The 18-270mm for its extra reach, silent focusing and the slightly better optical performance.

Brilliant. No 4 is a wonderful expression, quite priceless.

I particularly like that third shot.

WE have both lenses and the 18-135mm is the better lens technically. It is also WR. However, the 18-250mm, a different beast, is a good lens in its own right.

For travel, the 18-270mm would be my lens of choice, but I can't afford one just now.

It's a lovely gritty lens that gives sharp, colourful images with a very pleasant rendering. Fine detail is less than some lenses, it's a high contrast lens with bite, so something has to give, design-wise.

Ideally used in challenging situations, having said which I have several of these and I haven't used one in over 20 years. So generally can be worked around without problems.

When we press the shutter release, providing the custom functions are set appropriately, then the exposure and focus will lock. Normally our eye will be at the viewfinder so no excess light can enter that way. If the 2 second or 12 second timer is used there's plenty of time to move away and get our own shadow out of frame.

Normally though I would be nearby and use my hand to shield the viewfinder - not touching, just acting as a shield. If the sunlight were shining directly into the viewfinder then although the exposure may be locked some light could spill onto the sensor. This would probably show up as red bands on film, not sure what effects on digital. The reason is that cameras are not 100% light tight. They are light tight enough for general purposes, but in an extreme situation such as sunlight streaming into the viewfinder and very long exposures, then some light could penetrate.

The Ricoh GR is firmly within our brief, being a Pentax Ricoh product. We'll be delighted to see your pictures with it.

I always stand lenses back element down and always with a back cap on the lens. My logic for this was to avoid storing the lens with all its weight resting on the focusing mechanism, as it would be if it were front element down.

The cap is essential to protect any flanges and contacts on the back of the lens.

Wrong place robbiec - you need to go to the top menu Gallery> Competitions and there you'll find the weekly and monthly competitions.