The kit I'm looking for (K5 with the 18-135 lens) still doesn't seem to be edging any lower than £1449. Still out of reach.

Apple or no - my IPod was the best Christmas present I ever got - years old now and still useful and hasn't been changed that much in the later editions (other than capacity).

Although admittedly offers like this

http://www.srsmicrosystems.co.uk/5577/Pentax-K-5-Digital-SLR-Camera---18-55mm---...

make me think that waiting a few months for the bloom to come off the rose might well see some good deals in the spring.

I could really do some good things with this camera. Anyone feel like just giving me one?

Good for you. I've just had my old Pentax SP1000 cleaned, the shutter checked and the light-sealant thingies replaced and I'm signing up for a B+W photo course in Edinburgh which will include some darkroom stuff. It'll be mostly re-learning tho. I used to know how to do all that stuff in my teens.

I'm heading off to Ghana on the weekend for two weeks. I'm bringing the digital camera but also the old Pentax, three rolls of Black and White film and a roll of Kodachrome (just to get the last chance to use it before they stop processing it.)

New member from Penicuik here

I remember one of my chums had a camera with one of those. We considered it an innovation for the partially sighted and mocked him for it. What does replace (on a spotmatic, for example) to get a split screen?

Rob

I've been a bit surprised at how difficult it is to focus. I guess it's one of those things you take for granted and then find out that it's easier to be 'off' than you thought and the shots come out looking rather dire. I'd have said that the majority of what I shot today was 'off'.

There's a technique, I'm sure.

R

Well I spent a part of a free afternoon today in Edinburgh trying out my K200D with a 55mm f2 lens from the old days. The results were not stellar. I thought I'd figured it out. I needed to dial in some more light since the first pictures I shot in the back garden yesterday were really dark. I got a bit more light. I didn't figure out the whole depth of field thing at all and will need to work a bit more on that.

[tried to post a couple of images - need to read up on how to do that here]

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LWstRrS8Z5w/SeeJ13BVUvI/AAAAAAAACSI/wyqV3YVoC_4/s1600-...+Bobby.jpg

and

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_LWstRrS8Z5w/SeeJ_Hc3ljI/AAAAAAAACSQ/QKrh1_KKNDQ/s1600-...

Big day today. I ordered a couple of Pentax mounting rings from SRS Microsystems down in England. They arrived today and I used my Takumar 2/55 and my 3.5/28 for the first time in twenty years.

Initial reactions are mixed. First of all it's a crap day up here in Scotland - we're socked in with fog and so it's a dark day.

I didn't know what the camera would do (k100d). I half expected it to come up with a little note on the screen saying 'What the hell is this, bozo!" but no. It went to 'aperature priority' even though the little dial was set to 'auto pict' and it took a shot.

Comparing the same shot with the Takumar and with the 18-55 Pentax zoom at the same focal length I notice that the modern lens is trying to make it look like a better day and the old lens seems satisfied to shoot a crap day.

The pictures are 'different' though in ways that I can't quite get my head around. I'd have said that the pictures from the old lens look much what I remember kodachrome looking like back in the day - including the red handles on the wheelbarrow glowing rather spookily. There appears to be a lot more colour generally in the pictures taken with the old lens but perhaps a bit more 'crispness' in the new lens.

You'd almost want to use stereo language about digital and analog but that might be a stretch.

What I'll do is wait til the weather changes and fire off a couple of identical shots at the same focal length from a tripod and post them here to get your opinion and comments.

thanks

Rob

Like any forum, it takes a while to discover which discussions would be the most useful for me. I've got some good kit which I'm still learning (or relearning) how to use. I'm avoidiing the temptation to invest in new lenses - will find a way of using old lenses on a new body which, I suspect, will pay dividends in the long run by having to be a wee bit more prepared before I trip the shutter.

I don't know why some pictures (quite a few, really) don't end up looking the way I want them to in terms of contrast or colour. Framing is not that difficult for me - I remember some of that from the old days. I miss not having a darkroom (and have no space in the rectory for one).