That’s excellent - he looks a bit menacing!

Here are a few more:












I am getting to like this lens, even with highish ISOs the noise seems to be less intrusive although I cannot think why that should be. The colour needs very little adjustment; it was a very windy day so the blue around tree twigs is caused by movement.

And here is one cropped:


and a bit more:

Here are a few grabbed this morning. Some light post-processing but sharpness and colour look good straight out of the camera.












All handheld, the lightness of the lens helps keep it steady at slow speeds.

It’s here, thanks SRS, and will give it an airing this weekend. First impression is it’s very compact and light, would probably feel better balanced on the K50 if I ever get that back from daughter. Holding the camera the focus ring rests naturally in my left hand which is handy for manual focus but have to be careful on auto. It has an aperture ring so can be used on my film SLR as well. Handily at 49mm it takes the same filters as the 100mm macro, and for square filters I have a set of Cokin 67mm NDs which work ok on it without vignetting.

A few years ago we had mice in the loft and irritatingly I could hear them scuttling around in the floor above the lounge. As the wall cavities had been filled I guessed the only ways they got there was via a shrub brushing a bay roof, or under the garage door. The door was changed, the shrub trimmed and for good measure a gizmo from t’internet which plugs into a socket and (allegedly) causes a high pitched noise from the wiring which mice don’t like. Fingers well crossed it has been ok since and no harm done to our furry friends. Probably like Thurber’s fellow who threw balls of paper at the windows every night to keep elephants at bay - it appeared to work so why stop?

SRS still awaiting stock which is frustrating, especially as the Pentax U.K. store is showing they have stock! I don’t have the older version so won’t be able to compare, but looking forward to playing with it now.

You lot are a bad influence, I have finally been persuaded to hit that button! Daronl & Grodgeman, I have found that I use a new lens in more ways than I might have anticipated, the Samyang 24mm TS is a case in point where I bought it for the shift but love the tilt function in getting a subject sharp front to back without a tiny aperture or focus stacking. And finally tipped by a couple of videos I watched about David Yarrow's extraordinary wildlife shots, he forgoes the usual telephoto for dangerous wild animals but works out how to get close, and I mean really close; only that way he reckons can you get absolutely pin sharp images and you have to see his photos to get what he means: https://www.mastersof.photography/david-yarrow/ I am not getting within a foot or so of a polar bear nor putting my camera on the ground and triggering remotely only for it to get eaten or trampled, but the point can be applied to other fields as well.

When I switched to FF I got rid of a couple of APS-C lenses and now regret losing the cheapo 50mm f1.8 as it delivered some cracking shots. Going through some old images I came across some taken with the 10-17mm fisheye which has since languished in the cupboard, and I was so impressed by how good that lens is I aim to use it again even if it has to be cropped. But both these are so lightweight compared to the new DFA lenses, it has made me think twice about the 50mm f1.4 and the coming 85mm; apart from benefits of sharpness and shallow depth of field the big draw with primes is their relative lightness, or it was until these two came along. Lets hope some more older primes get the same update as this 35mm f2.0.

Ps with The Photography Show coming in a couple of weeks I have now vowed to leave my credit card at home! Let's hope I don't weaken on the day.

Ex son-in-law can testify to that. Poor sod.

Spent the evening musing on a little known version of martial arts practised by the Welsh, handed down to Gill from her formidable granny. It’s main feature is deftness with a cast iron skillet with whom Gran has been known to render an opponent senseless with one blow. Heaven help any poor intruder who rashly lets her near the pan drawer!