Very nice shot - focussing through blades of grass can sometimes be a nightmare but you've nailed this one!

The green hexagon at the bottom of the viewfinder tells you when the camera thinks the subject is in focus, the red dots indicate which of the 11 focus points the camera is taking its reading from.

Basically, wait until you get both the green hexagon and the desired red dot flash up at the same time - the dot should be the one that falls over the part of the picture you actually want to be in focus. As you're focussing back and forward other red dots will flash up as different parts of the scene come into focus - ignore those until you get the one you want.

The Ro80's didn't have a particularly good reputation for reliability so I doubt there's many of them left running - there is an NSU Spider though and you don't see one of those every day!

I like the little Mazda S110 - could just see myself blatting round in that. Wouldn't mind an RX7 either but the RX8's leave me a bit cold. Nice set of shots though, which one's yours Stoupaduck?

Nice reflection - I'd be tempted to crop it in a portrait format and just concentrate on that and the subject.

Hello John and welcome to the forum

Hi matic and welcome to the forum!

Hello Martin and welcome to the forum.

The 16-45 goes slightly wider (those 2mm are actually quite noticeable), is marginally faster @ 45mm (f4 vs f4.5) and has slightly better distortion characteristics at the wide end (not really relevant for landscapes but worth considering for architecture).

The kit 18-55 is a remarkably good lens, and for the money it usually sells for represents an absolute steal. As a start out lens I'd find it hard to imagine you'd have many complaints - have a look at the Pentax Photo Gallery to see what others have made of it.

Buy it, use it, enjoy it.

Even if Pentax went bust (unlikely) and the K-mount disappeared (even more unlikely) your lens won't suddenly vaporise in front of your eyes.

I'm willing to bet the results would be somewhat less spectacular than the spec somehow...

Can't go wrong with Minolta. I've got an Autometer III which you can pick up quite cheaply as most folk want a meter for flash work and the III was ambient only. Normally a few on eBay at any given time and they last forever - incredibly accurate and you can get accessories (like a spot meter attachment for reflected readings).