I would suggest you buy a card reader, which should solve all these problems and also be much quicker.

IMHO there's never a good time to go shopping, but always a good time to order camera gear on the Internet.....

Computers are wonderful when they are firing on all cylinders , but when they're not....

Still I wouldn't like to go back to the days of letter writing. How long would these forum discussions take?

Thank you for that.

My head hurts - I just posted and deleted a reply to this which was quite wrong...

I think someone should get the SMC Pentax-DA 100mm f2.8 Macro, try it on a film and a digital body and see if it is 1:1 on film or digital. On the face of it it can't be both and if it's 1:1 with film it must be greater than life size with digital.

Interesting question that will be easier to work out practically than by thinking about it....

The figures on the SMC Pentax-M 100mm f4 Macro do indeed refer to magnification and 2 means 1:2

In practical terms, macro lenses are specifically designed with a flat field and to give superb image quality when used close up. A 1:2 magnification, half life size, is usually referred to a macro, and 1:1 is achieved with a dedicated extension tube.

More modern macro lenses usually focus down to 1:1, which is definitely a bonus.

Vivitar tried to quantify the terms in the 1970s, but with no lasting impact on the use of the word "macro".

Zooms that focus down to 1:4 are very useful, but do not have a flat field at these distances and are not suitable for document copying.

A good macro lens is well worth having.

The simple counter-measure would be to remove the video capability...

Does anyone use this feature? :

The sensor is effectively a smaller format than 35mm. Therefore, lenses will act as though they were 1.5x their nominal focal length, thinking in 35mm terms.

So a 50mm lens, whilst still being a 50mm lens in terms of depth of field and so on, will act as though it were a 75mm lens.

This is great for extending your telephoto coverage, but it then means very short focal lengths are needed to get any ultra-wide coverage. A 12mm lens acts as though it were an 18mm-equivalent, for example.

The whole digital range from Pentax is superb, the results are staggeringly good and I think there is a very exciting photographic future.

Have fun...

Are you sure the camera firmware will support 2GB cards?

I've never used these two macros, but they should be just as good as any of the others. The focusing goes down to 1:1 which is a bonus.

In general, I have been very happy with the current lenses and they are in no way inferior to the best lenses of the past. Different, maybe, but very fine in their own right.