The FA Limiteds certainly aren't bare metal (I know because I managed to scratch my FA77 a couple of years back - long and depressing story). The silver paint is very well applied though - I think they're anodised rather than sprayed. The colour on the K-5 is obviously the same but without using one over a period of time it's impossible to guess how it'll hold up.

The silver finish matched that of the FA43 mounted to it. I've got two silver FA Limiteds and there's no sign of any paint peeling off them just yet so I'd imagine it's quite hardwearing.

Primes for me (although I make an exception for the DA12-24).

I rather liked the Pentax stand, there was room to breathe and the folks from Pentax UK were as friendly as ever. I got to play with everything I could want to play with (without having to fight my way through the marauding hordes like I did to get to the Fuji X100) and picked up a couple of freebies.

Obviously one man's disaster is another's success.

So did Pentax keep hold of your 250-600 then Danny? You were certainly pulling in the crowds...

I kind of expected that result but it's the first time I've actually seen it so clearly demonstrated. Good find!

Angenieux are still going and still making (incredibly expensive) lenses for movie cameras. Alongside Cooke (Taylor, Taylor, Hobson as was) they are the only two lens manufacturers I know of that make Carl Zeiss optics look like cheap Christmas cracker novelties.

The lens I think. I've seen some stunning images posted on the 'net taken with Pentax lenses fitted to Canon cameras. These images, to me, very much have the "Pentax Look" which is why I asserted back on page 1 of this thread that I believe the lenses are the single most important factor in making an image,

My friend has the LS 75mm, I had the regular 75mm. Shot with both and couldn't see any difference in the results.

The LS is a little more of a faff to use but you'll quickly get used to it, and if you're doing outdoor portraits then the ability to sync flash at 1/500 makes it well worth its place in your camera bag.

The third party sensor part isn't new - before digital came along the "sensor" would have been Kodak, Fuji, Agfa, Ilford or even Boots the chemist.

The body does play some part as it's responsible for the ergonomics - if it gets that wrong you might not get the shot you wanted, or get a shot that's badly exposed / out of focus / etc. It's still little more than a light-tight box though at the end of the day.

To me though the lens is the most important ingredient - it's what gives the image its character and its soul. It was the imaging properties of Pentax lenses that persuaded me to buy a K10D over the competing Canikon bodies at a time when I wasn't tied to any particular system - a decision that I've never regretted for one moment

So for me "I shoot with a Pentax" means that I shoot with Pentax lenses. It's probably heresy to say, but I consider a photograph taken with a (eg.) Canon camera fitted with a Pentax lens to be more "Pentax" than a photograph taken with a Pentax camera and a Sigma / Tamron / etc lens.

I'll ready my tin hat now...