Despite the communication failings I have some sympathy for his situation. He comes across as a genuine guy trying to do a good job. I would guess that as a very small business he cannot afford to keep a large stock of spare parts 'just in case'. This means he is dependant on the Pentax spares ordering service which seems to be painfully slow. It must be hard to make a living under those circumstances.

I phoned this morning and spoke to him. He said the website is down because he is changing provider. Having replaced the SDM motor in my 16-50 he has now discovered a crack in one of the barrel components so is waiting for the part. I'm not holding my breath but at least he is still in business and hasn't done a runner. I just wish he would occasionally communicate so I know what is happening.

That's interesting. He also has one of my lenses for repair (for almost a year now). I have just tried to phone him but with no reply - not surprising as I think he shuts at 5pm - I will try again tomorrow morning.

I am a fan of Gitzo tripods and have a number of them in various sizes (I prefer the twist locks to the lever locks that Manfrotto use). All were bought second hand - some nearly new, others 20 or 30 years old. All are perfectly functional. They are designed to be easy to dismantle and repair if necessary and you can get a whole range of spare parts and accessories. A number of other makes seem to be Gitzo clones. For example I have a Redged table top tripod that is a very close copy of the Gitzo design. Unfortunately I have no experience of Red Snapper so cannot offer an opinion. If you do decide on Gitzo the only advice I would give is do not be too hung up on carbon fibre - it is better to buy an aluminium tripod in good condition than a carbon fibre one that has been abused. If you can afford carbon fibre in good condition - even better, but the difference in weight and stability is really not that much. Secondly, while Gitzo heads are fine there are others that are better, including some by Manfrotto that cost a bit less.

Yes, same here.

There are a lot of very good prices on Pentax lenses at SRS at the moment. DA 15mm at £419 is the lowest price I can remember and DA 300mm at £789 and other good prices. I think I have finally reached saturation point on lenses though (famous last words).
Edit - just noticed the latest post re Amazon's deal on the DA 15mm for less than £400. Better and better...

My granddaughter performs regularly in school concerts and I find the Sigma 50-150 very good for this. I think I would struggle to freeze the action with anything slower even with highish ISO. In fact for her next concert I am contemplating using the Samyang 85mm f1.4. Less versatile but I may be able to get some shots of the dance routines I would have missed with a slower lens. I suppose the FA50mm f1.4 would be another possibility but I find 50mm is not usually long enough for the hall that they use.

It occurred to me that I generally use centre point focusing so this morning I tried it using multi-point AF but that was o.k. as well.

Just tried it out on the K5 mk1 in very poor light at f1.8. Slightly slower to lock on than on the K5 II but still very acceptable - quicker than some other lenses that I have. Also fine on the K-01.

Met up with Jon yesterday in London to purchase the Sigma 18-35. I'm very happy with both the lens and the transaction. The lens is in mint condition and I can recommend Jon as a great bloke to deal with.