No, but you need something with a video output. Like a laptop....and you don't want the alternative to cost as much as a laptop I presume.

How about a refurbished laptop from a local IT shop. It might only cost £150 or £200 to get a really good one.

The only lenses I know of with a lock that works how you want are macro lenses, and few enough of those.

Commercial link removed.

The K-x in a kit with 18-55mm and 50-200mm (or 55-300mm) lenses will be the best value.

No need to look at complex magazine comparisons as all the cameras you can buy will give acceptable results for general use. They all differ in character though and that's the bit that we have to find out for ourselves.

Stick with Pentax for its ergonomics, backwards compatibility, weather resistance where applicable and gorgeous colour rendering.

Thanks Stefan, that thread worked for me!

That's what the lock is for - to prevent the lens creep when carrying it around on your shoulder, for example.

You can switch this feature off and have fixed values if you want to, at least on the K20D.

Nor I, in fact I've just checked again.

Steady on there Matt! Mirrors are best left well alone - they can easily be knocked out of alignment and the front surface relective coating is very fragile. Once it's out, then so is your focusing accuracy.

Laptop screens are generally poor for imaging purposes. The basic TN screens offer a poor viewing angle and the brightness changes as you move, even slightly.

The IPS panels are the best so it's worth checking what sort of screen your laptop has.

Our Sony laptop isn't bad, but needs care to centre the viewing angle. Our Toshiba has been a disaster so far, but that's not the fault of Toshiba and is another story! Cheaper laptops are all but useless.

We never use laptops for critical work. How about using your laptop with an external monitor, how is it then? And also, is everything set to the same colour space?