I have PMed janice, she just needs to open it to be able to send PMs herself.

Then I apologise!

I like 'selective focus' but the area of the shot which is in focus - the lower third - is just not the optimal part of the shot which ought to be sharp. You would ideally want the whole bloom in focus, but certainly the central part.

Appreciate the shot was taking as part of the learning curve using the 50/1.7, but you are making some strong statements here and then offer the image as justification.

I'm afraid it just shows that artistic judgement and 'the eye' is more important than the kit you own or the ability to 'blur out the background' with fast lenses. That's open to people with cam-phones, compact cameras, whatever. The key is using the equipment to it's strengths.

The DA35mm f2.4, DA*200mm f2.8 and DA*300mm f4 are FF compatible, so the DA rating is a bit meaningless! I would guess that something that long would end up FF compatible.

Or this one for sale right here on the forum. Why not make him an offer!

https://www.pentaxuser.com/forum/topic/pentax-f50-f1-7-35522

At that price you will definitely be able to re-sell the lens in future with little risk of losing money.

It is possible (occasionally) to snag the Pentax F 50mm f1.7 for £100 or less. The usual price is more like £160 though. People sometimes get lucky if they find a film camera (usually a Pentax SFX or SF10) with this lens attached on ebay: bidders aren't interested in the camera, so the lens gets overlooked! It's worth keeping an eye on listings for those cameras.

But Stuey makes a good point re the focus confirmation. (Green hexagon in viewfinder, and focus confirmation beep). They would make manual focus a lot more usable if your eyesight is poor. That would allow you to use lenses costing under £40. If it didn't work out, you could always sell it again. Has to be worth a go IMO, even if you have to tell your kids to stay still for you!

First time I've heard it too. Wouldn't be surprised if Ken actually calls them 'wireless buttons'.

I do my best to delete the duffers in-camera, it's a good way of killing time when you get a moment to yourself. Makes editing and sorting easier later, storage issues aside. Unless the shot's a total disaster I will keep jpegs as a record though (I shoot RAW+ mostly).

I love the idea of photobooks. I've thought about doing them for events and specific purposes, e.g. a photobook of pictures of my new baby niece, but why not just an annual book of the favourite/most memorable images of each year? Would be great to look back on.

Wear and tear on the shutter, and devaluing the camera by increasing the click count, are issues that sometimes pop into my cost-conscious little mind.