That's usually a good sign!

G

Dr M, I feel that your comments on this lens illustrate the futility of relying on lens tests to determine the quality of a lens.

There is only ONE definitive way to test a lens, and that is to take pictures of real things with it, and look at the results.

Setting up tripods and photographing test charts and brick walls is missing the point entirely. It's like judging a meal based on a list of ingredients.

I am not going to give up my 12-24 (it's just too convenient), but you have made me seriously consider getting the 15mm.

Cheers

G

This forum is not a good place to sell more specialist, minority-interest, items because by comparison with Ebay, say, it gets far fewer visitors.

There IS a market for the 135mm, but it's not a big one.

Also, people don't know you. If you had 1000 posts to your credit, people would feel happier about dealing with you. And if you stated your location, that would help, too. For all anybody here knows, you might be in Baluchistan. Nothing wrong with the Baluchis, I hasten to say, but it would make a meeting to swap the lenses more difficult (except for our Baluchi members, of course).

G

I disagree.

It's aimed at a different market from the K-mount DSLR market, which is what PUF primarily represents. We have very little discussion about Optios or 645Ds on here. It doesn't mean that Pentax aren't selling any.

G

Algi, I agree with you to some extent. Forums are meant to be friendly places, and many have a policy of not broadcasting auctions in order not to push up prices by bringing items to wider notice.

But to describe Ebay as a "place where bargains can be found" is a bit restrictive. It's a place where things for sale can be found, and prices will generally reflect supply and demand and the manner in which the item is presented.

Just because one particular item goes for a high price one week does not mean that a similar item will go for a similar price next week. People can, and do, get carried away and sometimes pay more than the going rate. Your assertion that future prices will always be higher is simply not true.

G

For a wedding, you really need the AF400T. No question about it.

Powerful, automatic, longer battery life, good distance from camera, and looks the biz.

I might have one I could sell you.

G

It's always more difficult to sell a bundle of items, unless you are willing to see them go cheaply.

Quite a lot of people like grips, but quite a lot don't, so for the latter, a bundle with grip would be unattractive.

So I would recommend splitting them.

G

The FA 28-80 (I have one, but never use it) was never a highly regarded lens, so any modern zoom should be an improvement.

The 17-70 is not a bad lens at all, but the 16-50 is noticeably better (as it should be, at the price). And the 31mm and 77mm are better again, though I would say there is a wider gap between the 17-70 and the 16-50 than there is between the latter and the Ltds. I occasionally think that a 16-50 picture might have been taken with the 31mm. You could never think that of a 17-70 image.

So when the budget improves, a 16-50 and a 50-135 will do you nicely!

G

Naim, I had a look at yours. Not bad; you use light well, and you have an eye for shapes and patterns. I really liked your shot of St Pauls with the bridge forking away from it.

Cheers

G

I think the problem is that when it started, the PPG was meant to showcase really good work taken using Pentax kit.

Now it's just a morass of mediocrity, by and large. It has eschewed quality in favour of quantity.

I have never submitted anything to the PPG. Originally, even had I wished to, I wouldn't have done because I didn't think I had anything good enough. Now, I'm not sure I have anything bad enough.

But perhaps there's something in my collection of cheesy Lake District snaps that would fit the bill. Who knows.

G