I wouldn't take that quote as being accurate as many lenses these days tread new optical territory.

Who would need a 50mm f1 lens? Well I know someone who uses one, and quite a beast it is. It isn't a Pentax though.

Are you sure? I suppose it depends on the size of sample you take, but we've had four Mk I and two Mk II and they have all been good, pretty much indistinguishable in performance. The Mk II versions are slightly better, but we expect that.

Switch the camera off before changing lenses, point the camera downwards so dust doesn't fall into the lens throat, change lenses as quickly as possible in as dust free an area as possible.

But don't be afraid to change lenses as often as required - that's what SLRs are for.

Yes, average budget lenses, nothing spectacular.

The idea of groups of shops getting together and forming a buying group was tried in the 1970s. It didn't last long, so I assume there are major snags with such a system.

There are only that number of digits in that particular field, so it can't do anything else.

Think of the leverage on the mount. Such a combination should be picked up or supported by the lens, not the body, and needs to be handled with care with any body.

I don't know what the actual weight limit is for a lens to be safe on a K20D, but that would be interesting. I'll guess that Pentax know.

The histogram is only showing you how many pixels there are of each brightness level from 0-255. If you had a spotlit tree against a dark background your histogram would heavily be on the left, and so it should.

I think it would be very wise if you stopped looking at the histogram until you are back at the computer and look at the images first. Then by all means look at the histogram and learn to use what it is telling you.

I suspect a lot us users do not really understand what the histogram is and are looking for a nice even shape that rises in the middle and goes to either end. That's fine for an average subject full of midtones, but it's meaningless unless related to the scene being shot.

It would be possible for a repair house to do a service, just as it would on an older camera. They would check, recalibrate and relubricate as required.

I really don't think anybody does though, even though instruction books tend to suggest it's done every couple of years.

This is just fantastic and a place we definitely want to visit. Kent is on our list of things to do.