Good question Ken! I went through a phase of thinking Kodak Royal X Pan (1250 ASA) and Kodak Recording Film 2475 (1000 ASA plus) were a good idea, but the results soon persuaded me that they were not.

As regards Conspiracy Theories, many people subscribe to them and I know not who they are, nor do I suggest anyone in this forum is such a person. I have my own conspiracy theory though that prior to the release of the DVD the quality of VHS pre-recorded cassettes was being carefully compromised so that we wouldn't mind paying more for a good DVD.

Now Blu-Ray is here, I'm waiting for DVDs to start looking a bit worse than they used to. Come to think of it, how's the quality of non-HD TV channels doing?

There are very few, if any, concrete facts. Generally, the more we know the more there is to know...

I would interpret this as a feature that was catered for in the firmware but not yet activated because it wasn't ready for release. This could be because it was not yet fully tested. There could be many unreleased and/or undeveloped possibilities hidden withing the firmware. I don't find a conspiracy in this, although some do like conspiracy theories.

Er, Dan, are you having a moment of Power Madness? Perhaps we'll just stick to making moderator Moderator for now?

Tastes change and the SMC Takumar and Pentax K lenses share a different type of image characteristic to the later M series and beyond.

It's all quite subtle, but the earlier lenses perform best at smaller apertures such as f11 and have a distictive "flavour" if you like.

The M series are very compact, allow more leeway in the distortion, and perform best wider open at apertures such as f5.6. They also go for generally higher contrast, at the expense sometimes of the finest resolution.

What I'm less convinced of is that these differences are as visible on digital in the same way that they were on film.

Of course it all becomes impossible when we say something like, "I just love the results I get with my SMC Takumar 105mm f2.8 when I use Tri-X developed in FX-39, then print it using Agfa Double Weight bromide paper developed in D76...."

The permutations possible in similar scenarios could last a lifetime of experimentation. The digital world is somewhat faster than this, especially when we expect cameras to be "ready for print" the moment the image is shot.

Ready for print in what style....is only the first of many questions.

Supply and demand. Prices of lenses go up and down over the years and an individual lens may for a while become very desireable.

It's not so long ago that the FA 50mm f1.4 was a Hot Topic!

The M series 40mm lenses I have owned have all been excellent.

The optical properties of K and M lenses can be different, not better or worse, just different.

It's an option for Moderators.

A friend of mine does this sort of work. Have a look at www.golpysphotography.co.uk

I think there's one very nice example in the Studio section.

Have a look over at ePHOTOzine, because a lot of what you're asking for might already be there.