I think many of them are superb. Some pictures we're used to seeing only in B&W, but they are equally, or more, compelling in colour. I'd say these are extremely well done too, there must be a temptation in such work to over-cook the colours.

I found the bikini atoll nuclear detonation particularly striking in colour.

It's an aexcellent lens, though I tend not to use it that much because I have the superior M 85mm f/2. The 100mm is small & light and very sharp. Wide open it can give some colour fringing in images, though nothing too serious.

From what I've seen of US interviews, it's always the same guy (blonde, chubby & cheery looking) and he doesn't know anything about what's coming either.

I tend to believe that, rather than trying to hide stuff from the customers, they honestly have not been informed by head office of what is coming in the future.

The one I got backfocuses and isn't sharp until f/4. I haven't tried it with the K200D's "hacked" AF fine-tuning, I may sell it on instead, as it doesn't seem to be the promised half stop faster than the DA35 ltd, it's only a quarter of a stop faster. So much for it being slightly faster than indicated, it's slower!

The Sigma mini-wide is 28mm, and reputedly very sharp.

The Sigma super-wide is 24mm and is excellent, I have the AF version & had the MF version. Focus is the same direction as Pentax lenses. The AF version is better built but larger. I have yet to use it on my MX, but I certainly plan to.

If you're going for a Pentax lens the K or M 28mm f/3.5 versions are optically similar but both very, very sharp (at least on digital), and made for landscapes. I have both but have not had any opportunity yet to compare them. Anything wider than 28mm in a genuine Pentax lens will not be cheap.

I'm encouraged by the desire to expand the DSLR division, though there is very little information given here. Mr Martin is not very well informed of Canikon DSLR lineup, stating they have 4 cameras. I count 6 currently in production from Nikon & 7 from Canon, so if Pentax want to close the gap then they have further to go than perhaps they think...

I'm eager to find out what treasures you have there now.

Thanks for all the advice but jeez you guys are puting me off this whole film thing! I'm not about to start developing at home, though I won't rule it out for the future, I'll have to wait & see where film takes me.

I think my preference would be to develop & scan at high resolution, and I can print later if I want, though if the price is the same I may as well have the prints.

Hello to all the film enthusiasts

With my recent acquisition of an MX to play with, I'm thinking about film for it. My uses will be primarily casual portraiture, landscape & urban, maybe some street shooting. The portraiture would be mostly indoors.

I have looked into B&W & colour films, and have already ordered some Ilford HP5 400. It's not a C41 process film but from what I've seen, the C41 B&W films have lower contrast & can end up with a colour cast when developed. Is this correct? I know the HP5 is more expensive to have developed, but if that's what will give best results then I don't mind (though my wife might!).

For colour film, I like the look of slide film (Velvia & Provia) but I don't want slides, so I will leave them alone. Looking online, the best results will probably come from Kodak Portra or Ektar 100. I'm concerned that ISO 100 or 160 will not be fast enough for lower light, but at the same time, I don't want to have to use tiny apertures if I use ISO 400 film & want to shoot outdoors. The MX is limited to 1/1000s shutter speed and I simply don't know what speeds to expect when I start to use it.

Any and all advice for a film novice is much appreciated.

Thanks everyone for the advice. The camera is currently having it's light seals & mirror bumper renewed in Cameratiks, because I hate e-bay (& paypal) and there doesn't seem to be another source for the materials. They've said they'll check it out for anything else too, but I'm heading back to Spain on Friday so there'll be no time for further repairs anyway.

I'd have sent it to Harrow Technical for the full CLA if there'd been time before I head off.

Now I miss having it to look at, it's such a beautiful machine, DSLRs just can't compare.