I'm not sure I want to admit this but I have four mirror lenses as part of my lens collection.

I have both versions of the Tamron 500mm (55B & 55BB). The older version having a tripod mount.

I also have the smaller Tamron 350mm F5.6 and the Sigma 600mm F8 with integral PK mount plus tripod mount.

The Tamrons are probably just a bit sharper but my favourite is the Sigma, giving that little bit of extra length and not having to worry about fitting the AdaptalII adaptor.

Glyn

This is Hipperty. A well loved member of my family left behind by my daughter who now is somewhat preoccupied with my first grandson. (Hipperty thinks its much safer left behind here!).

Hipperty is a dedicated grower of carrots and first appeared in this forum as a subject in weekly competition 107, "Dream" here. He has made several other appearances.

He spends much of the day helping me

Glyn

I know its early but I'm in .

Glyn

Sunflower

[IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w20/GlynM/Competition%20Entries/IMGP0790-c1a-small.jpg[/IMG]

Shot in our garden today, between showers, with the background tweaked and the image cropped in PSE9.

Pentax K-5 with the Samsung equivalent of the DFA100 Macro
1/250 sec & ISO400

Shot at 10:20 on 21/07/11

Glyn

Many thanks for a new and unusual subject. I agree that it is a little bit disappointing that we didn't get many entries and I don't think this is any fault of the subject. I guess it is probably just because it is the start of the holiday season.

Congrats to Karam for the brilliant IR winning shot, the runners up and every one else for a great range of interpretations.

Glyn

I have not been through all these pages to see if they have been mentioned before but I would just like say that I have been very impressed with the friendly and excellent service from Walters Photo Video Limited in Cardiff. They are a Pentax Pro Centre, appear to have good competitive prices and free next-day delivery for items over £150.

I have just received my order of a DA70 limited from them.

Like many on-line suppliers it is worth ringing them to check stock availability as the web site is not always up to date but they were able to source my out-of-stock new lens in a couple of days.

Glyn

I don't have any experience of using Aperture. A quick hunt found some very old posts in the Aperture forum of people complaining about problems reading the lens type in the exif data but I can't find anything recent.

In my experience if you are having problems with the contacts on the lens it usually manifests itself as not knowing the F number, "F--" in the viewfinder display.

As I assume, using Aperture, that you have a Mac have you tried the Mac version of the Pentax Camera Utility? The latest version of this should correctly display the lens name and would enable you to focus the problem on either the camera or the the Aperture software.

The latest Mac version of the Pentax Camera Utility is here but again you will need the original install disc that came with the camera to use it.

Glyn

Just as an after thought if you are using the Pentax Digital Camera Utility software on your PC you need to have a version 4.21 or later for it to know about the DA18-135.

The latest version, V4.33 is available here although this is just an update and you will need to have a previously installed version or the install disc that came with your camera for it to work.

Glyn

What are you using to read the exif data? I think it is probably this that is out of date.

The exif data only contains a unique code number for the lens and the exif reader software, on your PC not in the camera, has to look this up in its own database to give the displayed name for the lens. So for new lenses the exif software will not know what it is until someone updates it.

With the latest firmware on your camera I'm sure the on-board lens correction software knows exactly what lens it is .

Glyn

Rising Barriers

[IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w20/GlynM/Competition%20Entries/IMGP0602-c1-small.jpg[/IMG]

The Barriers are lifting at Ash Station in Surrey after a train has passed. (A frustrating wait by the ambulance who had arrived in a hurry just as the barriers went down and had to wait for two trains to pass .)

Pentax K-5 with DA50-200WR @ 50mm
1/1000sec, F9.0 & ISO400
Taken at 2:40pm on Friday 15th July 2011

Glyn