Gosh isn't he a beauty!

Well done

Great pics as usual - really like the Blackcap. I've not seen one of those and I like him in amongst the blossom. Brill!

Regards

I think you would need a studio set-up, like John says, to get shots like that 'straight out of the camera", but I'm with smeggy on the PP front. The pics in my last couple of posted threads are not a million miles from the effect I think(:shock:

link
link

These pics were all taken against natural backgrounds (leaves, grass, twigs, bits of tree etc.) and I used a combination of Silver Efex Pro to convert to B/W (the burn edges function being particularly useful) and then lots of dodging and burning in PSE8...

Regards

There are some corkers here - beautiful colours. The last one is fantastic. I also rather like the third - great perspective!

Regards

It's a tough one. It will be tricky to reproduce that whole focal length range, and it depends what you are looking for. First thought is to take a look at the sigma 70-200 f2.8. It is a cracking lens, really sharp and (IMO) great quality. You should get an 'as new' second hand one for £600. It is also advertised as 'macro' and focusses pretty close but is not a true macro. There are a few versions; I have the version with HSM focussing but not in-built stabilisation and think it is great. It can be used with a teleconverter but depending upon the focussing type and TC in question it may or may not retain autofocus.

You could also look at whether SRS still have the Sigma 150-500 for just under £600 - it will not be 'faster' than you 70-300 and loses the lower end of the focal length scale relative to your 70-300, but will give more reach and some on here get brilliant results with it - not macro though I don't think

The Pentax 60-250 f4 is a decent match in terms of focal length and is fantastic quality. Not sure how close it focusses but you may struggle even second hand to get one for £600.

If you are looking for a specific macro lens upgrade, then certainly the pentax, sigma and tamron offerings around 100mm are all very good, and you might even find a sigma 180mm macro kicking about now and then as well.

decisions decisions - if you can get to somewhere like SRS you might find they have a range of possibilities you can try out..., or else you could perhaps hire lenses from them to see which you like:

Hope that helps

If I had to narrow it down to a single area for buy-from-new (rather than second hand) gear then I would probably say Holborn - and specifically New Oxford Street, just a couple of hundred yards east of the big crossroads where Oxford Street crosses Charing Cross Road/Tottenham Court Road. That is where both Jacobs and Jessops have their 'flagship' London stores (or it looks that way). Both their websites currently have K5s:

Jacobs: link

Jessops: link

and it is also very close to all the other major shops on Oxford street and surrounds so an excellent place for any other shopping!

With both you can phone up beforehand to check that they have stock etc. (I would recommend doing that as from memory the stock levels and range in store for both shops is less for Pentax than for the other major brands). Not certain whether the prices quoted online will be quite as competitive when in-person in store - certainly Jessops indicates that their web prices are not matched in store. I have used both shops and have found them both fine.

As a complete aside, I note that the Jessops 'Home' page is currently ALL Pentax! that's something I've not seen in a while...

Regards

I use several camera shops in London for Pentax gear - it's scarcer than other brands but there are places where you'll get what you're looking for. A good place to head is Holborn - near the British Museum (New Oxford Street). Jacobs and Jessops both have large stores there (Jessops have a couple), and both stock Pentax gear, certainly K-5 bodies. Just round the corner from those, off Bury Place, is Microglobe, which is a proper aladdin's cave and probably has more pentax gear and pentax fit gear than anywhere else I have found in Central London. Heading south a bit onto the Strand there is a branch of London Camera Exchange. the folks in there are very helpful... they sell Pentax gear but they don't always have so much stock in the shop. If they offer the best price then the best bet is to explain in advance on the phone what you want and they will bring that from their central store into the strand shop - will need about 24 hrs notice though I think...

There are of course other Jessops and Jacobs around and about the place as well - all have websites (mostly) with prices.

Hope that helps

I have a SLR Zoom G'pod and I use it. It certainly has limitations... I can't use it with big/heavy lenses as it just sags and won't stay still, but with a lightweight zoom or (esp) a limited prime it is just fine and it enables you to keep the camera still and get a shot you might not otherwise manage - e.g. a night shot or long exposure etc. I do find that a remote control is useful as pressing the shutter button can cause the whole thing to move, and of course it is not all that tall so unless you can find walls/branches/whatever to put the arrangement on, then things tend to look as if they have been shot at near ground level (which they have!).

It does provide a way to get a tripod of sorts into a bag where you otherwise may not manage at all, and it is light and has a variety of configurations for the legs if you want to be creative. I like it.

Regards

Gosh! Now that is rather impressive. How did you manage to get off 120 shots to stack? Excellent result.

Nice one

Some beauties there. I think No 2 is my fave. Nice and sharp and I rather like the pale green background. Well done

Regards