That's a name from the past. I used to use Sky for my Ektachrome and Cibachrome prints - brilliant, and Joe's basement in Wardour Street for my black and white, also sadly gone. I too am looking for somewhere decent in London. I live near Kingston.

I have just bought a Nikonscan 5000 ED film scanner and have started scanning my old trannies and negs. The smooth grain of film is so much nicer than digital so I am planning to get my LX and K2 serviced at Asahi or Harrow and start shooting film again. Keep me posted with what you find.

thanks

I suspect your memory is not that accurate. I bought my LX in 1981/1982 (can't recall the exact month and was living in Bahrain at the time. I am sure it was about £500-ish (or maybe about 250-300 dinars) and I got mine from Hong Kong with 50mm 1.4, viewfinder and leather case for about 300 dinars equivalent. I think there were about £2:1 Dinar approx back then

I am not one of them inspite of my sometimes outspoken views about some of their stupid mistakes. I Tell it like it is when feel they make blunders but I don't think this is one of them.

For those people a month or two back who were bemoaning the phasing out of the KM as they saw this as some sort or harbinger of death for Pentax, this should reassure them that this is a wise move to replace it with the KX.

If you read my comments on that thread I was actually applauding Pentax for replacing the 'revered' KM model so quickly since I felt at the time they were recognising they had to quickly replace models which were out fo step with the market. I was right in hindsight and I think they are. This new model has Live view and video and higher FPS - three 'hot' features of the newest DSLRs - which the KM was lacking in.

Even though they are features I personally have very little use for I see why they are needed to compete in this market.

We can't live in a bubble. The market changes and Pentax needs to respond quickly to what the market wants. I changed to the D300 for digital because I felt it had the edge for me at that level of camera that was not there in either the K20 or K7 (let's not argue the toss here again as it is entirely personal)

...who knows I might come back to Pentax for digital in the future when they improve their higher end offerings? Nothing is static or carved in stone, which is another reason to be nice to people who decide to abscond or defect as it could be temporary

Unfortunately there are a few Chicken Littles around who always think the sky is falling and Pentax are going under. I think this proves they are staying in the game, although as I said a superficial glance at the spec almost undermines the K7's status. This looks like a great camera for the entry to mid range, and not everyone thinks weather-sealing is the be all and end all. Most people don't go out in the rain let alone go out shooting

I just heard this evening and got the email from Pentax USA with the KX annoucnement. My first reaction? EXCITING

I am really happy for them because I think it looks like they might be getting their act together and this is very well specified for the price point and I think it shows they have been listening to what the market wants.

It's almost stealing some of the K7's thunder though don't you think at a fraction of the price, weather-sealing notwithstanding?

If I were in the market for a DSLR now and didn't already have my mind made up, this would be a serious contender to bring me into the Pentax fold, which is what I think it is designed to do.

Well done HoyaTax!

It's actually a very high spec manual camera and built like a tank, as always. Makes the revered K1000 look like an old Skoda next to a Mercedes of the time

George, what else can I say except 'Thanks' ?

I have not been around here recently as I had crossed over to the dark side for my digital digressions, but still have my manual film Pentaxes...althogh to be honest they are not getting any use and am considering selling my K2 to someone who might appreciate it...it is 30 years old and virtually mint as I used it as a back up for my LX or to shoot black and white when I had ektachrome in the LX. Anyone have any idea what it might be worth to a collector, out of interest?

PM me if you want one form my local Currys

As Mike-P said, my local Curry's superstore has 4 in stock, body and 18-55 kit lens for £449 on clearance. Now thats a good price

Why would you spend £600+ when there are deals out there?

How are you enjoying the GX20 Steve? It's an awful lot of camera for the money and you'll spend ages mastering it. I did not buy it with the intention of selling it. I wanted to keep it until I came to my senses and realised running two digital kits was nuts.

Interestingly, I had a brief play with the GX20 before sending it to you and thought the combination with the kit lens had noticeably faster AF than either the K20 or GX20 with the DA* lenses

I will never sell my LX or K2 though as I plan to keep them forever for film and would eventually like to add Ltd lenses to them. I quite fancy the idea of a silver lens body on a black camera body. Retro chic with modern optics. In fact if I had a K7 I would do that now as I think it would look quite cool and individual.