That is a great set, Phil, but I particularly enjoy the underground shots.

Philip

The experience you describe here, Ian, would be evidence for what I was suggesting in my previous post above. And if water can be sucked in through the lens seals, and the zoom continues to be used, changing the pressure inside the camera and lens, it would seem inevitable that water will be forced past the internal seals also.

Philip

It has always puzzled me how e.g. the K-5 + 18-135 can prevent water getting in, if the full zoom range is deployed while the combo is soaking wet with rain. When the lens is adjusted from 18 to 135, it appears to (approx.) double its internal volume. Basic physics tells us that this would halve the internal pressure, creating a partial vacuum in the system. Is this vacuum sustained while the lens is extended? - If not, it would appear that something of the order of 100 cubic cm of air will be drawn into the lens and camera, and how could that occur without also sucking some moisture past the seals?

Philip

On the English language Japanese web site http://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/index.html the products are still called Pentax, and Pentax is printed on the cameras.

Philip

In retirement, photography has become my main hobby, and the K-5 seems already almost perfect for me for that purpose. Generally I really like its design, build quality, weatherproofing, compact size (for a dslr), ergonomics, and unique features. I also enjoy using the compact Pentax primes. I hope one of the new models will be an APS-C that follows its example but with some enhancements - e.g. I would like an articulated rear screen for live-view shooting, fast wifi connectivity to computer etc., aids for manual focusing in the viewfinder, improved auto-focus speed and accuracy, improved low noise at high ISO, and perhaps 24MP for cropping prime shots when foot-zoom was not possible.

Philip

Nice shot, Kris. I prefer the colour version - the tree seems to stand out from the sky better than it does in monochrome.

Philip

And after those were posted - link

As a relative novice, there are many techniques still to learn, and videos like that one can be helpful. Last week I experimented with PSP X4 to achieve a similar effect in a couple of images that I posted here - LINK. Frankly, if it is supposedly "cliché", that doesn't bother me - I enjoyed creating the resulting images and quite like the effect for those examples, as it seems so appropriate there.

Philip

Smeggy, perhaps it was your disciplined approach at the start that gave you the fundamental skills and knowledge to enable your creativity to fly. That does seem to be how it works for many people in many different fields of human activity, including Neil Armstrong. Some others do seem to be able to dive straight in and make progress that way. Different individuals respond in different ways to different approaches - Nigel's suggestions will probably benefit some photographers and inhibit others. In photography as a hobby, we have the freedom to select or experiment with methods of working, learning, and trying to progress.

Philip

Well done, Gareth, nice shot - hope you also got a good cheque mate.

Philip