You do seem to pick up a lot of Tak stuff, I only ever seem to find M, F and FA gear as a general rule (not that I should be complaining as it's proving quite profitable). The one thing I'm keeping from the lot I picked up on Sunday is a mint/boxed Auto Bellows II - I've not tried them out yet but looking forward to having a proper play with them tomorrow.

The odd thing was that the bellows came with a Slide Copier in the box and the guy then had a second boxed Slide Copier (the one I'm selling on eBay). I didn't realise until I'd got home but now I can't figure why anyone would want two slide copiers?

Oh well, I won't be losing sleep over it and as for the cap, I'm sure that'll get pressed into service at some point.

I get the warning every so often but they've never *actually* withheld any money. It seems to come up when there's a trigger word somewhere in the description so check your listings for things like:

Flashgun
Pentax shooter
etc

A friend who was selling a pair of indicators for her old MX5 got one for the word repeater in the title, so they're not always obvious.

You'll find these listings don't appear immediately in searches (only in My eBay) as they have to be checked by human eyes before eBay unleash them on the general public - normally this is within a couple of hours after the listing is made but once I had to wait nearly 24 hours for an item to show up in the listings - not a happy bunny!

These are a different two - the last one was an MZ-5n, this is an MZ-5 with a data back. The FA28-70 that came with the latest one isn't quite as nice as the previous one (which was mint) so I'm expecting a bit less money for it. Not sure about the camera - the 5 is worth less than the 5n but then the 5n didn't have a data back attached so maybe it'll even up?

Also, the pop-up flash works on this 5, the previous 5n had the typical broken spring.

While I think of it, I couldn't find you a 49mm Takumar cap (except the one on the 135 I'm selling of course!) but I did grab one that's almost the same. It's black and metal with a silver ring (just like the Tak's) but it's missing the wording on the front. Inside is also painted black with a small strip of felt around the rim to hold it onto the filter ring. Overall condition is pretty minty!

If you want it then PM me your address and I'll send it over to you.

I better start saving for all those cups of tea then...

I'm suprised to have had so many bids so early to be honest - normally people just watch and bid at the last minute. Is this a new eBay pattern I see emerging..?

In the camera's Custom menu you need to change "Using Aperture Ring" from (1) Prohibited to (2) Permitted.

There's no electrical connection between camera and lens so the aperture will always show as "--" on the camera and in the EXIF data.

In Av mode the lens will always be at its maximum aperture.

In Manual mode you can use stop-down metering for the camera to choose an appropriate shutter speed based on the setting you've chosen on the aperture ring.

All other modes are effectively off the table.

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your old lens.

There's a rule of thumb that says your shutter speed should be 1/focal length to avoid shake. So for a 50mm lens you want a shutter speed of 1/50 or faster, for a 100mm lens it'll be 1/100 or faster, for a 200mm lens 1/200 or faster, etc.

A 200mm lens can usually be hand held in bright daylight but when the lights go low (or you're indoors) then you'll need to increase the ISO or open up the aperture to bring the shutter speed back up - or, use a tripod.

I've got some nice bits and pieces on eBay this week if anyone's interested:

hefty's eBay goodies

There's a:

D-FA 100 Macro (well, a Samsung badged version anyway)
F 70-210 f/4-5.6
FA 28-70 f/4
S-M-C Takumar 135 f/3.5
Vivitar TX 400 f/5.6
MZ-5 with Data Back
Mint & Boxed Pentax Slide Copier

If anyone here buys one of my items I'll shout them a cup of tea at the May meet

The build quality of all the current Pentax range is easily on a par with the more expensive Nikons and well ahead of most of the others. I guarantee that part won't disappoint you, but I agree it's best to handle a camera before buying - what suits one person's hands in terms of weight and ergonomics may not be to another's taste.

They still sell alright, but if they'd been better listings you can bet they'd have sold for more!

Excellent set of photos - hope you get lots of good inspiration in Thailand and I look forward to seeing the results