LennyBloke wrote:
Thanks for the comments - appreciated

No tripod used - all handheld, but I spent a good few hours working on my technique before the trip.

Because the AF is so good on this combination I didn't have to worry about fine-focusing, and even though Shake Reduction is excellent the lower the shutter speed the more chance of slightly soft images (Image 7. is a good example of a "nearly good" shot) - so 1/800 was the lowest that gave consistently good results.
Mikes point about the nice OOF backgrounds is partly due to selecting the right aperture - Maximum (f5.6) is a little hit and miss but half a stop down (f6.3) gives excellent results.

Pentax users are fortunate to have TAV mode, where you can dial in your optimum aperture and shutter speed for the conditions - then let the camera match it with the appropriate ISO. There are varying opinions on the highest acceptable ISO - personally I find 6400 is usually very usable and 3200 almost always - so I set my auto iso range with 6400 as the max.

danofmk wrote:
Bargain

Does anybody know if Vivitar 'made' any more lenses of this quality?

Jonathan-Mac wrote:
What was it priced at, out of interest?

Mike-P wrote:
That's the older non OS version, not as good optically but not a bad price for 500mm.

jeallen01 wrote:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/123897465604?ul_noapp=true#rwid
Starting price of £299 - no bids yet

Magicman wrote:
Thank you ' Defragged ' for the info & link.

Sorted out a price with them today at my budget !