I think the last one was more luck than judgement, to be honest. Thank you all for your kind comments and encouragement.

We were treated to a few images from this very unusual and rare lens recently when Kris Lockyer (I think) made the valid point that when it first appeared, people were trying to use it handheld and were unable to get decent results. The lens therefore found itself consigned to the 'lemon' category and was forgotten to all intents and purposes. I wasn't too pleased with it myself when I acquired a copy but it was clearly so very well made and so well equipped with high quality accessories that its apparently poor performance simply didn't add up - so I persevered.

The answer was so simple - and in keeping with all mirror lenses - you really have to NAIL the focus. The tiniest bit out will cost way more than it would with a conventional lens. So stick it on a tripod, use magnified live view (and be thankful for the K1's flippy screen!).




It's a fairly large beast that comes with a robust metal hood (don't buy a mirror lens without its hood. You will regret it). The zoom ring is towards the rear and is exactly the right tightness to resist sliding by itself but retaining a nice smooth action. The focusing ring is huge and has next to no play in it at all. You move it a micrometer and it has an effect - hence the need for accuracy. At the camera end there is a screw-in filter that is an integral part of the design. The resident filter is marked "normal" but you can replace it with a skylight, red or yellow, or with one of the ND filters - 2x, 2.8x or 4x, all of which live in a special compartment inside the lid of the case. These are 40.5mm diameter, built like tanks and they also fit my Meyer 50mm Primotar perfectly !




This catkin image is quite nice but it isn't quite right. It isn't camera shake (1/1000sec ISO 1600) and if you enlarge it it will be seen to be a tiny focus problem.



Mrs. pigeon, on the other hand, was right at the top of an alder tree but properly focused she has produced a lovely image at 600mm.



One from last summer, the tripod legs were splayed wide and the camera was almost on the ground. Again at 600mm it's hard to complain about this one!



And from last spring, a breaking sycamore bud.



But 'where is that doughnut bokeh', you might be asking? Oh, it can do that in spades, especially with holly and laurel in the background.



Several of the above are fairly close to the camera. This one is a tiny target way up on the TV ariel.



And finally, an even tinier target hovering over an echinops bloom, this one at 500mm.



I'm pleased that I did persevere with this as it has turned out to be quite versatile performer.

Brilliant set of tubes for A series lenses.
There is no apparent wear on the chromed bits and no-one has done the necessary damage to the blackened side so I can only assume these are mint and unused? I have two sets of these and I find them exceptionally useful - but you do need to scrape off a bit of the anodizing next to each of the leftmost pins (as seen above) otherwise the electrical circuit cannot complete and they won't work.

I like 4 and 7. They both simply invite you to look at the place for what it is and they achieve a very satisfying visual experience.

I would be out there all day every day. Super collection. I hope this year is as good for you.

Very well done to catch one sitting still for long enough to point a camera at it !

What, if anything do the electrical contacts do to the Pentax ones?

I have no trouble at all with it on my Android phone. What does enrage me is that it immediately starts to download every last image on the card. It goes on and on and on and you can't stop it. If you just want the wi fi facility for one session make sure it's a clean SD card! Also, unlike the Flu card on the K3, you can't zoom into the live view image and micro-place the focus cursor by use of the arrow keys. All you get to use for focus positioning is the fat ball of your (very inaccurate) finger. For any sort of precision work, it's next to useless.

Here is as far as I got researching this one link

I wonder if its reputation for not being very good is down to people not persisting with it? From its build quality Pentax clearly thought it was the business - and that set of filters that comes with it - (useless for any other purpose!) - is second to none.