I use a Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO Macro Super (not the II version) Primarily for its macro capability at 300mm.

I also use the Pentax FA80-320mm. If you need the long focal length rather than the macro capability, the Pentax would be my recommendation. I've had no problems regarding barrel creep with mine, but then its relatively new and not used often so its probably still tight.

I also have the Sigma 135-400mm APO lens bought new for £199. Stonking lens in my opinion.

You ought to be a ble to take your camera to a Sigma/Pentax retailer and try the various zooms for yourself. Make a few test shots at the apertures of interest and make a decision.

I agree with John, the 80-320mm would be an excellent choice.

If you have the standard 28-80/90mm zoom lens already, pair it up with the 80-320mm, add a sprinkle of 2 X convertor and you've got 99.99% of your real world requirements covered from 28-640mm.

Then again, don't forget to take some macro capability; some of the bugs and flowers to be found in safari territory are stunning close-up. A nice SMC Pentax-A 50mm (1.4 or 1.7) and some extension tubes, auto tubes will do fine, the A version (with electrical contacts) would be a bonus, but not essential.

And watch out for the sunrise & sunset, prepare to be blown away.

Happy holiday.

Oops, I forgot that one, probably because I've never seen one.

My sons kept garter snakes when they were younger. We had a couple of bites too but nothing to break the skin. Fasinating to watch the skin shedding process.

It is important to ensure your anti-tetanus shots are up to date before handling wild animals though. Even a non-venomous bite that draws blood can turn nasty in a very short space of time. Wild creatures have some truly horrible germs in their mouths.

Don,

I am astounded at the clarity and colour richness of your pics, excellent. I think I'm going to go for the 12-24mm lens though.

Have you done any 'fiddling' with the colours or is that how they came off of the camera?

Looks to me like these are garter snakes emerging from their winter quarters . . . and looking to mate.

Lucky find, or is it a well known spot?. We only have 2 snakes in UK, common grass snake and the adder. The adder is venomous and a bite is very painful but seldom fatal to a fit and well person. Grass snakes will bite too if backed into a corner but they are not venomous.

BTW: I couldn't see the thumbnails on your snake page, pictures came up OK.

Very impressive, lucky man. I'm considering splashing out on the 12-24mm DA, I'm not sure I would use the 10-17mm much.

Ebay Item number 7602892217

They don't come up for grabs too often.

Happy bidding . . . oops, wrong site.

PS: It's not mine, honest. Just trying to help.

I think Pentax will do whatever they think is best from a financial point of view. They are in business to make money, they do that in part, by making cameras and lenses and if a change of technology seems necessary, they will do it, I'm sure.

They made the change from screw to bayonet mount once and some functionality was lost. They could make a similar decision about AF systems and introduce a whole new breed of camera system that might compete more favourably with the C & N makes. I for one tend to use manual focus more than AF anyway and I don't think it'd make much difference to me, and many others I suspect.

Some of you have kept your old screw mount bodies to make best use of the lenses that were designed for them, many will probably do the same if the AF system moves from body to lens.

As long as the K and A bit of the mount doesn't change too much your existing lens investment will still be usable, albeit in manual focus. I think I would keep the best of my existing bodies as I am very happy with my collection of screw, K, KA, KAF, KAF2 lenses. I'm not sure I would jump on a KAF3 (or probably KAF-USM) bandwaggon at its introduction 'cause there's bound to be a few wrinkles that I would prefer others to iron out.

Unless of course P has the financial clout to poach the best of the C & N design staff

I have both the D & DS. I settled on the D, liked it so much I bought a spare body for about £400. For me, the D is a more user friendly camera, particularly when mated to its battery grip. This makes the combination comfortably heavy and therefore a bit more stable in use. Only the D is fully wireless compatible with the AF-360FGZ flashgun.

Picture quality between all the models is identical although some users have noted banding effects from the D, I haven't experienced it. I do know that Pixmantec's RawShooter application wasn't compatible with the DS when it came out which would indicate that the RAW processing might be slightly different between the models.

The D is relatively 'old' now which actually works in the buyers favour a little because they are now a little cheaper . . . if you can find one. I bought both of mine on eBay the first one for £250.00 knowing it to be broken. Pentax UK fixed it for about £120.00 so I ended up with a bargain as it had a 28-105mm Tamron Zoom on it as well.

Bargains can be found if you are prepared to wait.

I rather meant any manual controls in the form of mode switches, dials, knobs, or buttons. I appreciate you can't affect any programmed settings as you can't see anything on the screen.

My advice is very general as I am not familiar with your camera.

I am not familiar with your model of camera but the following might help.

It is possible that the camera's electronics have been damaged by removing the cable with power on, but it's not very likely in my opinion.

It is more probable that the cameras electronics have become 'confused' (to put it in very simple terms).

Firstly, check your manuals troubleshooting pages for a clue as to the cause. Then check and double check that the controls are all set to the default or 'auto' settings and try again. Check that the battery is fully charged, try a different battery to be sure.

You might try simply removing the battery, wait 30 - 60 secs, then reconnect the battery and try again. If that doesn't work, disconnect the battery for a longer period, overnight would be good, then try again.

If that doesn't work, check your cameras manual for the presence of a 'reset' function or button and follow the instructions given.

Let us know whether any of these actions fixes the problem so that others having a similar problem may benefit from your experience.