The Sigma super-wide is a great lens - very sharp with fantastic colours. It does flare quite easily, yes, so beware of that when it's not wanted, but it can be used creatively when required. I've had times with other lenses when I wanted creative flare in a photo and I haven't been able to get it because the lens was too good!

The super-wide's cousin, the mini-wide 28/2.8, has the same properties - sharp, great colours, flare - but because of the narrower field of view it's a little easier to control the flare.

I got a mail about some christmas offers. Perhaps not as good as the black Friday ones and maybe SRS or others will come along and offer the same discounts but from lower starting prices.

https://shop-uk.ricoh-imaging.eu/dream-offers?utm_source=Maileon&utm_medium=emai...

I'm surprised to see something like that for sale direct from Amazon, not a third party seller. Very expensive though, I can't see them shifting it at that price.

How would the lens affect shutter shock?

A really good quality filter will not degrade the image quality, however most filters, especially UV ones, are not very good quality. I've read about people dropping lenses with filters on them and shattering the filter glass which then scratches the lens glass, thereby achieving the opposite of what they intended. I've also bought used lenses with filters on them where the filter has clearly taken a heavy knock and, once removed, have seen that the filter ring of the lens was perfect, presumably protected by the filter. So it could go either way and you could achieve the protection by removing the glass from a filter and just screwing the empty ring onto your lens to take the hit from any fall without risk of scratching the front element or degrading image quality.

I would thoroughly recommend a hood for protection instead. Not only are they very cheap and made of plastic or rubber, which will better absorb any shock, but they should improve image quality by increasing contrast and preventing flare.

As John states, filters are best used for their filtering properties or to protect from risk of spray/mud, but not from falls or general dust etc.

These are very rare and useful. It took me quite a while to get hold of one and I've seen a few people on forums trying to get one in order to be able to use cheaper and more common AAs.

Grab it while you can.

You're missing the "x" in "Pentax"

I tried the DA 20-40mm limited the other day with code "pentax2040" (based on Chris's first post) and it resulted in a 170GBP discount leaving it at 429GBP, and that still works. I tried the same with the 18-135 but no go.

From a branch of a chain of used goods shops, the best photography bargain I ever got was a Canon EOS 300 (old plasticky film SLR) with a Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 for €25. It's nice to have film cameras with really good AF but I prefer manual focus cameras and sometimes think I should sell it off to get something I'd use more.

It's a very capable camera, from the brief time when AF was new and therefore manual focus ease had not yet become a secondary consideration, and camera build quality had not yet gone down the toilet.

Thanks everyone for the feedback.