My trusty Tamron 17-50/2.8 has served me will, probably taking over 60,000 images since purchasing 3 or so years ago.

However I am starting to wonder if the image quality is degrading, especially wide open which is where I shoot most of the time. Do these things wear out and can they be economically serviced, is so where. Also I may have dropped it a few times onto hard things like rocks and the floor

What is a good method of testing for de-centring or any other possible optical problems?

If I need a new one which is the best replacement in this zoom range?

Really stunning images, good luck with the exhibition.

I'd come to a meeting.

Super shot Shaun, looking forward to seeing more.

Where are the pictures Shaun?

I did a similar shoot recently, you can see some of the results on my blog post. NSFW

It took me 2.5 hours to clear up the mess afterwards, but I kept telling myself while I was doing it that it would be worth it

If anyone wans to come and see me make a fool of myself I am lecturing at Wrekin Arts camera club next Friday 23rd November at 8pm.
The talk is entitled "Have I Got Nudes For You" and I shall be showing around 100 or so of my prints, I'll leave you to guess the subject matter

EDIT: It's near Telford BTW.

Very well done Shaun

Yes it was a previous generation, but I purchased my K-5 around 12 months after they purchased their 1D, and my kit was still 1/3 of the price.

Coincidentally the other day someone at our camera club showed me some A3 prints, some taken on his D3 and some on his D800. He was actually showing them to other members thinking of buying a D800, and telling them that if they couldn't tell the difference between the prints then they shouldn't spend the money to upgrade.
I examined them closely and I also had one of my prints with me, at A3 size nobody could tell which was which.
As all of my prints for competitions are at A3 or A3+ I think I am better spending my money on models

These are real world tests, rather than pixel-peeping!!

I recently went on a weekend shoot away with another photographer, and I backed her images up to my laptop while we were away so she could re-use memory cards. Before deleting them I decided to compare them with my images as we had many that were very similar.

At 100% zoom in Lightroom there was no difference in IQ whatsoever. My fellow photographer's camera was a 1D MkIII with 24-70/2.8 L series lens, I use a K5 with Tamron 17-50/2.8. Her kit would probably have cost more than 3 times mine.

If I was a professional I would probably consider the other systems, but as it is Pentax gives me most bang for my buck. The autofocus on Pentax systems is often not as sophisticated as some other brands, but then again my models don't usually run that fast

We all take pictures for different reasons. Whether we take cliched pictures or not, whether we enter them into competitions or not, does it matter one hoot as long as we all enjoy what we do?

And sharing our images with like-minded photographers on places like here is a bonus