The texture looks wonderful & the limited dof suits it well, I know what Martin is saying in his last statement but I think it is more that the weathered area on the top bar is leaving the frame whilst still sharp, rather than fading nicely out of the dof as it does on the vertical & diagonal bar.

I think there is a case for a wider shot & a very focal shot on the metal area. There aren't many here that would argue about stopping to photograph this gate, although non photographers watching you would have been a little bemused.
Mikew produces some great abstract & detailed shots from everyday surroundings & I'm sure has been labelled cuckoo by passers by more than once !

Have you tried a mono version Peter ?

Looking back in the thread I think it came from SRS, looking at their site the 50-135mm is £919 already, so whenever they have to re-stock the other models the price will rise.

My local Pentax dealer is showing them in stock for £549.

John, you should have a BBC style disclaimer: "Other brands are available !"

Try a search Feeb, it's been discussed many times over. It's difficult to find a "poor" macro lens. It depends mainly on the application, basically the shorter the focal length, the closer you need to be to the subject. So for insects etc the longer the better. Mikew pointed out that the 100mm Pentax macro is being discontinued at PC world & is available for £349 which is a good price.
If you're not worried about getting up very close & want a lens you can use as a general prime also, then the Pentax 35mm Da Macro is competitively priced.

Tamron 90mm & Sigma 50mm 70mm & 105mm are all well regarded too. Plus then there's older manual focus lenses. Or there's extension tubes, close-up filters etc. if you're on a budget.

Andy, just hold a pencil or similar at the height & position you think the drop will be & focus on that. Then turn to MF, it's trial and error from here on. There's no point focusing on the floating object as the drop will be 10-20mm above the surface when the splashes occur.

Flash will also help freeze the motion, a load of white card around the subject will reflect light to improve the overall lighting.

I've only tried it a couple of times to get the technique in my head. It's hard to get an original shot as it's been done many times over, but it's always nice to do it yourself

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Hi Rob, I know it's over budget by a fair margin but take a look at the Olympus E-P1 that goes on sale tomorrow. It sounds like it could be a good compromise for you between size & creativity. The Panasonic G1 is a similar affair but is somewhat cheaper & slightly bulkier.

Both these cameras are a kind of hybrid between SLR & high-end compact, they have no mirror & use an electronic viewfinder, but they do offer interchangeable lenses.

Of your 2 choices however I'd go with the K-m - the creative options outweigh the comparitive bulk easily. Don't forget you can use old lenses picked up from ebay very cheaply to give you even more control & creativity.

Plus, don't rely on advice from a shop, there are some very good independent dealers who will give good & honest appraisal of your needs, but there are also others who will just push your budget to the max & sell you anything just to shift it from the shelves.

I think for £20 I would have binned it as releasing all those fungal spores around my more expensive kit wouldn't be a good idea really.

The lens model is communicated to the camera. It shows up in exif data too.

The camera now makes the relative adjustment for just that lens (actually I think it'd be any Sigma 30mm f1.4 you attached, but as you have just one, then not to worry !)

The transition from sharp focus to lovely creamy bokeh is the standout benefit of this lens I think. That's not to say you can't use a smaller aperture & get sharp results through the depth of field of course.

Happy experimenting

I do Mike. I picked one up before the Sigma price rise so it was a smidge under £300. Take a look at the Flickr group for this lens, I know bokeh is subjective but I love the bokeh from the 30, especially with background highlights when taken in low light.

It's no pancake lens & I'd like it to focus a little closer but otherwise it's a beauty. I need to pull my finger out & use it a bit
With the price of the Fa 50mm due to rise, I'm hoping I will be able to trade it for a Sigma 50mm f1.4 which has similarly attractive bokeh to me

It's a cracker Mike. I'm particularly looking forward to some low light stuff from Lilly, I think it's the perfect match for her.