They tried to create a niche high margin product, they ended up with a niche low margin product. It was great for philatelists and fans of some designer most of us don't give two hoots about. But in order to survive it's time for Pentax to fully divert their efforts to products with mass market appeal and the signs are promising.

Good, well done Ricoh, consign that to the stupid ideas file and move on.

Imo, yes.

US$2,000 shipping

That's a price of US$60 per item, a pretty big risk.

Good work Smeg, particularly the phone box. Real being there shots.

Reply crossed, hadn't seen your comment.

I've got an SMC Takumar 55mm f1.8 in very nice condition that I'd be happy to part with as I was so impressed with it that I bought the optically identical K version for greater convenience.

From what you haxe said the DA21 sounds mike it be worth a try. A downside might be that is only f3.2 An upside is that it is very compact, so perfect for walkaround.

Many variables, what what you intend to photograph, how important are auto features, how wide you want the max aperture and whether you want a macro option.

For buildings and landscapes then an old manual lens would represent excellent value. M28mm f3.5 is probably the best cheap option for £40 odd. More expensive is the K28mm f3.5. The M35mm f2 is very good, the K35mmf3.5 excellent. Both are more difficult to find. If AF and auto metering then the FA43Ltd is great, but expensive and maybe too long.

Just a bit of whimsy Vic with all the talk about all the talk.