Is it a two parter?

are you keeping us in suspense?

Or is my copy of the magazine deffective?

Will the Pentax 12-24 save the day? find out in the next exciting installment........

how interesting, I didn't know those keystrokes and was just about to assume you were using a mac and post the PC ones I use, Ctrl+C = copy and Ctrl+V = paste.

Just tried it and you're absolutely right, your key combos work too! learn something new everyday

so it should be at 5 times the price, 3 times the size and twice the weight!!

my dad has the DA, I have the FA.

If I could turn my FA into a DA for £50 I'd do it in a heartbeat.

The ONLY reason to go for the FA is if you absolutely must have full frame coverage, and even then I'd take a long hard look at a Tamron 70-300 which would be brand new at that price and by reputation is sharper.

true, and have you SEEN a Leica R9?

the SFX is not pretty, but it's rugged and functional and you can use it to drive in nails.

For me the A3 is the ugliest Pentax ever, its proportions just look wrong.

The ME-F when paired with its matching lens is a contender, but that isn't the body's fault.

you can't wash your hands in a buffalo??

mmm that joke doesn't work so well in text...I'll get my coat.

actually since it's fixed aperture and therefore wide open all the time anyway, it should work perfectly well in aperture priority mode as well.

I have (in rough order of acquisition)

Pentax MZ-7
Ricoh KR-5 Super II
Pentax ME-F
Pentax Auto 110
Pentax SFX (x2)
Pentax Z-50p
Pentax K1000
Pentax SF7

I have also owned and subsequently sold a second MZ-7, an MZ-50 and 2x ME-Supers. I no longer sell film bodies since anything less than an MX/LX/Z1-p/MZ-S is worthless and they come in handy when I want to take a camera out but don't want to risk a DSLR. The SFX is currently my go-to camera for theme parks and suchlike, ugly as sin but tough enough that you could club a mugger over the head with it and go right on shooting.

The Tamron 2x TC is quite nice quality (for a 2x TC), but since that will make your zoom F9 constant you may find it unusably slow. Also some lenses "mind" being teleconverted more than others. I generally only consider a TC when I'm using prime lens of the highest quality (my Tamron SP 90mm and 300mm lenses get the 2x treatment occasionally), but if this is a particularly good zoom then a 1.4x (tamron made one but I don't know how good it is) may produce decent results.

On the metering issue, there is a KA version of the adaptall mount. They are becomming increasingly hard to get and every time I see one for sale the price has gone up, but if you can get one they work nicely with the K10D.