[Marcus Rowland]

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A microscope for one of my grand-nephews for Christmas, like this one

Microscope Biology Experiment Kit Thames Kosmos TK2 Scope Science Age 10+ 857853001704 | eBay

Got it for £10 in a charity shop and it appears to be unused so I am VERY pleased!

Also a USB floppy disk drive for £2 from a car boot sale, a giant magnifying glass on a stand for £3 in Portobello Road, and an Olympus 4/3 (not micro 4/3) 40-150 ED for £20 from a CEX shop. All working well.

[Gorgarath]

Almost forgot I had picked up one of the new Pentax battery chargers with the 4 pins in an auction as it was coming slowly from overseas. Only charger I had was a janky one that came with the camera and only had the car adapter. None of my various AC adapters actually fit. I was able to charge the battery that came with the K-7 though it killed my car battery.

After getting the Wasabi quick charge supply with the pair of extra batteries, I figured I should probably get a Pentax brand trickle charger to prolong their life. And of I was doing that, I should probably get the new model just on case I end up picking up any of the new batteries that don't fit the old model.

I was surprised how hard it was to find one where I could verify it was the 4 pin model instead of the 3 pin.

[Merv-O]

Almost forgot I had picked up one of the new Pentax battery chargers with the 4 pins in an auction as it was coming slowly from overseas. Only charger I had was a janky one that came with the camera and only had the car adapter. None of my various AC adapters actually fit. I was able to charge the battery that came with the K-7 though it killed my car battery.

After getting the Wasabi quick charge supply with the pair of extra batteries, I figured I should probably get a Pentax brand trickle charger to prolong their life. And of I was doing that, I should probably get the new model just on case I end up picking up any of the new batteries that don't fit the old model.

I was surprised how hard it was to find one where I could verify it was the 4 pin model instead of the 3 pin.

Girgarath: go to an authorized site like Adorama or B & H and you will receive OEM parts/chargers.

[Gorgarath]

Girgarath: go to an authorized site like Adorama or B & H and you will receive OEM parts/chargers.

I could, or I could spend less by buying it used from someone else that is getting rid of theirs. Recycling at its finest.

[D1N0]

Tamron adaptall-2 135mm 1:2.5 (03b) (I am using the Canon FD mount adaptall adapter as a lens cap, the lens came without a mount). One Tamron to go from my adaptall spree of late.

[Merv-O]

I could, or I could spend less by buying it used from someone else that is getting rid of theirs. Recycling at its finest.

Lol...true. I have purchased excellent condition Pentax equipment on eBay with great success.

[Gorgarath]

Lol...true. I have purchased excellent condition Pentax equipment on eBay with great success.

Always a risk on eBay that something happens or it doesn't work as expected or it's a knockoff or whatnot, but can get some excellent deals. My K-7 with 35-80 f4-5.6 kit lens, memory card, D-Li90, and janky charger I was rather skeptical about and a little worried when it was sitting right at my max bid of $131 as body only K10Ds also sell at that price as well.

Being my first DSLR, I got very nervous, but it's been great so far for the little I've been able to shoot.

[Merv-O]

Always a risk on eBay that something happens or it doesn't work as expected or it's a knockoff or whatnot, but can get some excellent deals. My K-7 with 35-80 f4-5.6 kit lens, memory card, D-Li90, and janky charger I was rather skeptical about and a little worried when it was sitting right at my max bid of $131 as body only K10Ds also sell at that price as well.

Being my first DSLR, I got very nervous, but it's been great so far for the little I've been able to shoot.

I bought my K-1 on line from Roberts as Philadelphia (Center City) has no Pentax dealer, so I sometimes purchase stuff online only from American dealers with 100% ratings and I've had no issues. Anyway, have fun shooting.

[Gorgarath]

I bought my K-1 on line from Roberts as Philadelphia (Center City) has no Pentax dealer, so I sometimes purchase stuff online only from American dealers with 100% ratings and I've had no issues. Anyway, have fun shooting.

I tried getting a few lenses from Roberts' eBay auctions. Kind of tempted to stop by when visiting the inlaws over Xmas, but probably won't. I am looking forward to a real cheese steak though.

[Chris_K]

Finally arrived - my fastest lens so far:

First shots wide open were a bit disappointing but I soon realized that it has front focusing issue. After in-body correction it is amazing

[steamloco76]

I decided to have a bit of fun by disassembling the damaged-in-transit, fungus filed Pentax SMC-A 70-210 f/4 zoom I received form a stupid eBay seller. I detailed my experience earlier in this thread.

One thing for sure-I would NOT attempt to repair or clean one of these zooms. The zoom mechanism was jammed. Why? Three of the plastic cam folders were broken and had dislodged. I couldn't get the last one out and free the zoom slider to permit final removal of the inner barrel until almost the entire lens lay in pieces. The lens was definitely not worth repairing, especially since clean copies go for $40-$60 or less every day.

[travelswsage]

I just picked up a Pentax 67 55mm lens from Japan -- $200 shipped. It arrived in mint condition -- now to get some decent weather here to test it.

[grhazelton]

An Accura fisheye in M 42 mount is on its way to me, as is a M 42 to K adapter. While I can use the Accura on my Spotmatic F, I think it would be even nicer on my LX. Or I could try it on my K 5. Now, as soon as the adapter arrives I'll find the one I bought long ago. It is somewhere in the tidal pool of my photo gear, where things appear and then disappear, as if synced with the tide.

[Marcus Rowland]

Another day, another two car boot sales with mixed results

A Canon Eos 600 body for £4 - working well, I needed it as a test bed for lenses that won't work on digital bodies since I seem to have accidentally sold the last good 35mm body I had.

A Chinon CS with Chinon 135/2.8 for £8 - Lens is good but the screen looks like someone somehow scraped it badly - not sure how. Wont be able to test it for a few days, it needs a 625 battery and I've run out.

And an OM10 body for £10 that seemed OK but didn't have batteries, and isn't working now I've put them in. The seller said he'd take it back if it didn't work, but I only see him once in a blue moon - I'll take it along next week, but if he isn't there I'll have to chalk it up as a loss.

[BigMackCam]

Cross-posted from "What book on your table now"...

I have a love and fascination of islands and their communities, and watched a great documentary (with rather poor sound quality, unfortunately) on YouTube a week or so back, about Pitcairn Island. After further research, I found that the documentary was just one episode of a 2016 TV series that was accompanied by a book - "Britain's Treasure Islands" by Stewart McPherson. Looking online, the book was rather expensive, but I found a new copy for under GBP £20 including shipping from a new Amazon Marketplace seller with little feedback. My small risk in buying from them paid off, as it arrived a couple of days ago in perfect condition, still sealed. It's a *big*, hard-back "coffee table" book - 670 pages with, I'm led to believe, many beautiful photos and fold-out maps. Only 17 people have reviewed it on Amazon, but all were glowing about it and rated it five stars. I haven't taken it out of the wrapping yet, but I'm going to enjoy reading it (or starting to read it) over the Christmas period...