Here's some shots with Pentax istds2, 28-70 f4, 1.7 extender, 280 ringflash.
All shot this morning, in our garden.


more on our website (photo blog section):
http://homepage.mac.com/lightexpressions/index.html

while the af is sluggish my af 1.7 telecoverter and 70-200 takumar-a 1:4 is usable and I think most would be satisfied.

given the 1.5 factor of the digital body combined with an af 1.7 teleconverter, a 400mm telphoto becomes a telescope.
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sometimes it pays to rent or borrow.
If it's a rarely used focal length, and you need max quality.

oops looks to me that u were asking about camera controls....

look up techniques on using light tents.
knives are highly reflective and a couple pieces of black foam core and a tent made of white material along with an external flash unit and off camera adapter cord will serve you very well for reasonable cost.

now that I've had some time to get aquainted with it hers some tips on using the 10-17mm:

the builtin flash- when trying to get a darker foreground subject, front and center with a lighter background subject- the builtin flash will work but the lens will cause vinett at bottom of screen- solution? turn camera upside down. will post some flower shots later if anybody wants to see.

the 500ftz will cover the view adequetly with a cheap plastic (clip on the bulb type) half sphere lamp shade. secure it with a heavy rubber band. point it up in a bounce flash positotion, and it will work with only moderate corner falloff.

af 1.7 converter= 17-24 (approx) wide angle with fairly straight lines body on mf only.

here's an example of what I'd do to tweak the shot of my daughter and the snake:


to this:


Just a little work in the shadows

that shot had no tweaking but some of the others (deer for example) have been cropped (about 30% at 17mm-almost close enough touch) and exposure settings. Dear in this area are like seagulls at the beach...drive the farmers nuts....
most are as shot. jpeg.
these are mostly snapshots, as I was a) driving home from the store, then b) family outing with six kids (one adhd and one autistic), dog and wife. not a lot of time or care put into the photos, with that much distraction.
Narcisse Manitoba is famous for the snakes. That was not the peak of mating season, just the start due to a particularly warm spring day. They congregate again in the fall. My kids caught and released hundreds and no bites. Wood Ticks on the otherhand were biting...

here's some more snaps from our family outing to Narcisse Manitoba.
Will try to do some serious photos as soon as time permits.

http://web.mac.com/lightexpressions/iWeb/lightexpressionsphotography/snakes.html