Hi Neil, the crickets were quite small, one about 6-8mm and the larger one was 12-14mm. (theyre on a small astilbe flowerhead thats only a few inches high at present)
Realised after with all the settings to be done using old manual lenses that i'd forgotten the iso, it was still at 100 on most of these. would bumping it up to 400 have helped get the exposure up without slowing the shutter as I expect, or am i getting the wrong idea here?

Thanks Peter / Andy, yeah the underexpose was mainly from trying to keep the shutterspeed up due to being handheld, also had the aperture between F5.6 and f8 to try to increase the DoF in the shots. Used the DoF preview and moved the shutterspeed down so it was indicating 'just' under the correct exposure in the viewfinder..but quick enough to deal with hand/wind shake (around 1/60 to 1/90 IIFC) still learning how to use the camera in manual mode tbh.
I doubt the teleconv was helping matters much either
Cheers Tel.

Got out thisafternoon for some more macro experimentation. Used the old screwmount 100 SMC with a 2x teleconvertor and got a few usable pics (and LOTS of unusable ones, handheld manual focusing is bloody difficult!!)

Bug experts what are these then? some sort of grasshopper type thing....










Then a few other shots, the lavender works well i think with the nice dark background, and other flower shot






lots more practice needed methinks

(Full size versions on my flickr)

Here is another, straight from the camera which should give a better idea of the actual colours before i've had a play with the levels

Hi well for starters both of the pentax SMC's have filters fitted (hence the 49mm 1a text). These are removable and most people fit skylight filters like these ( i.e. no real change in light throughput) just to protect the actual lens from being scratched/damaged.
The metal sleeve, is a lens hood, reverse it and it will project out from the front of the lens, which will stop 'flare' whereby bright lights or the sun will shine directly onto the front lens element and cause bright patterns on your pics.

I'll leave the actual qualities of the lenses to the more experienced peeps on here!

Yes I can confirm that park will do the body for the price as listed in the magazine ads (just say you've seen it in the mag for that price, its in this weeks Ap at that price too) , I got a gx-10 double lens kit last month from them (free nxt day delivery too!) and couldnt be happier. In effect you'd be getting a brand new k10d with better designed menu's for £289 delivered. Has to be the best deal out there.

Thanks for the comments guys, i'll have another look at the pics and see what else i can get from them after that encouragement. I'll certainly do a tight crop from one of the macro shots, as the individual chewed grains are all visible and that may make something interesting to show you at least
As for the colours - to the visible eye the nest is a fairly uniform grey-brown, but the flash pics really bring the differing colours out.

Took some pics earlier of an abandoned wasp nest in my parents loft (long since fumigated out)

[IMG]http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd135/Taelstar/SG100985-copy_edited-1.jpg[/IMG]
first a few with the 50-200 at the top end


[IMG]http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd135/Taelstar/SG101006-copy_edited-1.jpg[/IMG]
Then got in and tried with the old 100 smc macro


Had hoped to get something for the 'craftmanship' comp but nothing came out really good enough for that, though it is an interesting subject, and some of the detail shows just how amazing the nest construction is, the pics just dont jump at me as good pics - no life.

Biggest prob was the restricted access and having to use an old flashgun on 'auto'ish , i.e. non p-ttl. Just had a leadlight positioned above, mostly just so i could see what i was up to. Only changes made to the 2 pics above is to drag the levels in to what was there in the graph in elements (does bring out the amazing range of colours in the 'stripes' though )

Now this nest isnt going anywhere so the next time i'm over there with my camera what approach should i take? any suggestions gratefully accepted!
(The grainy look to the pics is actually the fact that the nest is made of millions of grains, not the image!)

I Have one of the backpacks (the small, though there is little discernable difference between this and the medium)
No worries with the undoing/doing up on that at least, and seems perfect so far for my needs, gx-10 and 2 extra lenses, cokin filter holder and a rocket blower in the main comparment, and lots of extra pockets for auxiliaries.

Luckily I live in Norwich so went into W.E. and actually handled them to check. The shoulder versions i looked at were also ok, but a bit limited when it came to internal partitioning/arrangement (same issues as the Domke bags I originally looked at)

Can post some pics of it with kit in later if anyone wants to see

Dont know if the Uk side will follow, but apparently yesterday in the states on QVC their 'Special value of the day' was a K20D with kit lens for $699. Also had 50-300 at $299 too. theres some speculation its a sell-off by pentax US to clear stocks before the K7 gets to shops.

Wonder if it will appear over this side of the pond. Its a shame he's moved on now cos a couple of years ago one of my old college buddies worked there as a production manager, coulda rung him for a heads up.