Funnily enough, when I did a similar informal head count in Devon a few weeks ago, more than 80% of the cameras I saw were Pentax.

I deduce from this that Devon is the centre of Pentax Using in the UK and perhaps their biggest market........

I would go for a K-S1 rather than a K500. The K-S1 is a very compact, very light and very good camera.

I think there have been some UK-wide internet issues over the past few days. Whether or not that was affecting EPZ and PU I don't know.

It seems to back up to speed now though.

Well, I can't be right all the time. Sue says some of the time would help....

Circumstances evolve and I'm now a very happy full frame user. Who knew?

You can use any lenses you like on the K-70 for general use. However, the new lens with its electromatic diaphragm mechanism, can only be used on the most recent DSLRs.

Nice idea that's got lots of potential.

First things first. If you phone SRS and explain your problem they will advise how to proceed. If the camera has to go for a quote for repair there's no avoiding it. Manufactured items do fail, regardless of the reasons, and it's very inconvenient when they do. However, cameras fail perhaps less often that most things.

Until you get a quote you won't know if the repair will be costly or not, so first things first?

If you're going somewhere that the conditions are more extreme than the UK then maybe one of the higher spec models could be a good idea. A good used K-5 each would be relatively inexpensive? Alternatively the K-5 II or IIs would be a good buy. K-3 body is £549 at SRS, an excellent choice and more pixels. The K-S2 body is great, £399 at SRS. It's not as robust maybe as the K-5/K-3 body line, but even so very tempting at that price.

I see SRS also have a used K-5 body at £249.

We like outdoor theatre. Picnic on a warm evening, entertainment, good company, the sun setting over the scene. Or evening an evening of torrential rain. The show goes on and it's an adventure either way. Last night it was Sherlock Holmes presented by the Chapterhouse Theatre Company at Dunham Massey. I've done a blog here: https://www.ephotozine.com/user/johnriley1uk-22471/blog/the-hound-of-the-baskerv... - the cameras were the MX-1 and the Q-S1, mostly the latter with the 15-45mm telephoto zoom. Here's a few of them:















I can't help thinking that Holmes (James Elmes) looks very much like a young Peter Capaldi as Doctor Who.

It doesn't change the success though. The 645Z was being made in quantities that couldn't keep up with demand. The K-1 is flying off the shelves. The Q cameras were a must-have in Japan in particular, and there are quite a few Q system users on here.

I'm sure that expansion needs to be managed and over-stretching can lead to disaster as well. One step at a time.