Chris at SRS had never seen or heard of the lens, but of course it depends on the actual designation and I don't have the details handy for this particular model. It's the one before the current one. Of course the rarity isn't the lens, it's the lens in Pentax fit.

The Sigma 500mm f/4.5 AF prime lens? One member on here has one for sure.

Another great set of images!

A really great set of images, thanks for sharing!

Pheasant it is. It wanders constantly around the Janet Kear hide at Martin Mere.

The second one is the one with the magic. It has the twinkle in the eye, the colours are not as dark as the others and there's generally the right amount of shadow detail. The pose is also the best, as is the placement in the frame.

Thanks for the comments. Nigel, yes, July is Portmeirion.

Fantastic and a great idea too. It's quicker to say that the only one I'm nor particularly fond of is June, the rest are brilliant.

Nice idea of David's, so here goes with my twelve.

January a trip to Skippool was cut short by a bit of flooding, but the pub lunch was good.



February our wildlife shooting started to improve with plenty of practice.



March brought some experimental shots, this one from Whitby.



April was my birthday and brought the 10-17mm lens.



May I had the chance to try out the Sigma 500mm f/4.5 lens. Only six were ever made in Pentax fit and only one made it into the UK.



June we had some great photo shoots at some great places, including owls at Rutland Water.



July saw changes as my Mum came to live with us, but we still managed to get out and about.



August was a month of model shoots.



September found me using the Pentax Q system, especially with the new 15-45mm lens.



October the Pentax Q-S1 was the new toy.



November we had a date with Paloma Faith.



December was more wildlife shooting.



An enjoyable year, and all comments are very welcome.

I'd upload your images again tonight if you can Nigel. I'm glad I kept a backup copy of the judging I did, as it happens it would have survived but to do it twice would be hard work!