Water drops are a bit of a cliche, but so what, they're nicely done and I like the end result . And not even a WR lens .

Steve

Aaaggghhh! The RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch starts tomorrow for 3 days. Today, for the first time in years and no doubt the last time for a few more years, a sparrowhawk called by and sat in the garden for 10 minutes (didn't see any small birds during that time!). And I can't put it on my list of birds for the Big Garden Birdwatch .... . Oh well, it will just have to be sparrows and pigeons (again).

Steve

Sorry to hear about your K5 iis. I can't help directly. But a quick web search for Pentax K3 ii throws up a couple at Wex and MPB with fairly low shutter counts (considering it's rated as 200,000), there may well be others from reputable dealers. Have you considered the original K3? It tends to be a bit cheaper than the K3 ii, there's little difference between them (K3 has flash, K3 ii doesn't) and both are rated for 200,000 actuations. I've got both an original K3 and K3 iii and use them interchangably except for a few specific situations for which the K3 iii is known to be better.

Steve

Good spot!! It makes me wonder whether that sort of thing was one of the origins of the 'geen man' carvings that you see on old buildings.

Is there a resemblance between the face on your dog and the face on the tree?


Steve

Aren't you in good company? Doesn't the JWST produce spikey stars due to its hexagonal mirrors, spikes have to be removed in post-processing?

Steve

Well, the Christmas lights are now back in the loft. However, I couldn't resist one final blast of IOOF colour before putting them away. This time, it's from a string of small, illuminated coloured balls that had been flashing away outside the house for a few weeks. I put the string in a heap on the floor, turned it on and snapped away. By the end of it, I was feeling distinctly 1960s psychadelic - and all without the aid of 'substances' or lava lamps.

Taken with K3 + Tamron 500mm mirror, F 135mm and FA 77mm (2 from each, in order).

Thoughts, comments, reminiscences of the '60s etc. welcome as usual.

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Steve

Thanks for your kind and positive comment, folks.

Is it just me, or does anyone else notice that when you stare at one of the rings with colour in the hole, after a while the hole becomes more prominent than the ring and you find yourself staring at the hole? A new optical illusion??

Steve

Nice pics!

Pity about the amount of hardware that's floating around out there and getting in the way of a pristine view of the cosmos. Of course, it might not all be of human or earthly origin...

Steve

If only the world of software were as straightforward as that. What looks to be a simple change from the outside might require a huge redesign and rewriting of the software. And that would introduce new bugs which we'd find after its release and Pentax would be hammered by people who used to have a good camera but their favourite feature no longer works properly. Then the physical processor, memory etc. limits the size and complexity of the software that can reasonably run on it. How much more can be squeezed onto the ancient (well, semi-ancient) hardware in the K10, K5 etc? There's also the people side of things to consider. Who in Pentax is still around who is familiar with the intricate internals of the 20-year old software? I've been involved with a project like that (not photographic), nobody knew what half of the software was doing, everyone who did had retired or moved on.

No, it ain't gonna happen for those grand old cameras.

But back to what I would wish for. The answer is that I don't wish for anything for me, photographically or otherwise. I learned many years ago that wishes usually aren't fulfilled and hopes are dashed all too frequently. Better and happier to simply appreciate what you've got and be grateful if something better comes your way. That's seems to work OK for me even if it isn't the way of the world .

Steve

Any berries left in your area??

Steve