Yes, indeed. And it's much more affordable than the FA* 1.4.

G

By the way, I think that with high quality lenses, technical tests are almost meaningless. They only measure what is measurable. There are other aspects of a lens's performance that are not easily measurable, but which are much more important to the quality of the image than a few lines of resolution.

There is an indefinable magic to the pictures produced by the 77m Ltd that no other lens that I have ever owned can match (though the 31mm gets close). It's especially good for skin, which is not surprising as portraits are the lens's raison d'etre.

But I have no doubt that the 70mm is superb, too.

G

The most affordable (good) alternative portrait lens for any Pentax DSLR is the SMC-M 50mm 1:2.0.

If you want AF and accurate metering, the FA 50mm 1:1.4 is almost as good as (but much cheaper than) the two top recommendations. Which, as I am sure you know, are the FA* 85mm 1:1.4 (hard to find), or the 77mm Ltd.

G

Chris,

Just pay the money and get the full version. It's the best RAW convertor out there, and although the interface takes a bit of getting used to, once you're familiar with it you won't be able to imagine life without it.

People have mentioned that it's slow. Well, a good computer helps, but in practice it's fast enough, and when it's time to convert, go off and do something else.

The manual is a great way to keep your brain excercised, too.

G

Indeed it does change. Partly this is in response to new demands - there was no need for the words "computer", "telephone", or "racism" in the days of Nelson.

But partly it's due to ignorance. The seemingly unstoppable rise of "haitch" at the expense of "aitch" is something that saddens me. It's a consequence, largely, of opening up the airwaves (and the media, generally) to people without education. At one time it was a requirement of BBC staff that they be able to read and write and know when an aitch should be silent.

Now, anything goes.

G

[quote="wintoid"]I don't often find ocassion to use "Datum", but it is a perfectly good word. If you were a sailor you would be familiar with "chart datum", the base from which tide heights are measured.

G

I should just like to point out that Wikipaedia (as it should be called) is an American invention, and when they say "English" they are referring to the debased dialect uttered in the Dysfunctional States.

In proper English we do still tend to distinguish between the singular and plural forms of Latin and Greek words. We do not, unlike Microsoft, say "a media" or "a criteria".

However, on this occasion I think Wikipedia is correct. "Viri" and "fora" are not much used, even in this sceptred islet. And in not using them we are simply accepting that these are proper English words, where a singular becomes plural by adding an "s".

"A media" on the other hand, is an abomination. "Media" is the plural form of "medium", so if these nitwits want to abandon Latin plurals, the way to do it is to say "mediums". Like "viruses".

G, the irascible pedant.

If there were one, Ebay wouldn't be a monopoly.

G

Ebay is a monopoly, and is taking advantage of the fact.

G

I suspect that Hoya are still fine-tuning the details of their marketing strategy.

Bear in mind that these things need organising, and that a decision to attend the show probably had to be taken back in July when Hoya had just taken over.

G