I'm not quite sure what this means, but well done and great shots. Always good to see people shocked that anything other than CaNikon cameras can produce pro-looking shots.

Ouch. John's right, it's a superb lens and no longer made. If it doesn't affect your premium, I'd pay the 50 quid if that's all there is to it, but it sounds like the max value they'll pay out is 100, correct?

Do you still have the broken piece of filter thread? If so, I think I'd (very carefully) glue it back on with the strongest glue available.

Another option would be a new lens, I think there are a couple for sale at the moment of the forums.

My K series 50/1.4 and 55/1.8 both have dented filter threads which I've bent roughly into place but they're not smooth. I took old 52mm filters, removed the glass and screwed them on to the lenses, maybe with a bit of superglue just to be sure they stay on.

You could do that, but these are old lenses, I'm not sure I'd do that with an expensive lens, I'd probably get it fixed. As John says, your insurance may cover it.

I now have a K2 (needs an expensive CLA before it can be used), a KX which works fine, a KM which has a broken light meter and a light leak, and my grandmother's K1000 which is in great condition.

The K2 is beautiful but the CLA it needs requires taking it apart completely and is therefore very expensive so I haven't done it yet. I have an appointment tomorrow with a gentleman selling a black K2 for less than half what the CLA would cost, so hopefully that will finally get me the working copy I've been lusting for...

Prices here on the forum seem lower, but then you don't have ebay or paypal taking a bite out of them. I prefer to buy (and sell) on the forums. I've never been burned doing that, while I have (several times) on ebay.

http://www.katzeyeoptics.com/

It seems Katzeye Optics have ceased making focussing screens. This is a great loss to the Pentax community in particular, with all those great old lenses around, which I and many others love to use.

I have a Katzeye in my K200D and I wouldn't have been able to use all those beautiful old manual lenses over the last 5 years had it not been for the screen. I probably would have bought one for my new K3 in the summer as I plan to be in the states.

I suspect that this is less as a result of competition from the far east and more as a result of the decline of the DSLR and the rise of good live-view with focus peaking. The K3 has a much better viewfinder than the K200D but with the Katzeye installed and shimmed to perfection I can reliably focus much better with the K200D. I'd have loved to get one for the K3 so I could enjoy the same experience.

A sad day

Thanks. I used 12mm and 21mm tubes together, so 33mm in all. That gets the end of the lens around 30 to 40cm from the subject.

I spent a couple of hours today in the local park taking photos of the spring flowers. I never used to like flower photography but I like the results when the light is good, and today it was gorgeous outside. I made the effort to do it properly (for once), tripod and all.

I took the K3 and a few lenses, all M42, but in the end I only used the SMC Takumar 105mm f/2.8. These were all taken using extension tubes and all around f/5.6.



IMGP1888a by Jonathan_in_Madrid, on Flickr



IMGP1895a by Jonathan_in_Madrid, on Flickr



IMGP2178a by Jonathan_in_Madrid, on Flickr



IMGP1882a by Jonathan_in_Madrid, on Flickr



IMGP1874a by Jonathan_in_Madrid, on Flickr



IMGP2201a by Jonathan_in_Madrid, on Flickr



IMGP2188a by Jonathan_in_Madrid, on Flickr

Beautiful....

Just what I was thinking. Then I wondered why they didn't use a lighter DSLR, but I think the K3 is probably the smallest and toughest weatherproof DSLR. I'm sure when it comes to film-making or broadcasting, where time is money, not being able to film with your drone because the weather is bad or it might have a bumpy landing is not something you want to have to worry about.