I like this... a lot !

Nice set...I can smell the sea air

Av mode is the one I use most of the time when hand holding a camera. Especially for scenes like this where DOF is your main priority and the light is bright enough to not worry about too slow a shutter speed.

I tend not to dial in a general underexposure compensation, but then I do rely on reviewing the histogram for each shot and adjust accordingly. Where there is a high contrast scene I also recommend bracketing your exposures and merging them in software, or simply use the HDR feature in the K1 directly.

i don't think anyone would be foolish enough to take on the risk

This really has not been my year. First I have surgery on both eyes (well one surgery and one just laser) for torn retinas. Then a week and a half ago I banged my little toe and broke it. I am told it can take up to six weeks to recover.

Still, there are plenty in the world with far more serious problems....mustn't grumble.

Nice spot John. The SMC 50mm 1.2 is a great bit of kit, and as you say this is sensibly priced.

The pictures demonstrate perfectly what f1.2 is.... a huge expanse of glass.

I still have mine. Works as well today as when I bought it over 40 years ago.

Expensive...maybe. Value for money ...definitely.

Not sure

Good news is distance vision has returned almost to normal in the affected eye. Close up is more challenging as the gas bubble keeps getting in the way ! It is like looking through a spirit-level.

I have to keep my head tilted to the left all the time to keep the bubble in the correct position, which is awkward but a small price to pay. Too early to say how successful the operation has been, but I am feeling a lot more hopeful than I was.

The doctors and all the staff at St Thomas's Hospital are heroes to me.

I appreciate all the kind wishes very much.

I shall have a go at photographing "blind" as it were, I might even learn something

Following a detached vitreous in my left eye in February, I thought all was well. Until Easter Monday when I noticed a black disc in my peripheral vision. A trip to see the emergency Ophthalmologist at my local hospital confirmed I had two tears in the retina. Tuesday morning I was booked in to see the VR team at one of the major London hospitals and on Wednesday i had my operation.... Pneumatic Retinopexy. The tears are frozen to form a scar, and a gas bubble injected to maintain pressure on the site until it hopefully heals.

So no photography for me for a few weeks.