Congratulations..great news.

"Bit bashed..." Lol, I love it! No doubt only one very careful owner too.

Pinker than a pink thing.

CharisVega, Congratulations on a fab series of shots, I love them...particularly 1 and 2 which are so vivid and stunning, they have real impact. Like some of the other commentators above, I wouldn't know where to begin...but it makes a refreshing change from our usual daily staple diet of landscapes,flowers,birds, animals etc (no offence meant to anyone!).

Great to see you produce work of this quality on what is considered fairly 'cheap' and basic equipment as well..a sign of genuine talent. Hope you will post more in the future.

Karlo

Very nice shots Charlotte. Well done.

Hope you get a satisfactory outcome from your dealings with Amazon. I've long been of the opinion that manufacturers should be required to give as standard a warranty of several years on a DSLR costing hundreds of pounds. Seems a retrograde step to me that the cost of the digital equivalent of 35mm SLR is not only substantially more expensive but only lasts about half as long...

Nice set of shots. Are they over on a routine pre-planned deployment or have they arrived unexpectedly...? Just wondering whether I need to go looking for a tin hat.

Thanks for your comments chaps. Wasn't expecting any replies so soon after I posted it but four insomniacs proved me wrong!

Time will tell whether or not it was a smart move. I still have my doubts though. In all likelihood the last surviving 'smc' lenses may well outlast their owners.

Amongst the flurry of recent announcements, I can't help but feel that the one that could have the most impact on the future of Pentax is the apparent decision to henceforth replace the iconic 'SMC' on their lenses with the much more generic and 'downmarket' 'HD' which has been so over-used by every marketing Tom , Dick and 'Arry that it has become totally devalued and meaningless.

Even before I bought my first Pentax product (a Kx nearly 2 years ago), I was aware of the 'SMC' trade mark on their optical products. This has come to be internationally recognised as a synonym for top quality optical performance. It brings a certain cachet to any product bearing it and in my opinion has helped the brand Pentax position itself as an 'affordable luxury' brand, classy and well designed, old fashioned quality married to high tech and all at a price that made it
seem to be 'almost too good to be true'.

Unless there is a legal angle to this that means it is impossible for 'SMC' to be retained, I can't for the life of me understand the rationale behind this marketing decision. The 'nano coating' thing all sounds very impressive but other people are doing this too...they could have kept SMC and merely enhanced it in an understated kind of way by adding a '+' or 'super' or an asterix as in 'DA*'.

Anyway, rant over...what does anyone else think?

Great set of shots, particularly like the inscrutable looking boulder in No.6, he looks very pleased with himself. Reminds me of one of those ninja turtle things with the oriental headband.

Listened to the pronunciation using headphones. The first word is fair enough but the second like you said is not one for beginners. The whole thing sounded like 'Skur Doyle'. Impressive looking mountain though.

Charlotte,

sorry for late reply, i've only just got back to my machine to check how this thread was going. Glad to hear that my thoughts were on a similar line of thinking...

With regard to the internal cut-off voltage, you might have to contact Pentax technical support or an authorised repair facility to get that information. I assume that the camera is 'out of warranty' ? The original battery should really be up to the job given the relative youth of the camera unless you really have been hammering it.

If you find you aren't getting anywhere fast then it maybe worth considering getting a set of lithium AAs...any major branded will do as they all come out of just a handful of factories worldwide. At least for relatively small cost this should allow you to determine whether it is the batteries/source of power that is causing the problem and it is a speedy diagnosis...and you haven't completely wasted your money as you will still get the benefit of the batteries.

Once you have done this and drawn the appropriate conclusion the next step or set of options should be much clearer. Hang on though for another day or so, 'bump' this topic from time to time...you may get a more helpful response from someone 'in the trade' on monday or tuesday when 'back at work'.

regards

Karlo