A Green Woodpecker visits our garden quite regularly but they are very timid and I rarely have the camera ready.
This morning he was foraging in the garden and I had time to get the camera out and the Sigma 150-500 on the camera but the addition of a double glazing filter was unavoidable!












Any comments welcome.

I don't think you should have any problem with the Spotmatic F meter, when using SR44 cells. These are the same ones used in the K and M series cameras.

Info from Yahoo Spotmatic group.
Spotmatic Battery Information
The most experienced members of the Spotmatic group have compiled the information below and many of them have been using Spotmatics since they purchased them brand new in the sixties and seventies. This information is being provided so that you do not have to ask about it as a discussion topic on the forum. It has already been discussed and answered many times and there is nothing more to add so please do not ask again. All you need to know is contained in this document.

For battery cap information go to the bottom of this document.

In relation to batteries, there are 5 groups of Spotmatic cameras:
1. SP Series. This includes SP, SP500, SP1000, SPII and SPIIA.
2. SP F
3. Electro Spotmatic and ES
4. ESII.
5. SL. This camera has no meter and, thus, no battery.

SP Series
The 1.35-volt mercury (mercuric oxide) battery originally used in the Spotmatic SP is no longer available due to environmental protection laws.
Replacement batteries available today are 1.55-volt but the Spotmatic uses a "bridge" circuit in its meter, making it insensitive to battery voltage variations. So, despite what you may have read - No meter recalibration is necessary as all Spotmatic SP series cameras can handle the increased voltage.

The alternatives are:
• Spend about $30 for an adapter from CRIS Camera Services (Camera Repair by CRIS Camera Services: Digital Camera Repair: Canon, Fuji, Nikon, Pentax, Ricoh, Sigma) and a battery to insert into it. But this would be a waste of money as it is definitely not required.
• Spend about $10 for a Wein Products MRB400 cell (modified Zinc-Air cell). They are quite expensive and have a limited life (about 6 to 12 months) unless you remove the battery after each use and seal up its air hole (it needs air to work). This is not a recommended solution.
• Spend about $3.00 for one of the many 1.55-volt silver oxide batteries available over the Internet, at Radio Shack, most drugstores, camera stores and even some supermarkets. They will last you for about three years if our experience is typical. Make sure you insert it the right way for proper polarity, and take up the excess space in the battery box with a rubber O-ring from the hardware store, that will cost you about 49 cents. You might have to bend up the battery contact in the battery box to make good contact.
• Silver oxide batteries that work are: Mallory PX-400 or RM-400-R, Varta V394, Maxell SR936W or SR936SW, Renata 394, or any type 392 equivalent.
• Do not be tempted to use alkaline battery equivalents as they have a much steeper discharge curve. The silver oxide batteries have a flat discharge curve similar to the old mercury batteries.

SP F.
• Mallory PX625, Duracell PX625A, Excel Z625PX, Eveready E-625N.
• The Spotmatic F uses a dual coil meter movement that, like the bridge circuit, cancels out battery voltage variations on the level we are dealing with here. So it is immune to the difference between 1.35v and 1.5v, too. The original battery for the Spot F was a mercury type. In this case, Pentax used the identical circuit in the KM and K1000, without any electronic changes. They substituted the silver types with NO ALTERATION at all.

Electro Spotmatic and ES.
6-volt Eveready #544, Duracell 28L Lithium.

ESII.
Eveready S76E, Mallory MS-76H, in fact any 76-type battery works -A76, S76, MS76.

Read more at: http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/8-pentax-film-slr-discussion/180904-what-batt...#ixzz3YvVza6Dz

My Spotmatic metering works fine with SR44's, compared to my DSLR meter and a hand held meter. The older, pre-Spotmatic meters do need the Wein cells to meter correctly.

Wonderful and so alive.

And all done with potato starch!

Still have my DA16-45.
Found it to be a really noticeable step up from the da18-50. Found the 16mm end to be useful and the 45 end no restriction. Better image quality and the constant F4 were also useful improvements to the kit lens. It also had a useful close focus capability. Never found any problem with the build quality.

I've not had a 12-24 so cannot comment on this lens.

Basically, You wont find a bad Manual focus Pentax.

There are some with greater following than others and that is reflected in the price, but there isn't a bad one.

The KX, KR and K1000 were all a bit bigger than the M range but some love them.
The MX Is manual exposure only. ME, MG auto only. ME super, LX manual & aperture auto. All small size.
Super A was Program, Aperture/shutter auto and manual exposure modes. Have one from new and it is certainly robust. Also small size.

The LX and Super A also have off the film metering so also do TTL flash metering with dedicated flash.

ME, MG and ME super are probably the cheapest. LX most expensive but also the most flexible with many accessories.

For me, the S1a is better looking than the ES.
Without the meter of coarse. Something about the shiny metal I suppose.

Congratulations - you deserve it.

Sometimes you just need to talk to them.
I had a break in some time back and they smashed my beautiful Sony direct drive turntable. The insurers tried to palm me off, or so it seemed to me at the time, with the current top Sony turntable, a much cheaper belt drive job. I complained and they asked what would be an equivalent, they had no idea really. I found a price for a suitable replacement and they paid me the cash!
I did replace it with the belt drive turntable but it was the more expensive model they had insured and I had lost.

I realized they were not trying it on, they just didn't understand the value of the item lost and were quite happy to pay when it was made clear.

You are entitled to the value of the item lost but if the item is no longer available then a suitable replacement is fine. If it is a new for old policy then you should get the nearest equivalent not settle for a lower value item. Don't try it on though, asking for a K3 when you lost an Optio is dishonest and likely to get you in trouble.

Nice idea.

I often use a little bit of Pledge (or similar furniture polish) to lub plastics. Don't spray, just put a bit on a cloth and wipe carefully on the surfaces that contact each other. Slide and glide much better after treatment.

Probably the same stuff but the wife buys the furniture polish, I don't tend to buy dashboard much so there is some in the house already.

I agree. I never save to the original file name, always 'save as' a new file name. That way you can always go back to the original.