restricts its usefulness somewhat.

Regards
David

I'd be up for this depending on the date.

Regards
David

The K30 is one of the most compact DSLR's around - yes it's a tad bigger than a K-x, but you won't find anything much smaller.

I upgraded from K-x to K-5 and now use both regularly. I've said on here many times before that the K-x is a fantastic camera, although clearly not as good as a K-5. IQ is not far behind the K-5, but for build quality and ergonomics the K-5 is in a different league altoghether.

In terms of whether the K-5ii is worth paying an extra £100 for, it probably depends on how much low light shooting you do. By all accounts it's a demon at focussing in low light. If this is not a requirement, the K-5 mk1 is probably a better buy.

Regards
David

Don't hesitate at £150 for the DA 16-45 - for this price the IQ you get is a steal. My most used lens by far and fantastic for landscapes.

Regards
David

He's not joking - Shaun has more cameras than I have pairs of socks

It's a good job he knows how to use them properly!

Cheers
David