It seems to me that the gear side of photography dominates photography as whole, most of the magazines I have picked up have a significant proportion dedicated to gear. I often read amateur photographer and a lot of the letters in there relate in some part to the gear .and the cover is almost always a camera. A lot of forums seem to be the same to. (I am not immune to indulging in these conversations if I feel I have something useful to say.) I have often wondered why this is so?

I understand that choices in equipment can affect the images; I also understand that equipment is expensive and people want to research and discuss best options but the discussion goes way beyond that, people even get tribal depending on what brand of equipment they use.

Even lomography is gear related, in some sense it seems to me to be counter reaction to a mainstream interest in artefact free photos they code equipment that will have these.
Having said all this I find it hard to discuss photography, I’m very reluctant to comment on peoples photos but enjoy seeing them, have also learnt a lot from reading other peoples comments on other peoples photos

This makes me think of Some of the gear discussions I have seen on various forums (forgive me it's a sony add)

link

From what i have seen there is very little diffrence between the two, you can compare them here link

Have sent you a Private Message

Some pics of the lens if you are interested.










And a picture taken with this lens

Strangely enough I do, have been meaning to post if for sale since purchasing a 2nd hand copy of the Penatx fisheye. Will post some pics if interested

I dont use Lightroom but i do have elements so maybee able to help on a few points

The advantage of RAW files is that they have more information, this gives more flexability when editing without loosing the quality of the image and so getting a better quality image in the end. At the end of editing the file you will always export the file into a different format such as jpeg, the original DNG file which will be retained with all the informationa intact. you will need the picture to be in a format like jpeg or tiff to print or share on sites like this.

I am not sure if lightroom is the same as elements in this respect.

Are the RAW files not recognised by the organiser or in the editor, In Elements the RAW files are not automatically displayed in the organiser (although i think it is possible to change settings so they are), i need to open and edit the file and save as jpeg etc so they are visable in the organiser

Hope this helps

It is the long exposure time that blurs the water, adding the ND filter reduces the amount of light getting to the film/sensor and allows you to increase the exposure time. You may aslo need to opt for a narrow apperture setting to avoid over exposure.

At the sort of exposure lenghts to achieve this it is likley that you require a triod to get a sharp shot.

In the picture below i was able to get the affect by reducing the apperture without an ND filter (did not have one) as there was not much light.

It sounds like there is something wrong, i assume with the lens if it is not happening with your other lens.

I have the 50 f1.8 and have been very impressed with it, have not had any experience with fringing purple or green! with this lens. I have also found the lens to be very sharp.

I hope you get some joy from pentax, as David says push for a replacemnt.

here is a link to some samples from my lens

http://www.flickr.com/photos/punkrockemo/sets/72157630976312434/

Edit: have just seen you link. that is not right at all!

I dont know enough about flashes but I think there is a good chance this flash will fry your camera, hopefully some one more knowledgeable will give you a good responce!