If nobody else with the lens can provide hands-on confirmation about tracking, I'll try to do so in the next week or two. I've sadly not had time to get out with the camera much since I got back from Iceland because I might just have bought a house .

Only a KS-2, mind, so can't confirm on the improved AF capabilities of the K3/ii.

The last selection of my Iceland pictures now that I've finished going through and editing. Holiday is now well and truly over

1.


Church at Bessastaðir by Chris Roughley, on Flickr

2.


Gullfoss by Chris Roughley, on Flickr

3.


Mount Keilir, Lighthouse by Chris Roughley, on Flickr

4.



5.


Reykjadalur by Chris Roughley, on Flickr

6.



7.


Sólheimajökull by Chris Roughley, on Flickr

My personal favourite is number 3, which perfectly sums up how the Icelandic landscape looks from a distance in the morning and evening - like the cover of a 1970s sci-fi novel.

Any criticism appreciated. It was the first time I'd done any landscape photography, so any pointers here particularly welcome!

Price drop to £75 delivered and now on eBay. Forum members can have RMSD for that price rather than standard recorded.

Bump, will consider offers

Gigapan was a bit of a revalation for this - Flickr horribly downsampled the Þingvellir shot because it was too wide, which ruined all the detail. Everywhere else seemed set up to take 360 degree equirectangular projection, but no a cylindrical projection in a way that you can pan.

I realised I never actually posted any info on the shots - but they're stitches of 9 shots at 68mm for Reyjavík and 8 shots at 48mm for Þingvellir. I found myself cursing that I hadn't bought a polarising filter for my 50 f/1.8 before going, because it would have been significantly sharper!

Thanks guys. #3 is a bit of a special moment, because it was when the lights "switched on", if I can use such a crude metaphor, which is why the person on the left is suddenly pointing up. The first two shots show what it was like before that happened, and the others are all while the light-show was on the go.

Probably the most jaw-dropping thing I've ever seen

I was lucky enough to be in Iceland last week when the northern lights put on an amazing show for four days running. These were captured on the Wednesday when (as I discovered when I got back) various media outlets in the UK were talking about how the lights in Reykjavík were turned out for better views:



Aurora over Mosfellsbær II by Chris Roughley, on Flickr









Aurora Over Mosfellsbær by Chris Roughley, on Flickr



Aurora over Mosfellsbær III by Chris Roughley, on Flickr




I've never done any night sky photography before, but couldn't pass up the opportunity to have a go at this stunning event. Although I think I'm unlikely to get a display this good again in my lifetime, any criticisms are welcome - if I do ever have the opportunity again I'd like to nail it!

Chris

Lovely little lens for sale following my purchase of a 55-300 PLM. This is the lens that spent most time on my camera after purchase.

Full disclosure: the lens was dropped approx 0.5 metres while on the camera onto soil a few months back, which split one of the flanges of the hood mount away from the body. I superglued this back into place and it works fine and is difficult to spot unless you're looking for it. The hood protected the lens elements which are fine, scratch and fungus free, and not de-centered.

Images:










This one shows the repaired flange:




Images taken with the lens showing that it's still fine after the drop can be found here:
https://www.pentaxuser.com/forum/topic/falconry-photography-day-56834 (excluding the first two images)
https://www.pentaxuser.com/forum/topic/eagle-owl-56895

Comes with the original box. Also included is a Jessops 1A filter which isn't shown - it's been off the lens for a while so needs a bit of a clean, but I don't have any 49mm diameter lenses left when this goes so is useless to me! Looking for £85 including RMSD, payment by Paypal or bank transfer - any queries please PM!

Chris

Hosted on Gigapan due to size and the ability to zoom and pan. I've never wanted a DA15 Ltd more than when doing these!

Þingvellir

Reykjavík from The Pearl

More non-panorama photos to follow when I've waded through them all...

Very impressed having had chance to play with it - but in all honesty, the 18-135 stayed on my camera for most of my recent trip anyway. Some shots for comparison - all are straight out of camera RAW and then converted to jpg in Lightroom with no processing at all. Sharpened, I'm sure the results will be fantastic.



18-135 @ 68mm 1/80s f/10 ISO100 (Part of a panorama, so excuse the weird framing and focal length!)



55-300 PLM @ 300mm 1/400s f/10 ISO125



100% crop of the above

The cross on top ofHallgrímskirkj showed some CA - but it was only a pixel top and bottom and disappeared completely with Lightroom's remove CA adjustment.