I had completely forgotten about pixel shift -- guess what I shall be doing tomorrow ........

The first one is really nice. Dealing with the sun, full on isn't easy

"I have changed mine to 5 minutes before sleep"

I've been thinking about doing this. How much impact does it have on the battery?

We've been overdue a fuschia this year and you have produced a really nice one!

I can see the idea but it looks like an earthquake!

I am absolutely delighted with the K3 II. Its operation is slightly different from the K5 in various areas but while most lenses I use with the K5 produce good results, the same ones produce very good results with the K3 - so much so that I almost experienced 'jaw dropping'! The F 35-70 is a case in point. It does go the other way however. For example, I was reasonably content with with the standard kit DA 18-55 on the K5. Put it on a K3 and it is a total disaster.
K1? I can't justify that even to myself !

Venus upper right?.... But it's a shot worthy of going on the wall, whatever

If you need a soft pouch there are two S80 - 160s on Ebay right now. There was another one but I got it -- for £1.70

It should do but with all the electronics now running constantly, there would be extra battery drain. There is also the need to keep the processor cool and cameras don't have cooling fans! I agree about the annoyance: you wait ages for an insect to move to the right place and ........... the blasted thing has gone to sleep.

I've got 1 Pentax original, 1 Maximafoto and two Energiser which go straight into the charger on exchange for a fresh one out of rotation storage in my desk drawer (freshly charged to the back of the line up). None has ever given any problem on the K5. Now I have the K3 I got a new battery with it which I have left wrapped in the drawer. Perhaps it ought to join the line up?
With ordinary AAs for the *1stDS I keep a set of Eneloop and a set of Duracell but always remove them from the camera when I'm done with it as it will discharge them in a couple of days. I charge these when the camera indicator shows the first sign of discharge.