Just go to "Buy", select Photography, then film camera lenses then pentax and choose between looking at them all, or just the AF or MF section.

There are hundreds available.

I tend to list digital lenses there as well, because the digital lens section mixes all the makes together and is not exciting!

You can use any of the current Pentax KAF fit lenses, and indeed most of the older ones as well.

However, buying new will not be expensive and probably safer for you. I always recommend Pentax lenses, and any of the telephoto zooms will serve you well on safari, but perhaps the 80-320mm is a particularly good one.

There are also plenty of lenses from Sigma, Tamron and others that will fit your camera.

Why not call into your nearest Jessops or similar photo store and have a look at some of the options - try them on your camera and see which ones suit you best.

You only have two weeks and it is really best to test whatever you buy before you go.

Have a great holiday!

It depends what you mean by "best". In fact, they are all pretty good, but I do prefer the pentaprism viewfinder models, so that cuts out the DL. However, the DL JPEG performance may be slightly better than the others. If you want CF cards then it has to be the D. And so on.

Once you have defined what the required features are, you will be left with the best model. As they are all a very similar design, it will be a close call...

You've done a good job, although the time taken must have been excruciating...I would not have the patience to even think about it.

Now Sue is brilliant at things like this, and the last restoration she did took her about 35 minutes....incredible.....However, she did not go to pixel level, so that makes a major difference.

You can use your lens with manual stopping down, so if the Auto-Takumar will change aperture with the ring without cocking the mechanism all you need to do is set the aperture you want and let the camera set the shutter speed. I am assuming here that the lens will actually stop down as you turn the aperture ring. A Super takumar will, but I'm not 100% sure about the older ones where the mechanism has to be primed.

Whilst it may work fine and it will be an excellent lens, a more modern version will be more convenient. The A series or later are really best for the DSLRs.

It probably only seems crazy because we have lost the subtelty that differentiated all these sounds and we no longer understand the differences between them.

I have been reading some volumes from the late 1800s and the spelling there can be downright strange, so language clearly can change considerably over fairly short periods of time.

However, we are straying slightly from the thread indeed!

Of course we care!

Fantastic to get all this lot back - time to invest in some film and get out and about? Will you be shooting slides, colour negs., black and white?

Fantastic to hear from you, hope you enjoy your "new" hobby!

If these were my lenses I would isolate them from the others and either ditch them or have them cleaned professionally. Are they insured against accidental damage? Would this be a valid claim?

If you bought them second hand then there is no knowing how they have been stored.

The only other thought I have is that if repair is uneconomical it would at least be interesting to try a DIY repair. But only as a last resort before they are discarded....

I've had a look at the soot, Ammonyte, and it's great colour - no need for any corrections there!