It sounds like operationally it's not that different from the Pentax then...

To be honest I'm completely ruling out the AF540. I just don't use flash enough to spend that much on one right now. That leaves the AF360 or the Sigma. The Sigma is more powerful, and more to the point... it has swivel. And yes I would use swivel. I would mostly be using the flash in the worst way possible - on the camera. Specifically a K100d.

The Sigma of course looks cheaper, and probably isn't as well made or checked. I'd rather buy Pentax... but again the Sigma is more powerful and, yes, has swivel... come on Pentax, give us a twirl

Thought I'd hop on this thread since I'm interested in the same flash unit...

Has anyone actually used the new version of the Sigma EF-500?

And my main question, from anyone whether you've used it or not... if the new Sigma now has P-TTL functionality, and costs the same as the AF-360, is there a good reason to go for the Pentax?
(Apart from that it looks nicer and says Pentax )

Thanks in advance!

I had a similar problem with a 28mm Kiron-made Vivitar. The little semi-circular collar shielding the rear element was the cause, but on that lens it was easily removed, seemingly without affecting the lens' functions. It didn't seem to do any harm, although I don't know how safe it is as it didn't get a lot of use on my k100d and I ended up replacing the collar-thingy for use on my P30.

Thanks for the replies. Gwyn interesting about you flying back during the terrorist scare, I was due to fly into Heathrow on the day it began. Fortunately they weren't then enforcing the hand luggage regulations at Vienna (where I was flying from) or Brussels (where I got routed through), so even though the flights were messed up I was able to carry my photo gear on the planes. At that point I didn't own a dSLR but I still didn't want to lose my bodies and lenses. I have little faith in the staff either (nothing personal if any baggage handlers are reading this!); whether my stuff gets broken or stolen either way I'm not happy. So the new regulations for air travel are definitely part of the reason I'm thinking about insurance.

80 Euros (about £50?) certainly sounds good for something that comprehensive. I don't own a car and am more concerned about theft from person than from vehicle (I've had a couple of attempts to snatch a film camera from my hands in broad daylight, then there's the possibility of more subtle theft from bags.

Thanks for all the advice. No one has first-hand experience of the Pentax User club's insurance scheme though?

I have a special talent. My special talent is, I break things. I drop them, knock them, or I simply look at them and they suddenly refuse to work. And now I own a digital SLR. This can't end well. So I'm thinking about an extended warranty and/or insurance. Just wondering what folks here think is the best way to go? Stupid question but I've never bothered before since this is the first time I've bought photo equipment of this expense from new. In particular I see Pentax User offers a special insurance scheme; anyone gone for that?

Tanks in advance for any advice!

It sounds like the best thing would be a Katz Eye, a magnifier... and an exchange of my K100d for a K10d.

New question: any advice on successful bank robbery?

Did the same to me! Sounds like SRS staff are pocketing the proper caps that Pentax would obviously be generous enough to give us! Damn, there's no 'strokey-chin' smiley

So has anyone used one of these eyepieces (FB or the O-Mthingy)? Make much of a difference? I'm currently putting contact lenses in for extended use with the K100d. I did think about Katz Eye screens, but then I thought about the price (and then I thought about making a toasted cheese sandwich, but that's less relevant). If an eyepiece makes manual focus easier it'd be well worth £30, which otherwise would only get me a small coffee or a bus halfway down the road, grumble grumble grumble.

Are you sure they don't turn yellow to match their lenses?

I agree from Pentax's point of view it would make little sense to make backwards compatibility with old film cameras a priority when they need to get people other than existing Pentax users to buy into their system. I know I'd rather have to have separate lenses for my film and digital SLRs than see Pentax go under because of a quixotic strategy of catering to manual focus film users. But just because I understand and respect the necessity that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Here I disagree. I bought a 50mm f/1.4 FA lens which works very nicely on my K100d. Because it has an aperture ring, it also works very nicely on my old P30. Of course the effective field of view is different but I can still take the one lens and use it on both cameras. The alternative (if the FA lens had no aperture ring) would be if I wanted a 50mm f/1.4 on film and a 50mm f/1.4 on digital then I would have to buy two 50mm f/1.4s - used or not, that's not an insignificant amount of money. I regularly take a film body along with my K100d, whether as a backup or simply because I like shooting film, and there is the answer: one would pay for an AF lens when using an old manual focus film camera, if one is using an old manual focus film camera and a new AF camera, and doesn't want to buy and carry separate lenses for the same focal length.

I just saw a link to this on another forum.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/12/21/D8M56H4O0.html

So yeah, basically Hoya will buy Pentax. I can't find any other mention of this anywhere on the web. So is this old news? And what happened to the Pentax/Samsung relationship? Who what where why when?