Pentax AF 400FTZ: powerful flash (GN 40) with swivel/tilt head. No PTTL, so manual only, but offers low and high power settings, and 2nd curtain sync flash.

(It does have TTL if you are thinking of using it on istD, DS or film cameras).

Very good condition. And of course it's safe for use on Pentax DSLRs.

£30.00 plus £3.25 p&p (UK)

Vivitar 3500 flash. Very compact. Obviously no PTTL but does have three power settings in auto which give three levels of brightness as well as manual (full flash). Very low trigger voltage, perfectly safe on Pentax DSLRs. Wide-angle diffuser, and tilting zoom head.

I took this with the Vivitar as the main flash (using an inflatable soft box).

£5.00 plus £3.25 p&p (UK)

Pictures of the items taken on the K7 showing the products, and confirming that they work on the K7:

Pentax AF400FTZ lit with the Vivitar 3500:




Vivitar 3500 lit with the Af400FTZ:




Payment to be by direct transfer.

Three takers in line for the flash: JohnLewis, Frogherder, and Tyronet2000

No, the Q is the 110-D - it's a very similar concept (sacrifice IQ, but not features, for tiny size)...

Edit- John beat me....

Flash in use 10 minutes ago on K7:




The hotshoe seems to be behaving today!

Free to a good (or indeed any) home: Cobra 700AF manual flash unit. Safe for use on Pentax DSLR, but hotshoe attachment is slightly dodgy - sometimes need to apply some forward pressure to make it work. Perhaps the contacts need a clean? Battery cover loose when batteries are not loaded.

Seems a fairly powerful unit though and even with the above problem, great for long exposure off-camera flashing. (Painting with light). Which is what I'll use it for if no-one wants it!

Postage £2.50 (UK)

Nope! Apologies for the intrusion on the discussion for the meet.

I was set on buying the K5, but unsure whether to wait to see if the K5 replacement had 'focus peaking'.... I use manual lenses a lot, and think focus peaking would be a real benefit. I had consigned myself to a long wait, even if the K5 replacement did have this feature, as I couldn't afford to be an early adopter.

But then out comes the K30, with most of the benefits of the K5 plus the focus peaking feature - and undercuts it on price as well! I ought to be pleased, but I do prefer the K7/5 body style. Goes well with K lenses and Ltds.

Only if you promise your swollocks won't be too betty, and will have been nowhere near the tea-making facilities...

I think we've established that with the K-mount flange distance, it's extremely hard to design a camera as thin and 'classically proportioned' as the LX.

Re the OM-D, I think it's very nice but the smaller sensor size is going to limit it's image quality compared to APSC.

It's also an EVF camera, and has all the bells and whistles of a premium DSLR/CSC. Therefore it's no 'digital LX' really.

Some people aren't satisfied with the concept of a digital LX, and ask for a digital Kx or K1000. I would love that too - those are fun cameras to use. But unfortunately omitting the bells and whistles isn't going to make the camera significantly cheaper - in fact by creating a bit of a niche product it might end up more expensive unless it acheived some sort of cult status.

In terms of usability, while the old school controls are fun, and slow you down and make you think things through, they aren't really as good as the Pentax 2-dial system, which means you can make changes to shutter-speed, aperture, ISO, and EV.comp without moving your eye from the viewfinder or fiddling with any knobs. This system becomes so second nature, it's easy to forget what a great advantage it is!

So, I say forget the OM-D, and grab a K5 or K30. And re the Q and K-01, those cameras aren't trying to be anything like the OM-D, which is sort of the pinnacle of Olympus's range - the main event for Pentax is still definitely the traditional DSLR.

What's 'spelunking'? Or do I really not want to know!