Thanks Mike.

David, do you think the 17-70 is as good as the 16-45 given that it covers a longer zoom range. I'm open to persuasion as I ordered from Amazon and can still cancel for a day or so.
I saw the thread about prices going up and thought I better purchase soon, as I'm going to need a lens soon and my Tamron may not be able to be repaired.

I also have the 50-135 which is excellent, so would use that for above 50mm.

After finding that my images were OK but not as sharp as they used to be I sent my K-5 and Tamron 17-50/2.8 off to Johnsons to try to find out why. They came back and said the body was perfect (the K-5 body and not my own unfortunately!) and the Tamron was likely faulty but they did not repair Tamron lenses.

Sooooo, I went through all the threads on here looking for standard zoom replacements, the Pentax 16-50/16-45, new Tamron 17-50, Sigma 17-70, various 28-70 or 28-70., and got thoroughly confused.

I nearly went for the Pentax 16-50, but after reading the photozone,de reviews and also this very useful article on here I thought 16-45 for £299 or 16-50 for £695, and went for the 16-45 giving me £400 to go towards a prime. I may also get the Tamron repaired if it can be economically.

According to my Lightroom metadata I use the whole zoom range of the 17-50 quite liberally, so which prime should I start putting my money towards (Pentax or non-Pentax)? (I already have the FA 50/1.4)

Thanks John, I will go and take a look.
My first shoot isn't until the end of April, so I should manage with the K7 until then.

I've not been too happy with the sharpness of some of my images recently at wide open (f2., and I wasn't sure whether it was the lens or the camera body. I've done the fine AF adjustment for the lens, and I have now also done some tests with my spare body which is a K7.
It looks like it is the K5 body, and I hope to confirm this tomorrow when I am going to see a couple of PU users to do a few more tests with their lenses/bodies.

If it is the body where is the best place to get it checked over?
I presume if I send it to Pentax they outsource it, so I would assume someone on here know the best place to send it.

I'm not, have never made a penny from my photography, and if I tried to I think it would kill my creativity.

a.) I Would be interested
b.) Anytime from 9am onwards
c.) Don't know the area
d.) Places I can use for future shoots with a model - well at least I am honest

Yup, but I generally do a quick test afterwards, but I suppose I need a more accurate test!

Thanks Gary, that was one of the options I was considering.
Anyone in Birmingham who has a 16-50 I could try on my camera for a few test shots?

Good idea John, but I need something to benchmark it against. I should have done the same when I had it new.

Is there anybody in the West Midlands area with the same lens, so I could take test shots with both lenses?