Well stick an A series 50mm macro lens on it. You get a stunning AF 85mm result. Or a 100mm macro for that matter. Then you won't need a fancy 180mm Sigma.

I just rediscovered my K3ii that has been eclipsed for some time by the magic of Full Frame. With the 55-300 PLM and DA*300 on it I have been quite delighted. What I need a K3iii for I have no idea. Had they put a flippy screen on it .......... ?

Knowing what I know now I would pay the asking price for it. I bought it on their introductory offer for considerably less. Do bear in mind that it needs an up-to-date processor and oodles of RAM, otherwise it could be glacially slow - for which possibility they include a huge red CANCEL PROCESSING button so that you can escape.

Here you go. Nothing clever; just a shove it in, pull it out and see what we've got job.

Dead things are too often overlooked when they actually contain a lot of interesting detail - like these.

I don't like the waterfall ones because sticky milk isn't my idea of running water. That said, the opening shot is gorgeous with those dramatic clouds not having been overly distorted and the serenity of the first reservoir shot captures the atmosphere very well indeed. Nice to see you got a little bit of sun between soakings.

You've caught its character perfectly ..... it's my hedge and I'm gonna sing! And don't they just sing beautifully?

That's a good idea. Never knew it existed! ...... just ordered some off EBay. It's being marketed as "copper slug tape" because it's good at repelling slugs and snails !

Here is an M42 mount Vivitar 170mm auto focus lens on a K1. It works perfectly.




The SMC Pentax-F 1.7X AF adapter gets mixed reviews. The general tenor being that it is useful but of limited application. They can also be very expensive.
If you want to extend its usefulness you can convert many M42 lenses (and others) to AF by making the same modification as that needed to make the Jessop A series extension tubes work properly - you scrape off some of the black paint so that the rear flange of the lens shorts out two of the contacts on the adapter.




The problem is that the lens clearly rotates when it is screwed into the adapter, so how can we ensure the paint is removed from the right place?
Cut a couple of bits of sticky paper from a self adhesive printer label. Stick one on the side of the AF adapter and mark on it the location of the two pins nearest the red dot. Screw your chosen lens on firmly. Stick the second tab on the side of the lens and transfer the two index marks across. Now you know exactly where to remove the paint from.




The paint is normally hard and stubborn and can be quite difficult to scrape off. I use a small flat screwdriver. Depending on where the rear element is, be very careful in case your blade jumps!




Not all M42s are amenable to this treatment - you need one with a flat metal rear flange. You also need to focus with the iris wide open and hold the half press while you stop down to your taking aperture. If you let the shutter button go and then stop down it will try to re-focus when you press the shutter button again and it might fail because the adapter needs at least f4 (sometimes f5.6) to operate successfully.

I hope that is useful because there are a lot of good M42 lenses out there that don't get used simply because they are manual focus.

Time to re-visit your household insurance and its single items and sets I think. If you get that lot valued you will have a fright.