You have to do that with the Pentax one too, though it isn't a spring so much as a fiddly microscopic lever that requires a fingernail to operate.

As a macro lens, 35mm is not a good focal length. I have the DFA 50 macro, and even with that I find myself uncomfortably close to the subject (from a scratching-the-front-element point of view). Thus the DA35 might better be viewed as a 'normal' lens (normal on APS-C is actually about 28mm) with no minimum focus distance, rather than as a lens for real macro work. One review did describe it as better than Zeiss though - if you don't need the speed of the FA43 then the DA35 could be a fabulous lens for you, and the slightly wider focal length is arguably more useful for walkaround.

The interesting thing is that the level of cashback seems to bear only limited relation to the price of the lens. For example the £350 90mm macro has less cashback on it than the £330 17-50. Still I guess we Pentaxians can't throw 'illogical pricing' stones for fear of damaging our brand's glass houses

There is currently a cashback offer on various (though not all) Tamron lenses.
Has to be bought between 28th April and 12th June from an authorised Tamron dealer (SRS are, not sure who else) and the claim has to be received by 30th June.

A full frame body is a possibility and could be successful on ONE condition: that it can activate a 'crop mode' to work with all the very high-end APS-C lenses Pentax have sold.

An alternative is that this could be "ultimate APS-C", equivalent in pricing to (though likely better than) the Canon 7D. So basically we could be going back to a three-tier Pentax lineup:
*Entry level (Kx)
*Mid-range (K7, or a hypothetical K5 successor which I think is the most likely new model for this year)
*High end (Canon 7D equivalent but with usual Pentax goodies ie weather sealing, in-body IS etc.)

By the standards of most reports of copyright litigation, it is positively concise!

A bigger issue for photographers is 'orphan works' reform - it might be gone from the Digital Economy Act but it is coming (not as a deliberate shaft to photographers, but as collateral damage from attempts to stop old books and films from disappearing due to untraceable copyright holders).

Yes - they pay Pentax (Japan) the same price for the kit, but they are then charged import tax by the UK govt and have to charge 17.5% VAT at retail.

Beats the Nikon D90, which apparently gets very upset if you try to take a video lasting more than five minutes.

Sure, but add 17.5% VAT and 7%-ish import tax and you're already up at £700. Thus £765 isn't THAT excessive for the 50-135, especially when you consider that corporation tax is higher in the UK than it is in the US.

EDIT: I of course mean that it isn't excessive in comparison to the US price. Charging more for a 50-135 than Sigma and Tamron charge for a 70-200 is an argument for another day.

The FA 35 is undoubtedly a fabulous lens, but for its probable purpose (as a 'standard' walkabout) is it better than the DA 35 Macro Limited which is available for around the same price?