He probably meant that any being sold *now* with sensor stains are grey imports. The first cameras were official UK stock but they should all have been taken out of the system for refurbishing by now, as dealers (especially Pro ones) would have sent them back to Pentax when the recall was announced.

Maybe John will sell you his..?

I had a pre-war Contax II with both a rigid 50/1.5 Sonnar and a collapsible 50/2 Sonnar - both excellent but the 1.5 was very prone to flare.

One of only a few cameras I actually regret selling - still kick myself.

I find that I can tell the difference between the formats even at relatively small (less than A4 and probably as small as 6x4) sizes.

It's not that the MF negative contains more detail (although it does, so it's a cropper's delight), it's the way a larger negative renders the scene. The colour/shade transitions have a finer gradation, the dynamic range appears wider and transition between objects in and out of focus is smoother. All this serves to give a more three dimensional and solid feel to the subject.

If shot in less than ideal lighting and/or at a small aperture then the differences between the formats are far less obvious, although the lack of visible grain in MF compared to 35mm (for any given film speed) will still generally make the MF shot look superior imho.

It's hard to convey the differences at web resolutions, but looking at prints should leave no doubt as to which format camera produced which image. The best photograph is still in the hands of the photographer though - there are plenty of stunning pictures out there taken with 35mm kit and plenty of dogs taken on MF.

Is it worth the cost? Yes if you either (a) need it for your work or (b) just happen to like that sort of thing. I'm in the latter camp but I don't have the budget for digital MF; I love the results from my film gear though and can't imagine using 35mm again, other than for the sake of nostalgia.

I didn't assume you were bashing Pentax for the sake of it, rather that your expectations were somehow skewed and that you were obviously disappointed when the stand wasn't what you expected - that's a fair enough opinion to hold.

I just sought to balance the argument. Although I spend more time on this forum I do shoot with non-Pentax systems too, in fact the camera I had with me at the NEC wasn't a Pentax (and my first port of call was Fuji to see the X100). As such I take a neutral-ish perspective and had no particular hopes or expectations for the Pentax stand (I'd have been at the show whether Pentax were there or not). As it turned out I genuinely believe the Pentax stand was the second best that I visited on the day (Kodak in first place, in case you're wondering).

All this thread really shows is that whatever approach Pentax had taken they could never possibly hope to please everybody, and as everyone here wishes Pentax great success let's also hope more people liked what they saw than didn't.

I've sold at least six of them over the last two/three years, all of which went to Chinese/HK buyers if I remember right. I've never had a problem with Far East buyers and find them to be generally quick payers and very polite.

The only two people who've set out to deliberately scam me on eBay (this is my 9th year on there so it's not exactly a regular thing) were from the UK and Belgium.

You say your auction was UK only, it may well be that the auction is visible worldwide but that you've blocked overseas bidders from actually paying - you need to check your settings as a first port of call.

You're right, I'm not a marketing guy. If I was I would doubtless have been more impressed by the juggler on the Sony stand, the giant yellow feathers seeking to poke my eyes out on the JVC stand, the three Nikon staff who between them didn't know if a D3X could meter with a pre-AI lens, the girl who just stared blamkly on the Fuji stand when I asked if they had any film samples (I think she thought I meant of the Hollywood variety) or any of the other numerous distractions on display.

All Pentax had to offer were multiple working examples of all their current range of cameras, most of their current range of lenses and knowledgeable, friendly staff. To make matters worse they had enough space around each to make fondling the goods a pleasant experience rather than a bunfight.

Perhaps they should hire a marketing guy for next year so we too can scrap over a single camera while highly trained kittens knife fight each other to the death for our amusement - that'll show the other manufacturers! Alternatively, they could have a no-gimmick stand comprised of quality goods and staff with a sound knowledge of photography, something that stands as a metaphor for the brand itself? Oh hang on...

I think you went to the wrong stand - I picked up brochures for the K-5, K-7, K-r and the Pentax lens range. I even got to talk in-depth about the 645D (with someone who obviously knew it well) and browse through the price list for the re-introduced FA645 lens range.

The K-5 wasn't being pushed over and above the other cameras I agree, but why should it? Now the 645D is here the K-5 is just the mid range model.

As for K-5 "experts", it was refreshing to see the Pentax stand staffed with people who *all* knew *all* the cameras intimately, unlike many stands which were staffed by agency supplied spokes-models.

The Pentax stand certainly wasn't brash, but I thought it far more professional for it personally.

Well I represent one of the single people in the poll, if the other happens to be a Cheryl Cole lookalike heiress to a brewing fortune then please get in touch via PM...

You'll find a long lens easier to use as it's designed from the outset to be fitted onto a camera (so you get all those luxuries like aperture control and AF). I'd probably only use a spotting scope if I already happened to have one sitting around - if you're happy with a completely manual lens (which is what a spotting scope will be) then there are plenty of long second hand examples on eBay etc for less money.