Well that's not really a case of third parties - they are identical, and both are reputable, 'original' manufacturers. There are probably very few (maybe no) other cases where you can swap between manufacturers like that.

I can see why people are wary of unbranded stuff, but I personally can't justify £50 on a battery, so I will most likely get a cheapie one if I need it, and accept it may not last as long (both life expectancy and no. of shots per charge)

The reviews of the extreme 2gb cards I've seen are all complimentary, did the Pentax guy know it was Sandisk, and not just some generic brand with "XTREME performance (honest)" in the name?

If the camera says it supports SDHC, any cards brought out should comply with the standard and be compatible, although I guess it's possible a firmware update may be needed if they didn't expect such large cards to be used.

Ordered a shiny new GX-10 w/ twin lens kit on Saturday evening, the order status page said 'dispatching soon' which was great. My bank balance was low enough after buying it I went for super saver delivery, but then to my horror they estimate delivery for the 8th at the earliest - which is the day I go on holiday *doh*.

They still haven't dispatched it either, if I don't have it in time I'm gonna spend the whole week being annoyed I can't get photos grr. Anyone here got experience of the free delivery?

looking at this on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120144579683&fromMa...

I wanted to get a cheap macro lens to play with for my GX-10 - but I want to make sure I get a proper macro one, that can get 1:1 images. Is that lens alright? Seems cheap at the moment, and the 100mm seems to be a recommended length.

Sorry for the n00b question

Unlikely, they're more of a 'film' than actual glue, kinda like clingfilm. A light scrub with some alcohol and a tissue would remove anything if it did stay on there.

I didn't have any SLR stuff - so for me I got the Samsung GX-10 off Amazon with the twin lens kit for £599 - and the cashback means you get a lot of camera for £500

I don't know if home multimeters will be good enough to measure voltages across the flash, they build up to a high level then discharge almost instantly, so the meter probably won't be able to recognise it, or will at least not give an accurate reading.

It's hardly a high drain application so the contacts aren't going to make a difference really (unless the cheaper batteries use some REALLY naff material).

I agree it is a bit of a joke to charge that much, the battery is nothing special, and in terms of performance is exactly the same as most generic batteries, it's just the build quality and factory testing that differ, so you'd be unlikely to ever get a dud Pentax one.