In that case, your problem is you were looking the wrong way! turn around next time and you'll get much better sunsets.

best I can come up with is the white balance is off, that blue can't be right surely?

I just got a refurbed *ist DS from SRS (for my lab, I have converted them to Pentax!), if the image number is correct then it's only got about 500 shutter clicks on it and it certainly appears to be in great condition. Don't regret for an instant saving the £100 on the body and spending it on a better lens.

I can certainly see where John is coming from though, if it were my own money and the difference was just £50 I would probably have gone for the new body.

the Jessops in Cambridge allow the display model to be used to take test shots, since it's been handled by all and sundry they can hardly expect it to sell as brand new anyway.

the fact that K100 is only 6MP wont be an issue unless you are either blowing up to very large sizes (think A3) or cropping heavily.

I bought my K10D for the larger continuous drive buffer, the SR feature and Sv mode, the extra 4MP are just a fringe benefit and while they do occasionally come in handy I could live without no problem.

Remember that resolution does not scale linearly as the camera makers would like us to think, 10MP is actually only about 20% more resolution than 6.

good plan except that he has the 80-320 already

I use an 80-320 on my K10D

It is not the sharpest lens in the world at 320, but I find it quite acceptable from 80~250 and useable stopped down at 320 provided you aren't looking to crop too tight or blow up to huge size.

I hope eventually to replace mine with something like a Sigma 100-300 F4 or maybe the new DA* 60-250 if it ever actually arrives, but for the price I think you'll find the 80-320 hard to beat.

number 1 is the type of shot which makes me wish I had an ultra wide or fisheye, really well done, the distortion barely notices at all.

The second one I don't like, but I think it's an example of a "love or hate" fisheye shot so if you're pleased with it that's all that really matters.

I tried it with a bald eagle a month or so ago, still not really long enough

could do with winning the lottery really.

have you got one of these Iceblinker? I've often wondered if they are any good (fairly idly since I already have an 80-320) but have never come across anyone who actually has one before to confirm whether they are good value or just cheap and nasty (I am quite ready to believe either of Tamron).

what camera do you have?

lenses that long which are worth having are usually expensive, and are hard to hand hold anyway.

I would start out with something like the Pentax FA 80-320 (second hand ~£90 but you have to find one first) or the Sigma APO 70-300 (~£150? new)

If you have a digital SLR the Pentax DA 50-200 is also very nice.