Actually the Camera shop did not stock the Pentax Cleaning Kit or the identical Nikon one.They actually cleaned my sensor for free using some relatively cheap swabs (£17.50 for 10) and a cleaner that smelled like Methylated spirit. Brushes do lose bristles! I am a painter so i know only too well! Even the best made ones are going to shed them at some point! Either through breakage, Wear or through disintegration of the vulcanised rubber or whatever they use to hold the bristles in the ferrule. so i agree with the shop! Yes the Pentax cleaning kit is expensive for what it contains but compared to the alternatives it is incredibly cheap! The Pad of sticky papers have lasted well and i have used them on other people`s sensors as well as my old K10D and my K7 and still i have loads left.

Regards - Pete

I have the Cokin P series but i find that i cannot use it with my 16-50 DA* set to the 16mm end due to the holder being visible in the shot. If i had gone for the larger Z series this would not have been a problem plus i would have greater control over the amount of grad in the shot. So take care when choosing!

Regards - Pete

I have just finished reading "Unreasonable Behaviour" following your recommendation! Excellent read. Thanks!

Regards - Pete

I have always been advised against using brush type sensor cleaners by my local Camera shop as they can shed bristles which can get lodged within the Camera. I have used the Pentax Sensor Cleaning kit successfully for 3 years now and have used it on my K7 several times. Available from SRS.

Regards - Pete.

My First Pentax was the KM film camera too!

Regards - Pete.

I have a Minolta Scsn Dual III which i purchased new some 5 or 6 years ago.(They till turn up regularly on E-Bay) The neg`s can be pre-scanned so that you have a comprehensive set of adjustment tools to play with before making a final scan if you wish or simply pile em through 4 at a time on auto! It does`nt offer the pixel count of a new Nikon Cool Scan but i have made some superb A4 prints at 300dpi from a cropped image. You might still find a review on the E-photozine website for this and most of the other Scanners.

Regards - Pete.

I have only just got around to reading the Which? review. It did`nt give much info in the Mag so i went to their online review of the K7. Apparently it only just missed out on Best Buy Status.
Pro`s were Advanced Manual Controls, 100% viewfinder and excellent Image Stabiliser.
Cons were - Pricey and quite heavy! Needless to say i wrote a customer review disputing the latter! (Though someone had beaten me to it!)

Regards - Pete

Yes this appears to fit the description nicely. As an occasional fun lens it looks quite tempting at that kind of price, Though the chap i mentioned paid £130 including shipping. My Workmate was standing alongside a football pitch when he was shown the lens fitted to a K20D and he said that he could see both goals and some houses on his side of the pitch but did not mention about Fisheye distortion i will inquire further!

Thanks for the link.

Regards - Pete

I guess i will just have to task my work colleague with finding more info,
It came with a K mount but apparently it was available in the usual variety of fit.
Apparently the build quality was impressive as was the size of the front element!
If i find anything more i will post.

Cheers - Pete

A colleague at work told me yesterday of a Pentax user friend of his who had shown him a cheap Fisheye lens he had just purchased for his K20. Apparently it cost around £130 including shipping. It was possibly bought from a Swedish website but he was`nt sure of that. Metal construction and a focal length of 6mm?. My colleague said that it appeared to be well made and was not one of those Fisheye adapter lenses.
I`m intrigued as it sounds cheap enough to have some fun with! But i cannot find anything that relates to it on Google. Does anyone know more?

Cheers - Pete