Well I've been and gone and done it.

I Ordered the 12-24mm today from www.technidirekt.de. £450 and some pence but out of stock at the moment which is a real shame because I want it, and I want it NOW ! ! ! Guess I'll have to be patient . . .

My main reason for choosing this lens over the 10-17mm fisheye is that I tend to take indoor shots and I think (hope) it will be simpler to perform perspective correction, if any is needed, on images from the 12-24 lens rather than the 10-17mm fisheye. Also, I don't think that there is too much advantage having the slightly wider FOV that the 10-17mm offers. We'll see.

Thanks for all your valuable feedback which has helped me come to my decision.

Matt & Don,

Thanks for your info. I have one final question and that is, If I were to take the same shot with a 16-45 & 12-24 & 10-17 with them all set to 16 or 17mm, will there be much difference between the shots. I imagine the fisheye being of curvilinear design will produce slightly barrel shaped images but how accentuated is it at the 17mm end?

OK, 2 questions. If I were then to take a 12-24 and a 10-17 and again take the same shot with them both set at 12mm, what difference would I see. I'm guessing curvy 'n barrel shaped from the fisheye but reasonably straight lines from the 12-24mm, am I right?

I guess, from what you have said, that the 10-17mm fisheye has no filter thread? That would probably clinch it for me too. If it hasn't, I'll be buying the 12-24mm.

Which brings me to my othe question re. 'grey imports'. I would have thought that there must be an EU directive somewhere forcing Pentax UK, or any othe rPentax repair centre in Europe to accept imports from member countries for repair if needed, given that the EU is a free trade area and the lens would technically not be an import.

Also, has anyone noticed the RRP for the 12-24mm in UK is £699, yet in Europe, it appears to be €699, 2/3rds of the UK price. Another example of the Great British rip-off? In the USA its even cheaper @ $720 (about £350)from 17th Street.

Why on earth do we continue to put up with this? Actually I'm not as I'm going to live in Spain where the pace of life is slower, everyday commodities are cheaper, and the sun shines most of the time.

Come on Matt, don't tempt me. I'm having enough trouble justifying to myself the purchase of one of them, let alone both.

But then again . . . I can always tell my wife "Matt made me do it ! ! !" then you would be in real trouble.

Matt, if it's the Louvre and railings shot, I had a look at it a couple of days ago. Excellent image.

Thanks for your input.

You're welcome Don. I accept your points re. the 10-17mm except that 'because I don't have one' is not reason enough for me to buy one. I'd like to think I'd get good use from it and capture some quality images. I'm currently living in UK and handing over my IT business to my son. I'll then take a back seat and join my wife in Spain. Later, when our dog and cat have 'slipped off the dish' we want to travel around mainland europe so there will be plenty of opportunities for landscape shots (I hope).

I do like the wider view in landscapes but I would similarly want to straighten out the curves of the fisheye view so keep me posted with your software findings.

Thanks for you feedback and keep shooting. You're a lucky man to have such an understanding partner, with similar interests, in Gerri.

Luck to you both.

I have a dilemma that I'd like your collective help with.

I have the 16-45 DA lens on my *ist-D and I'd like to extend my wideangle opportunities. The 10-17mm will nicely overlap my 16-45mm at the wide end.

Given this range of 10-45mm with the combination above, my question is, would my pics benefit much from getting the 12-24mm that slots in between these two? Put another way, how much better is the 12-24mm at producing images in that range than the other 2.

I'm aware that both the 12-24 & 16-45 are AL lenses whereas the 10-17 is not.

I am an enthusiastic amateur, not a professional and most of my pics are for my own, and my family's pleasure only.

I've seen Don's pics taken with the 10-17mm and they look very good but I'm not sure I would use the wide end very much or that the difference between 10mm and 12mm is very great.

I'm tending towards the 12-24mm at the moment but If I buy from www.technidirect.de, will I perhaps have the same 'grey import' issues as buying from Pixmania? The german price is about £100 cheaper than Park Cameras so it's quite a saving.

Your thoughts are invited and welcomed.

Did your tulips come from that little garden centre just outside Chernobyl by any chance.

Forgive these questions but sometimes the blindingly obvious gets overlooked.

1: Which camera model ?
2: Which recording mode (RAW, JPG) ? Have you tried other modes ?
3: Which options have you set for Saturation, Brightness, Contrast in-camera ?
4: Is WB appropriately set ?
5: Is there any other light source nearby that might influence the red end of the spectrum ?
6: Is your software having any influence on the red's ?
7: Have you tried taking one of the tulips indoors and use flash ?
8: Have you tried with/without any filter on the front of the lens ?
9: Have you tried taking the same scene with a different lens under identical conditions ?

I know, you've probably tried all of these but it can't do any harm to recheck.

Thay are a bit good, aren't they. My 12-24 hasn't arrived yet but should be soon.

BTW, thanks for the AF140C box, quite a surprise.