PS have you changed your eBay password yet? All users are being asked to, following a serious compromise of their security.

You don't say how much you paid for the lens, so whether £45 on a repair would be good value I can't say. It would also depend on how badly you wanted it.

As regards your seller, I'd give him a chance to reply and if you don't hear then open a "not as described" case. He will have a chance to reply, perhaps ask you to return the lens, perhaps offer a reduced price, or perhaps just refund you if it's low value.

Once you have opened a case, just follow the procedure and it will all unfold. Eventually, whatever the seller's attitude, you should get a refund.

I think it's very difficult to have this sort of conversation on a forum, because the slightest comment get blown up out of all proportion and sometimes the many things that have been taken on board just get completely overlooked.

This is a very different structure than when it started and much of it has been in response to suggestions. Some of it has come out of the blue as well.

My comment was all about the fact that what is already there is severely under-used, so making it more complicated is perhaps not the best way forward. This thread in itself has strayed a long way from where it started and the messages in it are sometimes contradictory, with some good ideas thrown in as well.

It is user led in the sense that the people who post put their images where they want to, the people who comment do so how they want to. If the mood is that some want something different, then show by example that there's alternative ways. Ken is right that there are huge numbers of posts now that are clearly in the wrong place. Some haven't found the Your Photos or even Classified Ads sections because they haven't scrolled the page.....my point is that if we make it more complicated it won't necessarily make it any better.

This is not a rejection of any point of view, just a thinking process about it.

If something is made complicated, only the keen ones show any interest and a lot of people just give up.

Just post pictures, enjoy sharing them and comment on ones you want to.

It doesn't have to be an ordeal or a test on where something should go.

Some are sharper than others, the best ones are great, a really good idea. And no complaints about the colour of these!

What I meant to say, was "sometimes someone who say...etc."

The sometimes got lost somewhere as I was typing.

Calumet are a specialist professional dealer.

I don't think there's any way anybody could know Chris. The nearest thing would be a comparison between the current version and the Pentax, but it's unlikely to be a priority for those who do such tests.

There are no real guides available to a UK price for this, as in Pentax mount none were ever offered for sale here. This one came straight from Japan, even being unavailable to any but professional photographers. Not sure why that was, but no doubt there was a reason.

I've spoken to a few people now and soon it will be going to eBay at a BIN price of £2500.00.

This means I could happily offer it here for £2400.00 including delivery, but UK only I'm afraid. It's too expensive to send overseas and difficult to get the right level of insurance. UK would be Special Delivery, arriving next day before 1pm.

So, last chance here before it moves on to other places.

I usually comment when I see something that grabs my attention. That is often something I'm impressed with, sometimes something where I think there's a useful point to be made.

It's always worth bearing in mind though that someone who says "tell me the truth, good or bad" really means "tell me how much you like my photo" and there have been a few cases in the past of overly-sensitive reactions to critique. Then that puts people off for a while.

It ebbs and flows over time.