Assuming they're delivered with Energiser Lithiums then I'll second that. My K-m came with a set which lasted for about 800 shots and six months. I've bought the same type ever since and generally get similar lifespans. At this rate my running costs are about £5 per six months, so I'm not overly worried about buying Eneloops.

Meanwhile the set of conventional Duracells I tried while unable to get the Energisers lasted for about two days and under a hundred shots. They just couldn't cope!

Another question for the K-x owners - I've just been looking around Youtube and it seems to be a lot better at video than "Flip"-type camcorders. Can it shoot video with older lenses? If so, how? Do you set aperture on the lens after which the camera will vary the ISO to keep the exposure right?

Just thinking some of my older glass would make for very nice videos...

The zoom ring operates it after you click it to reveal the "Power Zoom" lettering. You don't get the trick features the Z series offered, only powered zoom and the lens retracting to its shortest length with the power off. It's a nice party trick though!

Looking around it seems that the K-r probably doesn't support Power Zoom either, in fact it looks distinctly like the next generation K-x when you look at the back panel and a few other areas. I may well go for the K-x anyway as £130 or so is not a small leap.

The other thing I considered: Will the K-r work with Power Zoom? I know the K-7 will as Dad took great delight in playing with that and the PZ 28-80mm I lent him to go with his kit lenses. I suspect it might but would want a confirmed report. I realise this is a slightly odd thing to consider but I'd quite like to know.

The K-r uses a rechargeable battery rather than AAs. My K-m won't power the old Power Zoom lenses (they just work like any other FA zoom on mine), I suspect this is due to Pentax not being convinced that the AAs would be able to handle the demands of the zoom motor while still operating the camera stably and reliably. I do know the K-m gets pretty impressive battery life from quality AAs, presumably due to the lack of live view.

Unfortunately the Pentax cashback will have expired by the time I have the funds for whichever I pick!

Is there anything about sensor marks on the K-r or was that just a rogue batch of K-5s?

I'm giving serious thought to a body upgrade (no, not mine, the camera!)

I think I'll be able to afford a K-x and quite fancy one of the beige ones (forget "boring beige" associations, it reminds me of the rare "safari" version of the Auto 110), although I don't really want another 18-55mm.

I've also been looking at the K-r though as I might just stretch funds that far. Only thing is I can't see why it's better? They're both 12mp and feature video mode, the K-r is presumably better again at high ISO noise reduction (that and the video mode are the main attractions for me of the K-x over my existing K-m). I just can't decide whether it's worth the extra £130 or so over the K-x.

I've also read a few reports here about K-rs sporting sensor marks on delivery?

It will be a month or so before I can buy, hopefully there will still be beige or red K-xs from reputable dealers for around the £360 mark by then.

I am sorely tempted to buy one of those hotshoe cover spirit levels, now that I have a ballhead and therefore no easy way to tell whether the camera is genuinely level! That said, the MK1 eyeball seems to work pretty well...

Agh, hadn't thought of that! Can you turn the preflash off?

Failing that you can find a simple Pentax flash like the AF160 or AF200S for about a tenner (or less in the case of the AF160 if you're prepared to hunt a bit), both will work and have no preflash.

You can use pretty much any flash with a cheap optical slave trigger, then the built-in flash to trigger it.

If you stick to genuine Pentax units then you shouldn't have trouble with excessive trigger voltages, although you should still check them by turning the flash on and touching the probes of a multimeter set to measure DC volts to the contacts on the base of the flash.

The AF200T is surprisingly handy for an old, cheap flash as it has a lot of control over manual power output. It'll also work in Program mode either on the camera or via one of those cheap P-TTL flash cables mentioned elsewhere in this section.

I've got one...

It's an ok toy, just don't expect anything other than toy camera pictures from it! The aperture control is a series of holes in a disk which sits in front of the lens and rotates to place different sized holes in position. I can dig it out tomorrow afternoon and try a few shots but don't go by their "test" shots, I didn't manage to get anything that good!

Doing exactly the same thing but with film. When the weather warms up a bit I'll be keeping a scruffy MV1 in the car.