Finally... Here are some pictures.







Batteries not included.

Manfrotto 190 XPROB with 322RC
Not very short or light, but very stable, flexible and not too bad to carry.
If you are hiking up a mountain though, might be too much for you.

That the fun bit!
We set-up a high court composed of mods and a elements from a pool of prominent members of the community (odd number obviously).
Both the owner and recipient of the item present their case in public posts, there'll be a certain time so that the flame war can spark, after which the court presents its ruling, thus allowing for further flame posting.


If you take something on loan, you take responsibility for it. You are obviously responsible for any damage you cause. Replacement or appropriate value, as anywhere else.
I would advise that whenever you put up the item for loan, you establish rules and a value for it.
Then just apply common sense, talk to the owner.
Is there risk in this? Yes, of course. There is nothing worthwhile that does not imply some drawbacks.

This system I don't envisage for regular loans of Limiteds and * lenses...
I hope this would happen, but surely, if you trust someone enough to do a direct loan of such an item, then you should be able to sort out things reasonably.

The idea has been floated before.

But it never got moving.

I suggest a mod sets up a sticky in whichever section is deemed more appropriate.

A list of gear can be setup with:
- community gear, gear the owner wants to allow free usage among the forum community (some restriction must apply, to avoid a person from just logging in and snatching gear to sell). Loans should probably be limited to 1-2 items per user at a time.

- direct loan, gear which the owner wants to lend, but whose loans have to be approved directly by the owner. This is maybe desirable for more higher value items.
It might however lead to some social embarrassment because you might want to lend to a select few but don't really want to appear unfriendly to others. If this seem awfully convoluted, then you are probably lucky, I've witnessed some strange social behaviours... Although it was mostly girls

A queue can be set up, and once the user is done with the item, he PM's the nest on queue to forward it.
For community gear after a mod sets up the queue it runs itself.
For direct loans, the owner approves the queue then the mod would set it up.

The owner should have the right to reclaim its item at any point.

I think it not too much hassle no physical logistic for the mods, no responsibility for items they wouldn't even use.
A mod would have to edit the 1st post whenever a new item is offered and update queues. It doesn't require going through lots of PMs, just keeping an eye on the thread.

Alternatively, maybe less neat, but also less work for the mods would be to create a new section, users create threads for each item to loan and they themselves manage the process.

Finally meetings, gatherings, trips... Local or National. This builds up familiarity and trust. Its also just plain fun.
Especially at the local level, were it is much easier to organize and to do more often. Lending gear is also made easier.

Just some ideas ...

I have already told haydnw that he could have it.
Its up to him to accept it and do whatever he wants with it.

I think it would be a great idea (which I believe has already been floated about) of sharing gear or encouraging trades.

One good outcome of this is that people could try gear they are interested in, before they buy. Or at the very least you can have a bit of an lba fix. Little packages keep popping at your doorstep but your wallet doesn't feel it.

Now sold.

Sorry for the delay.
So the Pentax slide copier adapter thingy...





Any takers?

This lens has given me some great photographic fun.

The lens is the later model 55BB, from my sparse experience very very similar to 55B.
Info on the lens here and here.
You can also read more comments from me here and here.

If properly focused it can give surprising results.







On review, I thought this was from my 55-300mm, till I found the bokeh very odd.



Even the odd donut bokeh can be pleasing IMO.



Here are some pictures of the lens:







Mechanically its fine, focus smooth, adapter fits fine.
Cosmetically it shows some signs of use, with some scraping of the paint.
It comes with the hood and a generic front lens cap.
I have OM, FD, MD, M42 and K adapters available.

Price is £70 shipped to UK with K adapter. I'll ship worldwide.

I have the Tokina and Tamron mirror lenses, both 500mm F8, both give great results when properly focused and a adequate shutter speed is applied (kinda goes for any lens). In this lies the issue with these lenses... its applicability becomes limited due to constant F8 aperture.

I've used them for a while on birds mainly, and my observations are that they are great bang for the buck on good days, and worth a try because they are small and easy to carry.

The photographer taking pictures on the stretcher is quite something. Making the most of his leg not being there?
Great spirit.