It's brief and fairly trivial and does read as though a dig is being made, but whether it was a conscious thing is something else.

Perhaps there is a K30D being prepared after all?

This is a danger with all marques - that a hugely expensive lens will become unrepairable in an unreasonable time frame.

But what is reasonable? The Pentax website used to indicate which products could still be supported, and all the screw thread plus K and M lenses were no longer handled the last time I looked. However, several years later, independent repairers will still repair these items.

In the end the minimum is laid down in law I think and this probably is either 5 or 10 years support after production ceases. I'm not sure of the exact timespan, but someone will know.

I would expect vintage lenses from the early 1900s to still be useable, in fact I've just sold one from the 1880s, but the difference now is that lenses are not just lenses but are also electronic items. So maybe 10 years would be more likely as a bare minimum, plus the hope that they will last considerably longer, maybe up to 30 years or so.

I expect lenses to last virtually for ever, but these days they are very complex items, so it may no longer be a realistic expectation.

I have one of the Benbo tripods, but it's rarely used. Wrestling with setting it up is a matter of practice, but folding it down so it fits in the bag is something else.

I actually achieved it the other day, so miracles do happen.

Maybe, maybe not.

f8 might be the aperture where you get best image quality, but in a portrait perhaps you want shallow DOF to put the background out of focus. Also, you might not want biting sharpness that reveals every wrinkle and defect....so f2.8 or f4 might be more appropriate.

Have you made a Report, with specific examples?

Excellent choice.

On the eyes.

It does if you want it to - just set the appropriate custom function.