Picked up a new lens on eBay for less than £100. Never had a fast prime since I got the K20d way back when it came out.

Loving it.

I have a hell of a lot to learn with it, especially about depth of field, but i'm loving the results so far.

If truth be told, I had become a bit stagnant with my kit lenses and the camera hadn't been put to work for a while, but this lens has re-invigorated a long lost love of photography.

I thought I had dust spots on my sensor, but on closer inspection of my lens (18-55 mk2) I notice a fair amount of dust on them and there's none on the Dust Alert screen. Looks like the dust is on the 2nd element from the back of the lens. Much the same problem as Gwyn describes above.

What's the best way to clean this lens, or is it bin fodder?

Myself and my brother went for a walk in the peak of yesterday mornings storm. Quite possible the most difficult walking conditions I've ever gone out in. Definitely the worst and most severe photographing conditions I've been out in... could barely stand up, never mind hold the camera steady, especially once we got out to the exposed coastline.

View over the river forth from our street. This is the River Forth. I've seen it many many times, and very often it looks rough. This however, is the most windswept I've ever seen her.



This is the scene of devastation that awaited as we turned the corner at the bottom of the brae that leads down to town.



The lady driver of the car had popped into the bakers for some morning rolls. We saw here coming out under the guidance of the firemen. State of shock is a gross understatement. Seconds later getting out of the car and I think we can all imagine the outcome!



Discussions as to the next step (i'm assuming)



After that we headed out to the foreshore. The waves here don't look big, but they are moving over a large area of mudbank and the water is only a few feet deep. I had to hold onto a pier bollard to give me sound footing to take this shot. The wind was so strong that it was impossible to run into it. Only a good steady slow walk worked.



The view west up towards Grangemouth, taken from a place of relative shelter!



The water was being whipped up into mini spouts by the wind.



A fence at the Bo'ness railway didn't survive.



My brothers dog had a great walk and made it all look so effortless!



Anyone else got any photos from yesterdays storm?

Really like that first shot. It's a cracker. Lovely composition.

Stunning clarity in the shots... reminds me to buy a better quality big lens

It's a bit... er... "muddy"

f/20, ISO 100, 18mm, 0.3secs

That sounds cool.

Here's another shot i've just processed from our walk.

Thanks steven... know what you mean. We had to trudge through some god-dam awful underground conditions. I gained a new found respect for the hiking ability of the local deer herd who were gracefully plodding and galloping around the moor and up the side of some really steep hills!

Would have been good to get a bit further away from the fall for the stitch to enable a couple of more shots but just one step back was enough to lose sight of the bottom of the fall. It was a trade off and I agree with you. I have another few shots from further back that I'll post up to let you see. The one thing that's bothering me about the pic is that I had to crop into the water at the bottom.