I occasionally find that my 50-135 has a bit of difficulty focussing if i haven't used it for a while - it sounds as if the SDM motor is trying to do something, but the focus movement is negligible if anything. I normally (a) clean all the contacts and (b) grab the focus ring and (not too madly, i.e. carefully) energetically wind it back and forth a few times. That normally does the job (or it's not failed yet) although I am not sure why... If I use the lens regularly (or at least attach it to the camera and operate it a few times) then there is not a problem.

Cheers

Hello all. I thought I would post a handful of shots I have taken this week. Now that the days are getting longer again I thought I would shove a camera in my bag in case I was inspired on my way to and from work.

The first of these was taken with the 10-17 fisheye, but the rest are all with the DA15 Ltd, which I had a strange hankering to use this week. I was also trying out a small manfrotto micro-tripod-three-legged-spidery thingy which I was bought for christmas, and which I found a bit of a joy to use () - so small and light, very convenient, and effective (albeit very low to the ground).

1: Kings Cross Station:



2. Beneath Waterloo:



3. A slice of someone else's life...:



4. Light(s) at the end of the tunnel:



5. Early morning, Putney Bridge (took this as I paused for a drink on my sunday morning bike ride)



6. Bit more experimental... Pinhole London Eye:



Hope you like them. There are more on my flickr as usual. Any C&C welcomed. Next week I think i'll load up with the DA 21...

Cheers

These are from the back end of last year with the Pentax DA 35mm f2.8 Macro Ltd...













Cheers

They're all very likeable, but the penultimate one is the peach for me - great expression and lovely sharp shot

Cheers

One other suggestion - although it depends on your particular inclination - is to take the greyline open-topped bus tour(s) to get oreintation of the city - they generally have a decent commentary, are open-topped and easy to take photos from (although watch out for low hanging traffic lights!). They are hop-on/hop-off so a decent way of getting about as well. We had a ticket which we bought in the UK online before going which got us something like three days use of buses, plus entry to five attractions (from a list of about 40) for a decent price. From memory the attractions we did were Empire State, Top of the Rock, Museum of Natural History, Madame Tussauds, and the USS Intrepid Air and Space Museum. The greylines also do night tours, and we went on one of those around downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn, which was cool as well. The only drawback when we were there was that Tropical Storm Maria was overhead and it was proper wet! (most of the time).

Cheers

Top set! I like these and similarly rarely see pheasants in the flesh myself. Nice work

Cheers

If you head down to Battery Park and pick up the ferry to Staten Island, you get some great views of the Statue of Liberty, and of Manhattan from the water, from the ferry and it's free as I recall. The only condition is that you have to get off the ferry at the other end (but there will be one back after a few minutes) - alternatively you could take a look at Staten Island, there is a small zoo there as I recall.

Also recommend taking a look at Grand Central Station - pretty iconic place and a nice sea-food restaurant there too.

Cheers

As a first step I would clean all the contacts on the lens with a soft cloth. It sounds like the camera contacts are OK if the FA 50 has no problems... see if that makes any difference.

Cheers

Well it certainly looks like a Pitcher Plant, although there are several species of those and I couldn't tell which which specific one this is. They are known for being carnivorous, attracting bugs in at the top with sweet secretions... they then drop into the 'pitcher' and drown and are digested by the juices in the bottom of the bowl. One of the really big ones attracts a particular type of rodent, which, while licking the sweetness from the lid of the pitcher, deposits droppings into the pitcher below, which the plant uses to extract nutrients from. Nice

Cheers

so many great lenses to choose from...

I really love the DA35 ltd as it gives briiliant IQ and is so flexible. That would be on my list

I think the DA*200 would make it too, as would the 10-17 fisheye.

I know that the FA 85 is disallowed, but I do have a sigma 85mm f1.4 and that would definitely make my list, but it's not a pentax lens so maybe that is also disallowed (still a great lens though )

Cheers