Can you be a bit more specific about what you're trying to achieve?

That's actually a damn good summary.

Yes, but how likely is that?

How about if I slag off the K10D for a bit, and then repent... will you sell it to me?

How many have you got, George?

Well I think you're nuts.

AF noise, and indeed mirror-slap, are only an issue in very quiet places.

AF noise is easily dealt with, with a bit of technique, and mirror-slap isn't fixable, and can be extremely irritating.

So quieter focusing won't solve your problem.

Was it Barcelona you were planning to move to? It would explain a lot...

Well the Pentax 18-50 certainly is your imagination.

What are you talking about, "mechanical focusing rings"?

Are you talking about AF or MF?

Is it AF noise (ie, from the MOTOR and the drive train) you're worried about, or the click as the mirror flaps up and down? Because you can't fix the latter.

That's more like...

Actually George, I wish you hadn't said this.

In the unlikely event he actually takes your advice, there's less chance that a nice K10D body will end up on eBay at a reasonable price...

Just because you've got two now...

Note to moderators... Please don't close this thread... it's SOOOOO much fun...

This 'taking pictures in church' thing.

Loud AF is a non-issue. Focus manually, or if you're so incompetent you can't do that, even with such static subjects as a couple taking their vows, focus manually almost to the focus point, and let the AF finish the job - even without SDM it's virtually silent and very quick, since it has practically nothing to do.

For mirror slap to be really annoying, it has to happen during the quiet bits. Unless the photographer has a really good inconspicuous vantage point, he's going to be distracting enough just being there, fiddling about, focusing etc, let alone clicking away.

The only inconspicuous places in the church (if it has no gallery) are at the back, or at the sides at the front. What on earth is he trying to photograph from one of those places that needs more than a couple of shots during the quiet bits? No one's going to object to the official 'tog clicking once as the ring goes on, or if they kiss, and there's music of one kind or another for much of the rest of it.

So just out of curiosity, I'd like to hear a little more about the EXACT nature of the problem, rather than just 'moan, moan, too loud'. So far, I'm much more inclined to think he's doing the wrong thing.

True though this may be, especially without paying a hell of a lot more, if the specific feature he needs is a quiet mirror, he should find a camera that has one quiet enough, and use that in the church. I don't know how noisy the mirror-slap is on the Nikons and Canons (or the Sony Alpha, for that matter, which even has in-body SR), but maybe some of them are a lot quieter. (Note, Pete, that if the K10D is too loud, "a bit quieter" won't be quiet enough - it will have to be much, much quieter.)

But unless he's going to be specialising in taking pictures in churches at weddings, as you say, it's crazy to get so hung up about this single issue - he'll just end up moaning about something else he doesn't like.

I've been told that a few times in my life. Sadly though, it doesn't work