With the K-3 I'm feeling that I've lost interest in 135 (FF) at the moment. I'm still interested in FF lenses with aperture rings though for my film bodies but I can still see that dedicated APS-C lenses are likely to give better results than those designed for 135 film.

I agree that things are better than they've been for years, other brand users have been predicting the demise of Pentax since the '90s. Now it seems there are Nikon users asking if there's an adapter to fit Nikon lenses to the K-3 and Canon shooters are realising their collections of SMC-Takumars will work on it as well.

More importantly it shows the K mount isn't going anywhere and instead of forcing a change to improve lens sales, Ricoh simply increased demand by making a great new camera. I'd prefer to still see Pentax on the front of the cameras though.

PM sent.

It's a late marque bubble canopy with clipped wings, much less beautiful than a MkIX in my opinion.

Anybody remember the Dynax 7000i 'expansion' cards? They allowed you to customise the operation of the camera by buying & inserting the relevant card into the camera.

"You'd like auto-bracketing sir? That's £20 please, oh and to set the program line to favour higher shutter speeds is the Sports Action Card, another £20 please."!

Yep very well. You choose the step you want the bracketing to use (0.3 or 0.5) and can then choose how many of those steps the camera does with a dial and then shift the whole lot with the exposure compensation button and a dial. The camera displays the exposures on a number-line up to +/- 3 stops IIRC.

So you can set it to shoot in 0.5 steps but to start at 0 and bracket +1 & +2 (or 0, +1.5, +3 if you wish).

It's like the Hyper manual mode - many features can be used together instead of complicated menu options - those not familiar with Pentax handling simply don't realise how versatile it is.

John.

Along with many others I was hoping for an FF body (although doubtful I'd be able to justify the cost of one). This is better, real innovation (not just a 'Me too' exercise), improvements to the AF, metering & finder and much more affordable than an FF would have been.

I'm very impressed with the spec and think Ricoh are going in the right direction.

John.

PM sent regarding the Super-A & AF280T.

For me it is useful, the extra depth (1-2mm?) is not an issue in practical terms. It makes the camera _look_ a bit deeper than necessary but I don't think it makes it significantly larger.

FWIW walking away is the best option, you're trying to do them a favour and they obviously want to make a big issue out of it. It's not worth the effort/aggro/expense to continue IMHO.