I was rather dismayed to see that the Km appears to be discontinued in favour of the Kx. Thing is, the Kx costs a fair bit more than the Km. I was barely able to stretch to the Km, the extra cost would have put it out of budget. So I don't see this as being a good idea in terms of attracting new blood.

I can never quite pick just one. The K1000 was my first SLR, the MG is staying as it shares my initials. I always wanted an ME Super and the MV1 came to me looking rough and not guaranteed to work. After a good clean it turns out to be a reasonable example that works.

M series bodies don't take up much space, and I'm planning to rotate them using a different one with each roll of film. The ME F is on the wish list due to being the first AF SLR, the MX because they seem to be hugely popular and I'd like to see what all the fuss is about!

I have a similar problem...

ME Super
MG
MV1 (two - one black, one chrome, the latter was bought on Friday and is en route)
K1000
P30
P30T
MZ50 (two)
SF7

And I'd still like an ME F and MX!

I too avoid the newer AF bodies unless they include a lens I'm after, which is how I came to have two MZ50s and an SF7.

Ah, this is the spare bodies store though - I have other lenses in Lowepro cases that I use often, this is more or less the reserve collection! These were rattling around in the wardrobe which isn't the best way to store gear, so I decided to sort the old case out.

It's not bad on weight distribution, the K1000 is the heaviest camera in there and that's on the centreline.

I bought this case years ago from Argos, but I was never particularly good at spacing items to make the best use of the foam. Recently I managed to get some new diced foam from Jessops, so here's the result:

[IMG]http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x21/Kingofthemountains/IMGP0834.jpg[/IMG]

That's my K1000, ME Super, MG, MZ50, P30T and P30 along with AF200S, SA and T flashguns. Oh, and a handful of lenses - M 50mm f2 and f1.7, FA 28-80mm.

It's a tricky one. An FF SLR would be good for tempting top-end amateurs and professionals over to Pentax, but it'd require a lot of investment and could go the way of the LX (which as I understand it never quite gained the sales it deserved?)

Going to medium format digital isn't a bad idea, as the competition is seriously expensive. If Pentax can offer something of a similar quality to their existing DSLRs but with prices below the likes of Hasselblad then I'd say there's money to be made.

My "wish list" for 135mm lenses goes as follows:

K f2.5
K f3.5
M f3.5

I stand the most chance of affording the M f3.5, as it seems that you can always find one of them for about £50 on ebay. I am going to try my nearest real-world shop first though, just in case they have a K version for sensible money. I like the earlier K series lenses as they're a little bit unusual and also historic - they were offered for the original K mount that is more or less still with us today. The metering limitations don't really bother me on these primes as they're very sharp even wide open in Av mode.

Obviously I'd prefer an A, F or FA, but I've yet to afford any prime lenses from those series apart from my A 50mm f1.7!

Hmm, since saying that one has popped up for £65. Must...resist...

40mm pancake and an ME F (which I also want one of), now that'd be a great pocket SLR.

My experience of the Pentax-A 28mm f2.8 is that they're often priced stupidly high on ebay - seems to be one seller with an inflated idea of the value of old lenses and others just following on. That said, I'd definitely like one and keep my eyes open for a cheaper one.

One trick that might help - did you know that the second version of the Pentax-M 28mm f2.8 was also offered badged as a Takumar? It's mechanically identical, only difference is that it doesn't have the SMC coating. I have one here that I bought second hand years ago as it looked a decent lens and wasn't too expensive, my brief tests of it on digital have been encouraging so far. I think there was a Takumar-A version as well.

Given that it's a Tokina, I bet they've made the same lens with a K mount. Just keep your eyes open for one.