You need to satisfy yourself that a 135mm lens will be just that, regardless of which lens it is.

Tripod is essential. Try the 18-135mm at 135mm and the 135mm for starters. Shoot the images, but equally well just look through the viewfinder. What you see will be the same in both cases.

Choosing 135mm on the 50-200mm is a bit more tricky as the lens markings may not be accurate enough. Also, the first two lenses may not be exactly 135mm, but should be close enough for this test.

Ah, I see, you mean he's asking only for payment by cheque.

Well I guess one way round that is for eBay to insist the everything is PayPal only, but many people would object to going down that route.

Back to Caveat Emptor I think.

Well the mailing of cash is the only thing that would apply IMHO, so I don't accept it.

I'm not quite sure what point you're making, but it's best not to try and flout the rules. Buyer and Seller protection, whatever you may think of it, is something at least but will be negated if the rules are not followed.

A camera fair is a superb place to immerse in a mass of photographica from all eras. Soem bargains to be had, many things are not, but I've picked up quite a few interesting oddments from time to time.

It's a while since i've been to a fair, so I may well do so in the near future.

eBay rules forbid payments in cash, but allow cheques and postal orders. They prefer PayPal, and to be honest it seems to be the safest route for all parties.

There are a couple of places ideal for group meets.

Muncaster castle offers the house, the grounds and the owls.

The South Lakes Wild Animal Park has masses of photo opportunity and for those who want to see things on the way or way back there's the motor museum, Sizergh Castle and Levens Hall.

I've moved the topic as suggested.

There have probably been many discussions on this topic, but it's always good to see it aired again for newer members.

I am firmly in the OEM battery camp, and the reason is that I want to ensure all the batteries are the same and they are all up to spec. I have three Pentax batteries for my K-5 and they are rotated in use. This also reduces the usage on any one particular battery. In a week's holiday I will be on the second battery by the end of it.

In the end, we all do what we are comfortable with, but there has been proper evidence that the original Pentax battery does perform better. Many cheaper batteries do not deliver their rated output.

You could try putting the camera in manual focus mode and that may do the trick. Probably the shutter won't release because the blank card is nothing that can be focused on.