What an incredibly negative thread title....there's an old saying that suggests there's no use crying over split milk. In other words, lamenting the past is a waste of energy.

I don't worry about the price of things after I've bought either, but I know a lot of people continue to fret long after the buying is done.

What wonderfully vague translation in places. Reading between the lines, they are saying that K-r production is reaching the end of its cycle.

If so, I wonder what will take its place?

You might be chasing the answer to a question that cannot be answered without some qualification - what size of image have you in mind and what end use?

If we are talking about web images then there won't be any discernable difference, until high ISO values are reached and then the K-5 will have lower noise.

If we are talking about huge prints (A3 and bigger) and/or severe cropping of the image then the higher pixel count of the K-5 will make a difference.

In other respects such as colour quality and general image appearance, the photographer will make much more difference than the camera will.

When that happens I discard the card. There's no point running the risk when cards cost as little as they do.

I would tip the camera and tap gently to see if anything emerges from the slot. Also point a small torch down the slot and see what, if anything, is lodged in there.

If you're lucky the offending bit of plastic may have found its way elsewhere and not trouble you again.

I would check all your SD cards and make sure that the lock switch hasn't become detached and lodged in the camera. Quite a few SD card wallets actually have a retaining "bobble" that engages the point ewwere the slide switch is and can tear it loose after frequesnt use.

Maybe the small plastic slider has become lodged in the K20D.

There are a handful of specialised scientific/law enforcement lenses that use entirely quartz instead of glass or a mixture of quartz and glass elements.

Quartz-Takumar 85mm f3.5
Ultra-Achromatic Takumar 85mm f4.5
Ultra-Achromatic Takumar 300mm f5.6

They are highly corrected and intended for UV and IR photography. Because coating absorb UV these lenses are uncoated.

They are very rare and very expensive when they become available.

Source: The Ultimate Asahi Pentax Screw Mount Guide 1952-1977 by Gerjan van Oosten.

Well yes, you could ask them to remove their glasses, but not everyone will want to. And pictures of girls in glassses can look rather good....

I opt for changing the angle of the sitter's head (or moving the light) or tilting the glasses slightly to remove any reflections.

Two examples:

[IMG]http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff250/johnriley1uk/Donna1.jpg[/IMG]
Donna, Pentax 645n + 75mm lens
[IMG]http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff250/johnriley1uk/037Steve800px.jpg[/IMG]
Steve, Pentax K-5, 77mm lens

It would be safer to use the correct charger.

Try www.srsmicrosystems.co.uk who will probably have the apprpriate Pentax charger, or may at least be able to order it for you.

I think that probably video shooters are an afterthought in the minds of the designers, but it must be a huge market in its own right.

Having said that, most users find a clip on their compacts or iPhones perfectly adequate for a slot on Facebook or YouTube and that's maybe where the bulk of the casual market is.

The Foveon style sensors try to convince us that their resolution is 3x the value for R, G and B but it isn't. The number of pixels remains as it is and that limits severely the print size. It also gives an odd colour rendition which many people don't like too much.