Before changing anything are you sure it's a scratch and not a hair that's got stuck? The two things can look very similar when looking through the viewfinder.

Bourg Walk By Night

[IMG]http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd37/hefty1969/competition%20stuff/IMGP3493.jpg[/IMG]

K10D | DA12-24 @12mm | ISO100 | 8 seconds | f/11

Taken 23 January 2010 in Morrison's car park, Aylesbury

Sounds like a front / back focus issue, either with the lens or the K10D's you tried it out on.

Never mind Jack, the postage from Spain would probably be more than some of them are actually worth anyway - I just happen to be a sucker for stuff like that.

You set the aperture, ISO and shutter speed manually in (M) mode.

Your camera (or any camera come to that) can't meter a scene like this because so much of it is sky (which is dark) and you just want to meter the moon (which is about as bright as a typical sunny day). Hence you have to ignore what the camera says and input your own settings instead.

Like everything else it's all down to practice - nobody takes stunning and award-winning images when they start (whatever some may claim ). Just keep playing with your new camera and take lots of photos every day - before you know it you'll see huge improvements in all aspects of your photography.

I like the second one! It's a while since we've had any zoom-burst shots on here and yours induces just the right amount of sea-sickness when you stare at it for too long - good work.

I'd just like to put in one good word for the K10D - CCD sensor! OK, that's two words, but the point is that I've yet to see the K10/K200/K-m sensor bettered at base ISO, so if you shoot all the time at 100 (and don't need the extra speed / facilities) then stick with what you have.

It's actually even better than that, the K-x is in the chart on more than one occasion. In the top 25 you have:

#5. K-x twin lens kit (black)
#17. K-x single lens kit (black)
#22. K-x single lens kit (white)

And then in the top 100 there are other variations of lens and body colour combos, all listed as seperate entities. If you were to add all of these together I'd imagine the K-x is probably the biggest selling SLR that Pentax have had on their hands for many, many years.

Good question! They claimed it worked when it left them (I ordered it over the phone and got the guy to fetch it and look it over before sending) but when it arrived the aperture ring wouldn't move past f/8. It was something I could have fixed if I'd got it cheap from an auction or boot sale, but as I'd paid good money for it I didn't see why I should have to. It's entirely possible the damage could have been due to it being dropped by the Royal Mail but impossible to prove one way or another.

Ffordes accepted the return and refunded my money without any argument though so I'd deal with them again if they had something I actually wanted.