My first copy was unacceptable. Second one much better. Compared it with my DA AL II and they are almost indistinguishable - although the older lens may be very marginally sharper at pixel peeping level.

Seems that there is a lot of sample variation, which you didn't tend to hear about with the kit lens mk2. Shame, as the build quality of the WR one is really quite nice, and it looks better which is obviously terribly important!

Not quite on topic, but I have read and heard good things about Prodigital 2000 - I think they have a good reputation with people who've used them: including for customer service if things don't go according to plan.

Techno used to be a great dealer with proper shops that sold Pentaxes! I bought my MX from them more years ago than I care to remember (Manchester). More recently they were internet only, and were bought out by someone else: I'm almost certain it was Jessops but stand to be corrected. Given that Jessops seems to have a track record of expanding too quickly then messing up big time, it probably was them....

Shame - you're right, it's a nice shop and a shame that they've had to do this. LCE on the Strand seem to have less Pentax stuff now too, and they used to stock quite a lot.

On the other hand, Kx and K-7 seem to be widely stocked by Jacobs and Curry's; but not much of a lens collection - that seems to be in a fairly exclusive number of shops nowadays but the Internet helps.

Stewart - you won't regret it: nice build quality, small enough to stuff in your pocket, and great IQ. The SMC-K f2.5 is generally thought of as one of the best older 135s you can get for Pentax, but this f3.5 is not far behind, and has the advantage of being much more compact so more likely to get used frequently.

I think you can get new Pentax ones easily enough from places like SRS. Also seen them in Jacobs amongst other places. Otherwise there are some good other brands like Optech that may be worth a look.

It's the only photo mag I buy frequently, but this issue irritated me at the beginning and the end!

Editor Damien Demoulder's piece to kick things off seems to pretty much discourage anyone from buying Pentax by implying they're slowly disppearing from view.

And on the back page Roger Hicks (always good for a read even if you disagree with him) argues that not only should you try and buy the best, but that you should try and buy it new. Rather ignores the fact that for many people, the best is only attainable at secondhand prices. And that many people with more money wouldn't buy expensive new gear if they didn't know that there was a good secondhand market.

That said, I think it is generally vastly superior to the other mags, and the comparative test with the 7D (which sadly does seem to be a rather excellent camera!) was I thought pretty fair and well-balanced.

Too confusing - let's just call them Cosina's instead!!

Yes - nicely weighted. I think modern lenses are like that because they need to be easy for AF motors to move. The Voigtlanders feel like proper lenses! By the way, Reuben has a good point above - if there is not much of a difference in price, the FA Ltd 43 may be the best way to go. Just to confuse matters a little...........

Hi Robbie - I don't find MF an issue but then that was all I had for my first 20-odd years of SLR photography (Spotmatic then MX). At least now we have focus confirmation in the VF which can be helpful on occasion. And these lenses are both nice and fast, so the VF stays bright.

In the UK, the only distributor of whom I am aware is Robert White - a very good camera shop but don't expect a discount from the MRP. Ebay may be another possibility.

In the USA, you see them on Amazon.com, some of the larger camera stores (eg places like Adorama, probably B&H but I haven't checked) and Cameraquest (the website for the latter is fascinating when you have time to take a look). Some of these may well be prepared to export to UK but you'd need to factor in VAT and import taxes (B&H website will calculate an all inclusive price).