The September (!) issue dropped through the letterbox this morning and, to my surprise and delight, has one of my photos in the Insects and Critters article. First time I have bothered submitting anything to a magazine. I must say though that the recent tranche of insect photos in this forum would blow away the competition.

Re. the question on HSS flash, am I right in thinking that the actual duration of a single electronic flash is much faster than the synch speed? There are factors which govern the speed and intensity of the light burst but essentially it would freeze some movement no matter what speed setting is used (as long as it is at synch speed or slower). Derek’s hover fly is a good example, flash froze the movement but not fast enough for the wings though. Maybe dialling down the flash output would speed it up more, I frequently use 1/4 output on a ring flash but that might not be enough.

I don’t know, best to ask SRB.

Take a look at SRB Photographic, they have loads of adaptors including Canon to Pentax fit. Best to give them a call to check compatibility with the particular lens. However I don’t believe any electronic controls activate so everything is manual.

Curiously a google search brings up many more adaptors for Pentax lenses on Canon bodies - a lesson there I think.

Just as long as you didn’t breathe it in!

This 135mm fills a much needed gap in the Pentax FF line up, I just briefly looked at a review (Gary Wolstenholme) which reckoned it is best between f5.6 and f8 when it is "phenomenally sharp"! Looks promising.

Hi pschlute, no. 3 was taken with the 15-30mm at 15mm, 1 & 3 with the 100mm macro and 2 and 5 with the 24-70mm. Derek has kindly offered advice on no. 3 so I have played a bit more in Lightroom and I think it is an improvement.

I was hoping for Gina Lollobrigida!

Hello Pete, do you still have the older cameras? I put a film in my SF7 for the first time this century and took a couple at Cotswold Lavender so it will be interesting to see how they come out when I get around to finishing the film.

Thanks very much everyone; I was hoping for the iconic image but no lone tree on the horizon and close up some of the bushes were a bit worse for wear. Not helped by a family of small kids throwing large rocks into the bushes only to be feebly told they would get no sweets if they carried on!