There are a few Pentax lenses that don't have the screw-focus connector and are SDM only. Just offhand I think the 17-70mm and 18-135mm are perhaps the only ones so far. They can be used, but will be manual focus only.

Auto exposure is not a problem with any of the modern lenses and indeed with any lens with an A on the aperture ring.

Two lenses might do the job, the 18-55mm and 50-200mm. Alternatively, substitute the 55-300mm for the longer lens.

The 16-50mm and 50-135mm combination might also be useful, but the reach is less and they would be considerably more expensive.

These are very good indeed Nigel, the idea is great and your compositions just right. The Doctor Who comment is fair enough as well, we could believe these would animate and smash their way out into the street.

Waterproof down to 14m (45 feet) - the WG range are certainly underwater cameras!

All I can say David is I know what works for me and the 100mm macro lenses may get close, but they can't pull in flowers that are not close. If you can get right up to a flower then a 100mm macro lens is lovely, but when there are large deep herbaceous borders we can't get that close. So a longer lens then come into its own. At the near side of the border, a 100mm macro is perfectly possible, and a very desirable lens.

It all depends on what type of flower photography you do. As regards bokeh, at say 300mm the bokeh of the 55-300mm is actually very smooth.

If something else works for you that's fine, but there is always more than one viable approach.

You'll get a much quicker answer with a PM! That's hardly non-Pentax, it's quite usual to use other makes of lens (Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, etc. just to name a few) and quite usual to use enlarging lenses for close ups. There's no problem at all, but thanks for asking.

My favourite lens for flower close ups is the 55-300mm. It enables frame filling close ups even when plants are at the back of large borders. The bokeh is beautiful and the crispness excellent at f/11 or f/16, ideal apertures for flower photography. It goes without saying that for this a tripod and a calm day are both essential.

I would suggest for you a K-5 II or IIs, the 55-300mm Pentax lens and save up any change for your next lens.

This would keep all your accessories and the handling the same as you have now and update your lens selection as well. Your tripod is already a very sound choice.

This is a painting by the 12 year old daughter of my good friend Paul Jones. She wanted to paint her Dad a picture of a camera, and this is what she came up with:


She researched the image herself, and pretty good it is too! Well done Jennifer!
(Painting reproduced by permission, Copyright Jennifer Jones)

Using a polariser with an ultra-wide lens can give rise to striations in blue skies, as the polarisation changes with the change in angle from the sun.

These lenses also naturally vignette, so polarisers are less useful really.

If you still want one, expensive ones are more neutral in colour and will be of definitely better quality. An 82mm filter of any kind is a large piece of glass to make consistently well. B+W are of particularly high quality.

Please don't keep posting competitive prices and spoiling people's for sale threads. Buying/selling process only.

If anybody wants to advise about prices, send the OP a PM.

The night shots in particular look fantastic.