Most of my flower photos are taken in the wild. One puff of breeze at the wrong time and bang goes sharpness! I did see a gadget advertised somewhere which clamped onto your tripod and then had a claw like grip to hold the stem of the flower still. Seemed like cheating to me

Just to reiterate what John said, watch your backgrounds especially when you are indoors and can do something about them.

Lastly, with most flower / macro shots there is a compromise to be had between sharpness of the object and a nice bokeh in the background. But hey... we're shooting digital. I will sometimes take a sequence of photos stopping down one stop at a time so I can pick the best compromise on screen. Not a good technique for bugs though, they are too impatient!

Cheers, Kris.

Those are the sorts of temperatures I have to deal with in the summer on my excavation. Yuck Predicted to be 3C here.

Cheers, Kris.

I never knew the old one and am quite happy with the new one. It has its quirks but no worse than most and much better than many (e.g. the Digital Photography one). In fact, I have given up posting to any other photographic forum. The only thing which annoys me is the randomness of the read/unread markers. I sometimes miss threads altogether.

For me, what makes this forum the place to be (in a virtual sense) are the people. Although one or two minor grumpy threads have appeared (and I added to one the other day... sorry ) it is an amazingly friendly forum with knowledgeable, helpful posters. I look forward to George's pithy comments, hefty's latest DIY project, Clarky's bargains, John's encyclopaedic knowledge of all things Pentax, Matt's technical wizardry amongst many others. My glass is much more than half full.

And it is 2am here and time for me to sleep.

Cheers, Kris.

Extremely well. Twice the price of the most expensive sale of the 200mm in my database. It normally goes for about 35 quid. The SMC Tak 135s normally go for 35 quid too, but if yours was mint and boxed the extra 15 is probably about right.

I am hoping to take my SMC Tak 135 and the ES out on Saturday, weather willing. I have also got my ME-F back from Harrow Technical and half a roll of BW in the LX so Saturday may well be a "retro" day for me.

Cheers, Kris.

And it is fun

B & W or colour?

Colour: Fuji Velvia slide film.

BW lots of choices. Delta 100 is what I use for site work.

There are lots of film bargains on ebay for slightly out of date film which usually works fine. Just don't photograph someone's wedding with it.

Cheers, Kris.

MX. Manual only, DOF preview, will work (except the light meter) without batteries, interchangeable focus screens, aperture visible in the viewfinder via a little window.

ME Super. Aperture priority automatic and manual, no DOF preview, focus screens not interchangeable, only fires at 125 sec without batteries.

Both: beautifully built, solid little cameras.

I really like both.

Price. ME Supers on ebay often come with lots of extras you didn't want (dire 3rd party lenses, old flash guns etc.) but average at about £50. MXs are popular and average at £80. Black versions of both are available but cost on average £20 more.

HTH, Kris.

I went for the 12-24mm too. It has got more use already than the 500mm would have done although in the "my toy is bigger then your toy" stakes it would be a winner.

My index finger still gropes for those buttons on autopilot. I liked them too as I found it easier to change speed without taking my eye away from the viewfinder.

I found it easier than a DOF preview. At f/22 the viewfinder is almost pitch black! The trick was to focus on the thing nearest to you that needed to be sharp, then look at the distance scale and adjust it to the aperture setting.

I wouldn't quite go that far but it is certainly one of the best Pentax offerings. The only problem is that you find yourself hunting for the extras. Anyone got a FA-1W viewfinder for sale?

I guessed you'd add that. Go get the thing fixed! Every now and again someone on ebay advertises fixing MZ series cameras.

Less sticky, more dead...


Best wishes, Kris.

The light sealing black foam on older cameras turns into a lovely sticky black goo. This is (apparently) an easy home fix using a kit. See this thread.

Cheers, Kris.