Though costing a bit in terms of weight to lug around, the built-in battery makes the second a much more versatile unit - and half the price of the other as well...

I think Matt's talking about using a dremel or (very) sharp knife to slice off the outer holders, retaining just the one slot nearest the lens to hold the filter. I did this successfully on an 'A' holder (for a smaller diameter lens) and it worked quite well. I didn't think a P would fit the 10 - 20, and picked up a Cokin Z kit - I should've tried the P - much cheaper...

(Successfully being a relative term - it worked fine, but it looked like a 6 year-old had done it - I needed a much sharper knife )

Sounds to me like you've answered your own question...

Unconventional : Think of the possibilities a whole new range (right down to 10mm( will present you with...

Jamie

Matt - what do you use to protect your Z size filters when taking them along... They look a little too flexible to just put in the caers bag in the fabric case they come with... I have a nick on the edge of one of mine already (fortunately not in the FOV)...

Jamie

Just to clarify - my point wasn't that the additional pixels made the image better, it was that the newer in-camera image processors was better, and the white-balance was being calculated better, and so on, making the images sometimes seem better...
(Or maybe I'm just buying better compacts, irrespective of MP count... so my opinion here is hardly un-biased - my *MP Optio makes better images than my 4MP Kodak... )

I'd be willing to bet that half (or more) of the D-SLR's sold in the last 5 years were sold to users that have never changed a lens, have never switched the camera off of "Green" mode, and have never printed anything bigger than 4 X 6 - if they print at all...
It's just a honkin' big P&S that makes better pics (sometimes - despite the user) because of the "advanced" on-board processing, and makes all the other snap-shooters go "Oooohhh, Ahhhh" Is it any wonder that they think more MP is better? The image out of todays 10MP compacts is better than the image out of a 4 or 5 year old 6MP camera, and since they care nothing for advances in on-board hardware or software, the only really quantifiable difference is the MP count.

There are valid reasons for a higher MP count (assuming other things advance as well - like noise suppression and dynamic range) as others have stated earlier - and it's kind of sad that the masses think they can get the same images as a Pro or enthusiast just by buying similar equipment.

(I must confess to catching myself thinking this way too sometimes - if only I had that Ltd or * lens, I could shoot pictures like [insert name of forum member who posted a shot you would have been proud to make here]...)

Is there any one on the forum who, if money wasn't an issue, wouldn't pick up a K20D ? (if they haven't already )

Don't know if I'm in the minority here or not, but I tend to do all my "window-shopping" online, then, when I plan to go into a shop and just look at the model of..., well..., whatever it is I'm shopping for, if it meets my expectations, I find I don't want to wait to get it, and buy it at the shop - regardless of what my intentions were...

Sort of a semi-planned impulse buy...

But I concur - if you can find a knowledgeable shop you can get to that actually carries stock - use them. The (usually) small difference in price is usually more than made up by the personal service and warranty considerations. (disregarding the fact that if we don't, they won't stay in business for too long and then you'll have nowhere to "try on" the item...)

The only problem around here is that you can't seem to get both knowledge and inventory. It seems like if the shop is big enough to carry a large inventory, they tend to pay lower wages, so you get inexperienced clerks (inexperienced photography-wise) that don't know an awful lot about the products, other than their commission; OR you get an "old hand" who can talk for hours about this body and that lens, but can't afford to carry the inventory. I prefer to buy from the latter if possible, but LBA is SO hard to resist when you're holding that fancy new body or lens in your hands...

The only item in my kit that was the reason for my trip to the store is the bag it's stored in...

BUT back on topic - I have an older 055Pro, and though a bit heavier than the newer models, it's very solid and easily supports anything I've put on it (so far). The weight hasn't been an issue for me with the K10D, as the SR and some faster lenses have made it possible to leave it behind most of the time.

I agree wholeheartedly. I wasn't suggesting we all wipe our cards before downloading - I certainly won't be deleting any photos either, but I took the point of the article not to be "Don't look at your pictures" but more to mean "Enjoy the act of taking pictures - don't worry about the final results so much that it becomes a chore..."

Of course, photographers being paid for their work have to worry about the final product - it's their bread and butter - that IS their "chore" (though one would hope it's not UN-enjoyable...)

A friend sent me this following up on a discussion we had a few months back - not sure if it's heretical or not, but thought I'd post it for your perusal...

http://gordonmcgregor.blogspot.com/2008/04/art-is-verb.html

I find I take many more images than I process - actually I take many images I never really look at again after downloading...

I'm still trying to figure out why a cat (with two bells) that caught a mouse (even a deaf one) would let it go....

You must feed your cat a lot more than we do... Ours catches lots of things, but there's usually not enough left to positively identify the catch... something with fur or feathers is usually the best we can do, based on the few scraps we see...