In my favorite German Pentax forum the member pixel4corn reported that some of his equipment was stolen (03/11/2011): link
He asked me to publish this also here. Not all serial numbers are (yet) known.

- K10D S/N: 2381026
- A* 300 mm / f 2.8 ED (IF), S/N: ?
- Telekonverter A 2X-L, S/N: 51336
- F 1.7x AF-Adapter, S/N: 1056349
- DA* 300 mm / f 4, S/N: 9061010
- DA 18-250 mm / f 3.5 - 6.3 AL, S/N: 9100889
- DA 18-55 mm / f3.5 – 5.6 , S/N: 4090801
- DA 12-24 mm / f 4, S/N: 5797629
- DA 10-17 mm / f 3.5- 4.5, S/N: 6068575
- Apple MacBok Pro 15”, 2,8 GHz, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB, S/N: W89470B664C
- Apple iPod 20 GB white S/N: JQ440YGHPS9
- Apple iPod 30 GB black S/N: 4Y553NTUTXK
- additional articles with (yet) unknown serial numbers

If somebody can give relevant information on the whereabouts of one of the articles, please contact me (or pixel4corn through the above link).
Especially, reports of any sales of an A* 300/2.8 since 03/11/2011 are welcome.

https://www.pentaxuser.com/photo/user-6008/pentax-q-36822

https://www.pentaxuser.com/photo/user-6008/pentax-q-36873

https://www.pentaxuser.com/photo/user-6008/pentax-q-36921

https://www.pentaxuser.com/photo/user-6008/pentax-q-37110


More pictures and my field report (in German): http://forum.digitalfotonetz.de/viewtopic.php?t=90111

No, I just became aware that imho other opinions might not be very welcome here.
OK, maybe my experience, opinion and attitude are not good enough for this discussion/forum ...

Just a question. Is it a normal practice here that nobody really cares about quite reasonable suggestions made within a given thread?

For a comparison of P-TTL flashes, see e.g., http://pttl.mattdm.org/features . However, the performance of P-TTL still is an issue of debate. Without going into detail, the choice of a flash with integrated control unit (like the Metz 40 MZ series) could be at least equally efficient. On the other hand, I possess several flash units but do not use them unless these are absolutely required. Perhaps a fast lens and higher ISOs would be more appropriate. For both scenarios: Do sufficient testing before usage. If you really want to shoot the wedding of your son, take my advice and do it on a supplementary option only. Enjoy the ceremony and leave the main work to a professional.

Please note the rating system: http://www.photozone.de/Reviews/product-ratings -> sub-average in the true sense / poor

http://www.photozone.de/active/magic/get.jsp?id=1253576403_fCVfGSD

Start in the center (sharp), go to the left (this is @f8 and we started with the mountains in focus, somehow looks now washed out?), move downwards and then to the right. Do you see the highlights in the foreground, which should be points, but seem to suffer from a zoom-like effect?

Conclusion?

http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/1471116-post36.html

There is some truth hidden in the video. Very cheap solutions often are unstable. They bend and break easily. Already quite reasonable travel tripods below £100 (new):

Slik Sprint Pro (II) GM/EZ (£65)
http://www.thkphoto.com/products/slik/slik-ss2.html

Manfrotto MODO 785B (£60)
http://www.manfrotto.com/product/8374.58969.77459.0.0/785B/_/Modo_Tripod

Cullmann Magic (£70)
http://www.cullmann.de/en/results/cat/magic/

Velbon Ultra Maxi-L (£80)
http://www.velbon.co.uk/products/photo/ultra_MAXi_L.html

The following article by lensrentals.com might be enlightening in this context:

http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2008/12/this-lens-is-soft-and-other-myths

What can one expect from an extremely cheap tripod?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9S9jZW3Jxc