Almost every pentax lens will be useable, some with some restrictions.

The SMC Pentax-A 28mm f2.8 would be the most convenient to use on the digital bodies, because it has an "A" setting on the aperture ring which will enable all exposure and program functions to operate fully.

You look through an excellent viewfinder just like any digital or film SLR. There is no live electronic view, but you can see a review of the picture you have taken immediately it has written to the card.

Open the image in PS. On the right of your screewn go to channels and select the red channel (the blue and green ones will be black as there is no image there) and then go Image>Mode>Greyscale. Discard other channels when asked.

And there is your greyscale IR image.

Being or not being a serious photographer, or even a good photographer, has nothing at all to do with the marque of camera used. This has been well proven ever since the art of photography began.

A famous example is Bert Hardy, who claimed to his editor that it was the photographer, not the camera, that mattered. So his editor said "Go and prove it" and so he did just that, resulting in the famous "Box brownie" series of photographs.

This morning's AP ammounces the new Samsung GX10 with, you guessed it, 10.2MP, anti-shake, etc. and they admit it is made in the Pentax factory. The answer to how does it differ from the Pentax K10D resulted in a wonderfully obscure explanation about the camera combining the concepts of both manufacturers and the use of "commonality" to reduce costs. In other words, there seems there is no difference.

A new release of Schneider lenses may also seem broadly familiar: 10-17mm Fisheye Zoom, 12-24mm, 16-45mm, 35mm f2 (?) and 100mm f2.8 Macro.

Lots happening at the Pentax factory!

It's IMHO an advantage of ultra-wide lenses that they tend yo look as though a polariser had been used and you get fantastic deep blue skies. The 12-24mm is great for this if yopu want straight lines, and your pictures are tempting me into getting the 10-17mm.

Keep up the good work!

The first and third pictures are very impressive. Not so sure about the second, where the distortion doesn't seem to add anything. The third picture is especially strong IMHO.

My first thought on this is that a 500-800mm mirror zoom will not have a constant aperture. If it starts at f8, then it could be f11 or f16 by the time it gets to 800mm. Maybe this is a clue as to why you are getting under-exposure. Try it again and see if the lens is OK at 500mm but not at 800mm and if this is the case we have the answer.

"His and Hers" matching K10Ds have been duly ordered. We weakened so easily....

Do not resist, let no opposition halt you.....

I feel some camera buying coming on as well. Great isn't it?