A bit difficult without knowing more about the competition...what is it they are looking for?

Just a point...the church steeple in No.6 looks like it is leaning to the right. It s a nice shot otherwise. I like Nos 3 and 7 as well.

karlo

Any reason why you're not considering the Kx? I've got one and can highly recommend it. There are always a handful for sale..seem to be going for about £150-£180 depending on mileage and condition.

All I would recommend is ensuring that you have a charger with individual charging circuits rather than a machine that charges a pair of batteries at a time on the same circuit.

You wouldn't believe how useful it is to be able to charge 1-4 batteries rather than just 2 or 4, and even more importantly is that it ensures that each battery is fully charged. When you charge 2 at a time on one circuit, one battery will usually 'top out' before the other and result in the other battery not being fully charged.

I've not replaced the Kx yet but one of the main reasons i want to replace it is so that I can take images all year round and not just for half the year, although granted i'd be limited initially to the 18-55 DA WR if the weather was really wet.

As other people have said

a) its not just the rain protection you benefit from,

and

b) The extra 'peace of mind' WR gives is a tangible benefit

Can't answer the Poll as none of the options is close enough. I can say however that if Pentax didn't offer a WR DSLR at about the £500 mark then I would look elsewhere or not purchase at all.

Wow...that's quite a significant development. It will be very useful for those of us 'Up North' to have somewhere to handle the kit and the fact that they are offering the 2 yr warranty means they will definitely take sales volume from the bigger Pentax online stores.

If I was someone like SRS though who have been staunch Pentax stalwarts through some pretty lean times I'd feel like I had been 'stabbed in the back' by Ricoh marketing dept.

I can only assume that things must be pretty cut-throat out there at the moment for Ricoh to take this step. Easter is very late this year and I notice many of the 'Christmas' offers and price promotions are still on...it is going to be a very tough quarter I suspect and by the end of this year one of the smaller (by market share) camera names will probably have pulled out of the market...probably a case of who out of Sony, Panasonic, Olympus, Fuji (I don't think Ricoh) blinks first.

Interestingly I notice that JL have even managed to get Canon to provide a 2 yr warranty at normal selling price..who'd have thought they'd ever see that day?

I hope that SRS do continue to do well. When i'm next buying some gear I might use JL to try out but will aim to buy from SRS.

Yeah I noticed that as well, meant to mention it on here but I see you've beaten me to it!

You never got to see the camera...I was looking but as Andrew says i'm assuming it was something with a WR in the feature list.

karlo

For general sky viewing and looking at the moon I can recommend the Skywatcher 150mm
Dobsonian mounted scope. Its very large and bulky which does sometimes put you off wanting to cart it outside in the cold but it offers a lot of scope for the money. They are about £180-£200 new but about 2/3rds of that price for a used one.

The scope itself is 150mm wide which lets lots of light in and you get a couple of eyepieces to start you off. The lower magnification one is 48x which is brilliant for moon viewing.

The Dobsonian mount is very unusual but effective. Basically it is a circular turntable about 15 or 16" across which the scope rests on in a near vertical position but which allows you to alter the angle of the scope. So you rotate the scope until its facing in the right direction which is easy to do then you raise or lower the angle until you are locked on. Once locked on you can lightly tighten the scope in place. With a bit of practice you can follow distant planets like Jupiter or Saturn for 15-20 seconds without too much trouble.

I haven't fitted a camera to mine yet but do intend trying it in the near future. It looks as though it should be good for taking photos of the moon but not the planets. Scope is ideal height for both children and adults to use. If anything its easier on the kids as adults have to bend over a bit more.

Hope this helps.

karlo

Seems very expensive for about 1" of product...must have cost all of about £40-£50 to manufacture.

All the best Gary...thanks for the countless really good shots you have posted over the years. Hope the change gives you more of what you want.

cheers

karlo

I think it is quite innovative and very clever...however I can see it appealing to the female market and perhaps those Latin men who are happy to carry 'manbags' around
more than the Anglo Saxon male market...if you know what I mean?

The other vital ingredient of course will be the cost...