Thanks, Drew, I'll remember that!

The teheoretical limits are in the instruction book, and state 0C to 50C I think this compares to -20C to 50C for a film body such as the MX.

The batteries will become increasingly useless and the lubrication will thicken at very low temperatures. I don't know if you can "winterise" DSLRs.

Even the film will become brittle at very low temperatures, and the metal of a camera will stick to skin....

I think if it's too cold for me, it's too cold for my camera!

I notice that Leica have just issued a recall for their M8 Digital Rangefinder. Apparently there are banding/ghosting issues that need an upgrade and also an over-sensitivity to IR light makes for magenta shadows. The solution to the latter is a special UV/IR filter for each and every lens owned. Then you need software to compensate for the light fall off with non-retrofocus rangefinder lenses...And so it goes on, compromise after compromise.

The point I am making is you could spend £3000 and end up with a product that does not deliver the quality of an *istDL.

Pentax IMHO represents an excellent balance between quality and cost. Long may that continue.

There's room for everyone....Personally I don't like rangefinder cameras at all.

So you did!

There may be too many possible choices for a poll, maybe not, but my vote would go to Kim's excellent choice - very nice.

I was very careful with what I wrote, and I don't deny the truth of your response! Who said it was a small shop, or even a shop at all? I thought I was being very discreet...

eBay has a lively market for certain fim cameras and lenses - Pentax prices are certainly holding up very well. Some of these will be for use on new digital bodies, some for use with film. Who knows what the percentages may be...However, there are also the collectors and they may be snapping up mint examples for a different reason. Again, who knows what percentage they account for.

It's all a lively discussion, but in the end there is room for both and the main purpose of all this is to make great images. It's fantastic that the tools we use to do this are so incredibly beautiful in their own right.

Sue works for a photographic supplier and I asked her how many film SLRs they had in stock. She said, "One."

On that basis, in that location at least, that makes the contribution of film SLR sales virtually zero.

That must be a similar statistic to the one George made up, give or take a couple of percentage points...

I do a "Digital Workshop" twice a month, and even in that I recommend that the best way to improve technique, especially exposure and composition, is to shoot slide film. It's unforgiving and WYSIWYG.

A good discipline.

Clearly, the Pentax is mightier than the sword.....

Although rarely, I have been known to make prints an unusual shape if the subject suits it, and they have been well received.

Normally, I would decide what aspect ratio depending upon the subject and the composition. Also, of course, the intent of the picture - for example, square pictures tend to look stable and static and if that's what I want to portray, then that's how I might crop.

In the days before Photoshop I used a scalpel and a metal ruler...