Another vote for GGS ones- on our 2 bodies and brilliant value for money.

£350 wow, I hadn't looked at e-bay just here 'in passing'.

Not sure I think it's worth £350, at that price I'd put up with having to change lenses and get a combo like 55-300 and a 16-45 which I would suspect has higher image quality.

Seriously consider selling if prices go near £400, will keep a more active eye on things now.

From my recollection the secondhand private price of Pentax's is c. £250, so if you are expecting less than that I think you will be lucky.

I paid that for one about a year ago from a member here and have 'kept an eye' on what they go for on here since and can't recall seeing anything dramatically different.

Can't speak for the Tamron but I have always found SRS secondhand prices to be exactly what I would expect - just a little more than a private sale.

I understand what price it is in other mounts is irrelvant - supply dramatically different.

Having travelled to many places in Egypt - and across it's borders - over the last 15 years I'd say it is quite 'situational'.If you are with a group of tourists arriving at a tourist airport / border on a Holiday Company flight / coach / cruise ship then things tend to be a lot more relaxed than if you are an Independant Traveller.

It's not genrally the sort of country where what a website says is what happens everywhere.

Depending on which you are my advice would vary but if it's standard tourist visit, especially to the Red Sea area, yes make a list as Gwyn suggests to keep with your passport just in case and if asked to do / show anything do so with a friendly smile and generally there are no problems.

3 visits to Luxor and not heard about not liking shots in the Valley of the Kings - sure it wasn't some 'cheeky chappie' trying to get a 'tip' out of you for him 'allowing' it???

Lots of that goes on, generally just be firm but again smile and joke with them and they give up. I have found the Red Sea area to be a lot better on this than elsewhere.

If you are travelling with a pretty blonde woman she should be prepared for attention in some places outside the Red Sea resorts, especially if wearing short clothing.

I know some find this 'culture' a right pain and are unable to laugh it off but try, the people are generally lovely and I am sure they will apprecaite your visiting at this time when numbers are generally down.

Hi & welcome,
I can't comment on the D5000 but I have been very hapy with my k-x, especially it's skills in low light situations.

The only thing to check is that you have held one and are comfotable with how small it is.

I think you are right to spend on a quality lens rather than a more expensive body at this stage.

Knowing what photogphy you have done to date and what sort of pictures you like to take (e.g. landscapes, portraits, wildlife) may help people give you informed / personalised advise.

Another good point as this is our lowest focal length quality lens ( no offence to 18-250 but nowhere near)

Decided - the FA35 stays.

Damn, I never wanted kids but now find it would have been useful to have one

Thanks everyone (esp Mike-P) Seems mixed views so will probably stay with what I have, mainly cos I'm scared I will really miss the DOF from f2.

I have the FA35 and love it for it's quality & sharpness. At first I did a lot with the DOF effects that f2 allows but less so now although it's nice to know I have that possibility.

At the weekend we went to a local camera firms 'show' as a Pentax stand / rep was there & for the first time saw the size of the DA40 Ltd. Wow, on my k-x that would make it 'pocketable' in big coat pockets and I seem to recall it being well rated.

So, the possibility of selling my FA35 and getting the DA40 is playing on the back of my mind. SRS have the 40 at £289 which isn't that much more than I paid for the FA35 but things have moved on since then.

So, I guess 3 questions:

- what do people feel quality wise between the lenses?

- now that the DA35 is available what do people think I might get for the FA35?

- ultimately , would you make the change.

The only thing I would wish to say is that if the moderator gives an explaination we can ALL ( not just those so wound up that they will spend time on a PM) learn from that so that we know what sort of things are likely to be closed / locked in future.

You shouldn't put your kid on the 'naughty step' without telling them why they are there.

So, please explain to eductate us and that should reduce the need to take similar actions in the future.

Hi, Have just got an Andriod based 'smartphone' (Galaxy Ace running 2.3 / Gingerbread in case it matters) and have been trying it with the internet sites I regularly view on PC, including this.

I have found this site very cumbersome but think it might be the way I use the forum on PC isn't very efficient on a smaller screen / no proper key board arrangement.

What I do on PC is - sign in each time rather than stay signed in so that new items are flagged, then from the Forum Homepage go into all pages then threads that peak interest, one at a time.

I find signing in a real fiddle at the momment and going forward / back between Forum Home and the individual forum pages then topics cumbersome.

What would people suggest I do differently?