The D300 body is expensive but nowdays the price of Pentax primes seems very high compared to Nikon considering the FA35 and FA50 have been discontinued and the only short primes are the DA70 and FA77 so even if the K7 was cheap by the time you've bought some primes the cost would be similar or perhaps the Pentax would even be dearer. I'm talking about fast primes here as the pancakes are cheaper but slower. I just took these prices from Camera World Chelmsford as an example.

Nikon 35mm F1.8 £189 ( a bargain )
Nikon 35mm F2 £265
Pentax 35mm F2 discontinued ( I didn't like my Pentax one much )
Pentax 31mm F1.8 £699 (how much ? the only limited I didn't have)

Pentax 35mm F2.8 Macro £289 ( if you dont mind slower but you do get macro )
Tokina 35mm F2.8 Macro £360 ( so Pentax version £100 cheaper )

Pentax 40mm F2.8 £220
Pentax 43mm F2.8 £370 ( I did love this one )
Nikon no exact replacements

Nikon 50mm F1.8 £110 ( bargain )
Nikon 50mm F1.4 screwdriver focusing discontinued
Pentax 50mm F1.4 screwdriver focusing discontinued

Nikon 50mm F1.4 HSM/SDM £310
Pentax 55mm F1.4 SDM/HSM

Nikon 85mm F1.8 £315 ( I love this one )
Pentax 77m F1.8 £560 ( overpriced, my M series 85mm was better )
Pentax 70mm F2.4 £330 ( It was nice and small again no better then "M" lens)


So what I'm trying to say is that If I replaced my D300 and Nikon 35mm F1.8, 50mm F1.4 and 85mm F1.8 with the K7 + 31,43 and 77mm limited lenses then the Pentax solution might be a lot dearer depending on the price of the new K7 body.

I will have a look at the K7 however just in case, I do find the D300 a bit heavy.

I had nothing but Pentax gear for about 25 years before changing to Nikon about 6 months ago. I did have a Z1 and Z1P which could bang out quite a few frames a second on film so that wasn't lagging compared to other film cameras.

When I bought my 1st digital SLR and *istDS it felt really slow in operation compared to all the cameras I'd ever had which was disappointing but it worked ok so I wasn't too bothered as it could do about 5 in RAW format before clogging up so if you timed things ok it was fine. There were times when faster with a bigger buffer would have been good but that will always be the case no matter what the speed.
When I tried out my 1st Nikon a D50 the continuous shooting speed wasn't any better and the buffer was smaller but the camera was much more responsive.

I took my DS to Duxford a few times ( for the tank days ) and I didn't give a toss what other photographers thought of my DS. The DS with a 100mm macro was a great bit of kit, briliant photos.

Anyone who judges a photographer by his make of camera really is missing the point.

If I hadn't bought a D300 I would definitely be looking at the K7 and would probably buy one. If they hadn't taken so long in bringing it out I'd probably not have switched at all. Shame as I like the Pentax feel and ergonomics much more than that of Nikon, so much so that I ended up buying an old LX a couple of weeks ago to take on holiday to Japan.

Now that I've changed I'd consider switching back to Pentax but I would be wary of the Pentax auto focus which was the main reason I switched. A K7 with the 43mm Limited and maybe a 77mm Ltd would be ideal if the focus was spot on. It would be expensive to switch back however as I've got used to the Nikon 35, 50 & 85 lenses and it would cost a huge amount to replace them with 31, 43 and 77mm lenses.

Camera World Chelmsford sell them new for £166.

Hi Dan, I saw your leaflets in the Chelmsford Camera World at the weekend. I was in to get a Nikon 35mm lens for going on holiday with ( it's light weight ) and saw this old LX in the window. I had a think about it and came back the next day to buy it. A bit silly maybe as it was a bit beaten up but works ok.

I did have an LX before but it was a late model mint one and I was to scared to take it anywhere so it never got used. This one was relativley cheap and not in such good nick so I feel I can actually use it.

I still have my old MX so I just put the 50mm F1.4 on the LX, stuck the 1.7 that came with the LX onto the MX and now I'm trying out the LX with some 2 year out of date Jessops colour print film just to make sure it works.

The LX wasn't yours was it ?

Hi anyone have an ERC case foe the LX, I sold mine a while ago along with the LX but bought another one at the weekend and need a case for it.
Might be looking for a clean screen and any other little LX bits like the plastic screwdriver for the diopter adjustment.

I've sold quite a few bits as far away as China and never had a problem, quite a few have gone to Poland. If it's a high value item say over £50 I'd send it insured and signed for for peace of mind otherwise I tell teh buyer if they wont pay insured then don't complain if it doesn't turn up. I haven't had a problem either way though.

If you like Dig Lazarus Dig then buy the Grinderman album it's just as good.

The ones in the 2nd hand cabinet are cheaper I wasn't talking about new stock on the web site.

I was in Chelmsford at the weekend and my local Camera World store had a lot of Pentax gear in the window. I don't know if it was 2nd hand, refurbished or just selling cheap but I did notice that they had all the little DA Limited lenses the 21mm, 40mm and 70mm all for around £220 each, they had some other stuff too ( the 14mm F2.8 and some bodies etc ) but I didn't have time to look as I was in a bit of a hurry. They do mail order and part exchange.

None of it was mine by the way but I did have the DA70 once which was lovely.

Just a heads up in case anyone is interested.

Yo Dude