Thanks everyone. Yeah, i didn't pan as i was looking to get some motion blur behind the moving subject (THeoretically 'frozen' by the flash). I don't have any examples as none of my attempts worked lol .... anyway, i think i was on the right lines but a) Wasn't dark enough for the flash to have any real effect, b) Probably needed to go down a little more on shutter speed and c) I need a willing and friendly dog to experiment on! (Nice one Malo!) - close to the effect i was looking for.

Cheers everyone

I went to watch a 24Hr mountain bike race over the weekend & tried to snap a few of those 'motion blur' type of shots - but not to much avail. Am i doing something wrong? I set my flash to '2nd Curtain' and, with the camera (K200d) in various modes, snapped away but without getting the desired effect. Y'know, sharp image with a bit of blur trailing behind? Anyway, i don't think i experimented enough wit respect to shutter speeds - though went down to 1/30 and stayed around 1/50 - 1/60. Maybe that just wasn't slow enough?
Anyone have any tips/advice regarding this sort of shot?

Cheers.

Ordered a new lens on Sunday evening.....arrived here at work this morning. Superb! Even got my forum free-postage

Proof positive that there are some out there that know just how to do it!

Cheers again guys!

Well, ive bitten the bullet & ordered the Jessops one today. Quite a bit of looking into & just figure that for what i want to do with it? - it seems to offer the bulk of my needs to match my wallet. £68.48. In store collection.

Superb!!!! .... um, "how to build?"... "You askin'?".... "I'm askin'!"

lee

I was thinking exactly the same thoughts re: Flash over the weekend. Pentax stuff on my budget - sub £100 is hard to come by.

Saw the Jessops one at £68.48 online today (20/01) link

Alternatively, SRS have a Metz Mecablitz 36 for £79 - no autozoom, but how useful is that? link

I'm really looking for something to help with 'bounce' for portrait work (RingFlash is on the wishlist!!), but the budget really is stuck at as-sub-ton as i can go unfortunately.
I guess i don't need anything overly sophisticated, but don't really know how useful Auto-Zoom is over manual, given that the Metz offers 1st & 2nd curtain that the Jessops one doesn't mention?
Any advice gratefully received.

Nowt on fleabay apart from some very dodgy 'universal' stuff from china.

Cheers
Lee

Ahaaaa! ... so, i have manual focus 50mm prime and a manual 28-70mm, using both for portrait stuff. The theory here is that by setting up on 'c.i.f', i can stop worrying (too much) about whether i'm in focus or not! yay! ... completely missed that i could use it for that! Excellent.

I'm using energizer Lithium in my K200D, they go on for ages! I've heard about these Eneloop ones but can't seem to find them anywhere? - are they easy to source or am i just as blind as a bat?

I'll have to stick up for my local Jessops - i think its like most stores of its ilk in that some are better than others. I actually did purchase my K200D from them as not only did they offer the best deal not only against different brands, but also (at the time) pretty much equalled or better'd any national deal. Anyway, what really secured it were the guys behind the counter who not only let me take all 3 of my choices out into the street for 10minutes!!!, but gave excellent & impartial advice concerning each of my selections. Just gave me lots of useful info about which one suited which 'style' etc - not just rattled off the 'specs' from the manuals. Frankly, they were superb. My own research swayed me down the Pentax path anyway, but the final decision was made after spending some time instore - crucially, on a quiet midweek day.
I continue to buy my 120 B&W film from there too & always get a bit of chat from the guys & girls..... i know the OnLine side can be hugely frustrating with them ("Sorry sir, lens out of stock" after waiting 30days - only to question my local store who had one all along!) but from my own experience, my local is brilliant & it'd be a sad day if it was lost to be fair.

Cheers
Lee

A fair point, well made..... but send crates of stella instead!