If I give him my dogs for a few weeks, will he make them do that too?

Just had a google, the variable power module is called a VP-1. Youc an read about it here Looks like a very useful device if you have a 283 that you use in anger.

Currently used/resurrected stuff: Pentax K100D, SMC Pentax-DA 18-55 AL, Pentax-A 20-80, Zeiss Flektogon 35/2.4, Zeiss 135/2.8, Pancolor 50/1.8, Pentax-M 50/2, Non-make 200/3.5, BPM Bellows with Wray 50/3.5 (for slide copying), Slik 88N, various home-made flash diffusors, cable releases etc.

Redundent stuff: Pentax K1000, ME Super, Praktica MTL3, 6x9cm 1:1 fingerprint camera (from my days at the forensic service), Seagull TLR, various old brass uncoated lenses, Lancaster Instantograph quarter plate, Ricoh 500G and 500ZF, Zeiss Ikon Contaflex Alpha, various Kodak Retinette 1B and 2B, and probably more in the boxes stashed in the roof, and microscope & oscilloscope adaptors for every scope that's ever passed through the lab!

I should probably have a bloody good ebay session with most of it, but you know what it's like; you pick up a clapped-out old bit of kit and remember the days it was your main kit and all the fun you had with it

Just wanted to pop my head round the door and apologise - I hadn't intended for anyone to fall-out when I asked for advice about smallera cameras

It arrived. Surprisingly in gorgeous condition - nothing I ever buy on ebay arrives in good condition Had a quick play and declare the quality to be "perfectly adequate" for me although it doesn't give that much more than the 18-55 kit lens. I do however really like the macro mode. I haven't done a side-by-side comparison with the kit lens, but it just feels so much nicer to use for close-ups. Probably because I'm just used to that kind of lens for that kind of situation. Anyway, given it was only fifteen quid I'll keep hold of it for close-up use.

Also managed to get a SMC Pentax-M 50mm f2 for eight quid. I know you all prefer the 1.7 and 1.4, but lets face it, this is the only one none of you were bidding on so I stood a chance

Also got a WhoFlungDung non-branded (looks and feels like a 70s/80s Cosina) 200mm f3.5 for a fiver, which I wanted to get some shots of birds on the feeder in the garden. It may end up being junk, but a doorstop for a fiver I can live with

Graham (what's starting to enjoy photography again)

Edited to say "oops!" I was looking at a Canon version

It's still 98 quid on their website, all but a few pence

Spent the most part of today out with the camera (nothing worth reporting where results are concerned!) but the extended period of time roaming Thetford Forest had me warming to the K100D a lot. I'm starting to like it. I suspect my initial dislike of the size of the thing is down to carrying an ME Super around for many years and had become used to a very small camera and only ever one or two fixed focal length lenses (usually a 50 and 35mm). I rather like the grip, makes it easy to hold.

I've kind of come to the conclusion that as in the past, I need two cameras. One when I'm out deliberately taking pictures, and something small for the rest of the time. In the old days that would have been a Ricoh 500G (still have it, still adore it!) So I suppose I have to wait until small digis start to come equipped with a larger sensor. I do have a digi compact, but I detest the almost totally out of control depth of field due to tiny sensor and relatively miniscule focal lengths, and the usually hideous amounts of in-camera over-processing.

But at least with the K100D, I'm halfway to my ideal setup

Thanks for the comments/suggestions etc

As I found out to my cost, the PayPal buyer protection isn't actually worth the paper it's written on. Seems they protect you up to the amount left in the particular account. So in my case when I was ripped off for over 200 quid, I shared 17 quid with another chap that was similarly shafted by an unscripulous seller.

Classic case of buyer beware. Ebay and PayPal are at best good at marketing, not at giving a flying fig about their punters.

IMHO

Crikey, didn't know there were any 283s left in the wild. That was the flash to have in the 80s