Really lovely series of a bird I have never seen

Close to my old home (many years ago). Good luck with the exhibition Paul !

LBA is a harsh mistress

If they are a bargain then you have little (if anything) to lose as you can always sell them on.

For me I'd keep 21 / 40 / 50 and sell the other two. Plenty of room there later for the 15 (sell 21) / a 28-31 / 70

Congrats again on your K5 !

1. Hold down the MENU button whilst you switch on your camera.
2. Shoot in RAW for better IQ and you can crop more than you can with jpgs. If you don't want RAW then shoot 16mp jpgs !

Sorry to hear about your foot - at least it gives you plenty of time to read the K5 manual from front to back and back to front at least twice (I'm not joking) ! If you download the pdf you can also mark those areas of most interest / importance.

I love the vignette in #5 ! And you shouldn't throw stones

Nice sharp shot Don with everything in focus (side on helps !) - maybe just need to diffuse your flash a little more. What is your set-up now ?

Welcome and congrats to CPM1 for his first post .. and buying the superb K5 !

I think I'd tend to go with Fritz's opinion since your main interest is birding, stay with the Kx and buy better glass because no matter how much better the camera (although to an extent with higher resolution you will find you can crop more and still get an acceptable shot) it can't beat longer glass for birds. Alternatively maybe just step up to the Kr if your budget will stretch (though you won't see an improvement in ISO use but the improved AF will possibly help).

I posted the below comments on another forum re. options for long glass whilst waiting for the 560/5.6 which is probably a year away from being in the shops (the 55-300 is not long enough / good enough for real birding IMHO, unless you can get very close, like small back garden close, but there are some cheaper options that are) :-

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Put a x1.4 Tamron on my DA*300 and it's a 420/5.6 with solid if slow AF and excellent IQ.
Put a x1.7 AFA on the DA*300 and I have a 510/6.7 semi-AF with very very good IQ. Stacked TCs give me 714/9.5

Tried out a SMC M400/5.6 today and was very impressed with the sharpness ... for US$225. Add the AFA x1.7 and you have a semi AF 680/9.5.

I have just bought a MF Tokina 300/2.8 which will give me MF 420/4 (x1.4 TC) or a semi-AF 510/4.8 (x1.7 TC) or 714/6.7 (stacked TCs). Heavy beast though !

The more I play around with long lenses/options, the more I'm thinking that this 560/5.6 had better be something really special to make it worth US$2,000 - US$3,000 unless you desperately need a 1,333 / 13 (with stacked x1.7 and x1.4 TCs) !

The very sharp MF Tamron 300/2.8 is around US$400-500 and the extremely sharp Tokina 300/2.8 US$600-750. Both are designed to take TCs with minimal loss of IQ, to give you fast 400mm/500mm lenses, both are big, heavy and MF and both have excellent reputations as birding lenses.

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For, I think it was Darkman, that was thinking of longer birding lenses ?

Note particularly the bolded M 400/5.6 ..... that is a cheap MF lens that is really sharp at all f stops, very light for a 400mm, and has a smooth focus ring. f5.6 is no big loss since most of the time you'll be shooting at f5.6 to f8. I found it very easy to hand hold and get excellent sharp shots, even at the ridiculously low ss of 1/80 (though it was better of course at 1/400) ! If you add a TC then you'd need at least a mono and preferably a tripod.

If you don't mind losing a few shots to MF over AF then this is a great lens for birding (though do be aware there can be strong PF in some conditions but if you search the forums you'll see some superb bird shots taken with this lens) and, in relative terms, it cost peanuts ! I was so impressed with it when trying it out that I may even plump up for it in addition to the Tokina due to it's sharpness, being so light and cost I could see myself taking this where I wouldn't take the DA*300/4 or Tokina.

The Kr/Kx and this lens would make for a big, but not too expensive, improvement over what you have now. The K5 with this lens will be a great combination ! Though we are talking about a birding kit and not general use, which best describes the 70-300 or 55-300 lenses. Also from everyone's shots that I've seen on various forums, the 150-500 seems to be a fine lens indeed. Quite a bit heavier than the M400 though.

A little bit bigger than most birds but this gives you an idea of the IQ of the DA*300+ Tamron x1.4 if that is a route you may wish to go down. They were 40 yds away :

Superb work Nass !

Well therein lies the rub !

We all see 'Art' differently (thank goodness) and some people will love the effects you just listed whilst others may be in complete agreement with you. The HDR argument has been down to death but there is no doubt that the average man in the street loves them ! Same goes for fisheye and many like the Lomo effect - which is a cult in itself !

As with all software programs that 'enhance' photographs, there will be those that love them and those that don't.