I like the collapsible rubber lens hoods from eBay, as they protect the front of the lens. They screw into the 49mm filter thread and if you have a clip-on cap it will clip into the metal ring of the hood. An eBay search for 49mm rubber lens hood will bring up lots of them at no more than a £ or two.

Philip

I really like these photos. It seems like one can almost feel the heat radiating from that fire box!

Philip

You can get cheap lens hoods from eBay. The collapsible 49mm screw-on rubber ones are effective - and its like having a shock absorber on the front of the camera to take the inevitable little bumps! Just remember to screw it on gently - so it comes off again easily.

Philip

Thank you for the links, Algi (i.e. Nikon d800 + Down-sampling) - interesting and helpful.

Philip

Another vote for the last one - great shot!

Philip

Cleaning a screen....cleaning....??? Surely that must be a job for the butler or the maid.

Philip

I agree Smeggy, but I doubt that there is anything wrong with your monitors. An overcast sky usually produces cooler light, and it seems as though the white balance has been over-corrected here, giving a yellow colour cast in the image (particularly noticeable in the sky) that looks less natural to me.

Philip

Very nice shots and #1 is the best in my opinion.

There is definitely a yellow-green bias in #3 and Smeggy's edit has improved the image. However, it makes me wonder if there is also a slight colour imbalance in the others - #1 looks even better on my screen when a similar correction is applied.

Philip

It is obvious that different lenses are intended for different purposes and reasons, but it is interesting to explore the cost/performance angle that has been mentioned here.

Currently at SRS, the price of a new Pentax smc DA 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 is £329. The nearest new lens price is the Pentax smc DA 40 mm f2.8 Limited Lens at £349.

So you can get a well-made, compact, weather-resistant, long zoom range, optically-, mechanically- and electrically-complex zoom lens, for £20 less than a well-made, compact, slightly faster, single-focal-length, screw-drive focus and non-weather-resistant prime lens.

Moreover for the techno junkies, those Photozone MTF figures show that these two lenses on the K-5 have very similar resolution performance results, at comparable focal lengths and apertures but, of course, the 18-135 also has very good centre performance throughout a long zoom range.

It seems to me that, for its intended general purpose all-weather use, the 18-135 represents great value for money and, in agreement with what others have written here, my experience of its performance in practice - producing real images in the real world - is that it is truly superb.

Philip

This is a good set of varied shots David. #2 is OK but doesn't really interest me and the sunset might appeal to me more at a larger size. In the shop window, the arm of the bloke inside is rather distracting. At the top for me are the first and last, although the others also have lots of interesting details.

Philip