Just a few quick thoughts:
- Nikon have used the same sensors as Pentax (6mp in D40 and K100, 10mp in D80 and K200) If the sensor is the same where is the real difference?
Weather-sealed? SR in body? AF in body? Uses legacy lenses? Stainless steel body?
- Who cares about Live View? Not me; with stability problems (MS), I prefer to have the camera to my eye and at least one arm braced as well.
- No really long lenses? If you need something that long, then it will have to be supported, and there are a number of long K-mount lenses around and you switch off SR for a tripod anyway.
- If you look at overseas prices, you have to consider the whole deal. I could buy a K7 slightly cheaper in Le Havre, than in SRS; on an X70 the difference is the other way. Of course, the French TVA is higher than our VAT, and any dealer will have a policy for moving stock when it sits on the shelf too long.

I think that a body has to have the features that you need (not want, need) and that feels "right" in your hands, and its the glass that makes the real difference. For me, that means Pentax and Olympus, and I don't recall Pentax ever designing a polygonal shutter release like that of the OM-30 so I ended up with more Pentaxes than the other brand.

A slight digression, I know, but about7 years back, an item appeared on Ebay for a "Rare Z1 Nikon". Now Nikon have never made a Z1 (that I know of) and the word NIKON was a piece of Dymo embossing tape stuck on the front of the pentaprism housing on a Practica, so it was a fair bet that there was a fraud going on.
I tried to find a way to alert Ebay to this, but I could only do it if I signed up. I assumed that they were not interested in honesty, only profit. And, I still have not signed up.
Geoff

Shhhhh. Don't tell a soul. I have two OM10s, with manual adapters - abd I have not handled one up for months. I have small hands, and don't find them clumsy, but they do not feel the same as a Pentax.
The question is this:
Do you just want the joy of holding something that is beautifully made, and which is 30 years (or more) old, and which will need work sooner or later, or do you want something which is simple to use - and makes you think about the shot, rather than banging off 5-10 shots and only using one?
If its the first case, think about an MX or an ME, or go older and look for something like an S1A. If its the second case, how about a K1000 or even an MX-M. And the second case means that you can use the K-mount lenses.
To my mind, the decision might be on something simple - M42 lenses on a K-mount body can mean giving up the auto stop-down function. If the lens has an Auto-Manual switch, no problem; if it does not, then you are stuck at full aperture (and I have this lovely Hoya 135mm which is Auto-only, so I have the problem myself).
Think about the use you might make of a mechanical body, and then look at the overhaul prices quoted by (say) Harrow Technical, and then make your decision (and I have to decide whether to get my second Spotmatic body overhauled, so I know that problem as well).
Geoff

This starts to explain why the K100DS wrote a folder DCIM and put a folder Pentax inside that, and saved the pictures in there.
BUT
The K200D makes the DCIM folder and then the Pentax folder and then writes another folder inside that for each day.
And, did you know that you can have copy protection on an SD card? Just like on a DVD.
This thread has opened up a whole lot of new questions.
Geoff

Hi Stefan
Your last comment made me look up Flash Memory (in general and SD cards in particular) I really had not realized just how complex they were. I suppose that I am not alone in taking them for granted. Two more outcomes from this:
- - My PDA/satnav stores its maps on an SD card - I have never thought of backing it up!
I have just looked for my spare SD cards - can't find them! I know where they are to within a small volume of storage - another chore to take up time.
Geoff

Just another thought ...
When you pop a card in the camera and "Format" it, what really happens?
My guess is that the camera creates a folder in the card - and nothing else.
So I just plugged in the card-reader, inserted a spare card that has been formatted in a K100D, and found that there is indeed a folder called "DCIM" just like I would expect to find. I could test this further by taking a brand new card (2GB Kingston, sealed pack) and plugging that into my reader, checking, and then formatting it in my K200D and reading it again.
Maybe someone here knows more about card memory than I do, and can tell us all, but I can see how disks and some tapes need to be formatted - as a process that imposes track (sector as well for disk) data prior to any other recording. I cannot see how one can similarly format a chip where the connections are hard wired - all that seems possible is to impose a folder structure. Must play with this some time.
And, I agree with 99.9% of Dan's comments .
Geoff

Well, I checked "Other Film Compact" as the nearest category.
The first one I bought, and used seriously, was a Dacora Royal 6x6 folder.
Lever-wind and shutter set, but non-coupled rangefinder. Had an f3.5/75mm Ennagon as I recall. Used to use Agfa Rapid 1600 ASA monochrome film. Accepted the grain (not so bad on 6x6) for the ability to use available light a lot of the time.
I bought this, used, in Nienburg, Lower Saxony, in 1961. Wish I still had it.

Avast is not the most highly rated anti-virus program in a group test in the current Computer Shopper (that's the UK one, not the US one). It's not even the best rated free program. A quick Google search suggests that it has never been highly rated. But there are two other issues:
- How old is the basic program? Most AV programs are upgraded annually or better.
- How recently was the virus definition file updated? As example, I am on a daily update for my main AV program - anything more than weekly is asking for trouble.
Geoff

A Search on the forum delivered nothing recent apart from mowog offering some correct fitting batteries, so here goes:
What battery do members use to replace the Mercury cell in their older Spotmatics (SP, SPII, etc)when it finally expires?
Searching the Internet reveals a whole manner of suggestions, and a not-too-surprising observation that a battery selling for $2.99 in the US has become £5+ in the UK.
Geoff

The other point that would be of interest to some is a follow on from Stefan's last posts. What are the file names reported as Trojans - but what is the program reporting them? Most anti-Virus (and similar)programs will tell you what it is they think that they have found, and some are known to report other anti-Virus programs as potentially damaging; sort of: "If I cannot recognise it, it must be a virus".
I have never heard of a virus being spread via photo-printers before - so this is the sort of thing to warn people about.
But then, a few years back there was a problem with some External Hard Drives being sold by Aldi that carried several viruses. They were being infected by the computer that formatted them in the factory. I believe it got sorted very fast indeed (think of the words Contingent Liability) but it can happen anywhere. So, I am glad you are telling the store, then they can get their machine cleaned.
Geoff