Mine went flat ! It was 10 years old mind you.

Jeys Fluid and carbolic soap take me right back to infant school. I can still visualise the caretaker cutting up huge blocks of soap for our tiny hands to hold. There was even a choice of colours - dark red and olive green - they both smelled equally strong!

Thank you for your kind comments.

Nuri. I don't think you'd do too well birding with one of these. The focus is tricky, it is a very long throw and birds don't sit still very long!
Chris. I did a closer shot that doesn't need cropping. Here it is but I prefer the other one with a bit more room around it.

Wonderful lens that one. Did the electronic thingie still work when you were through with it?

Lots of time and lots of old glass to play with. Yesterday was the turn of a 500mm mirror lens. These get a bad press because
if you don't nail the focus to precision at that sort of magnification it looks awful and some people hate the donut shaped
OOF highlights you get now and then. So here is what the K1 made of it at my usual ISO800. All were shot from a tripod with
an IR remote release (except #3).

1 A close-up study of some bluebells hiding beneath a hedge



2 A 'grass roots' shot of a group of daisies about 20 feet distant. You get some idea of the narrow focus zone at 500mm!



3 The colour of new sycamore leaves is quite startling. This one was hand-held.



4 Returning to the grass roots, these speedwells were quite delightful.



5 And finally, in a patch of wild garlic, a sunbeam illuminated just one flowerhead.



If you are going to buy one of these, make sure it comes with its hood and, preferably, its original case.
The Tamron SP comes in two versions: both are Adaptalls and the earlier one has a tripod mount. An
alternative is the Russian Matsutov which has a T2 style interchangeable mount.
The jury is still out as to which is the better of them.

Another vote for #2

Having done similar, you have to remember also that they won't sit still. Onward, ever onward is their motto and it makes focusing a challenge.

Ye Gods but we are showing our age!

The photo of the *istD with its FA*300 a week ago was taken with a Samsung Galaxy S5. Loads of detail available. (All the following images were taken with the *istD) !

It wasn't only cobblers that had lasts. Many handy men of the house (like my dad) had one or two and generally used them to hold the shoe while a fresh heel was nailed on.