The K-r adds lights in the finder to show you where the AF is focusing, so that can be useful. There's not much difference in the cameras, but if it's only a few pounds then just maybe the later one could be advantage?

There's no hassle in upgrading by the way, they work exactly the same way. Pentax cameras are very user friendly in this respect.

HDR is all about changing exposure and then blending the exposures to get detail into impossibly dark corners and impossibly bright highlights, all in the one final shot. If you change the aperture each image will be different, so they won't blend properly and you'll get lots of double images. Very messy, but try it and see.

A solid tripod is the first requirement. A cheap tripod isn't of any value at all as it will almost wave in the breeze....

I'm not sure what software you are using, but that makes a difference too. Sue and I both use Photomatix. We've tried a few and concluded it gives the best results.

Simple is best. Try this:

Mount the camera on a tripod. Set to Av and select your aperture of choice. The aperture needs to remain the same otherwise the images DOF will change. Manual focus is also best, to make sure the focus point remains exactly the same.

Simply use exposure compensation to shoot 3, 5 or 7 images as required. Use the 2-second timer and the mirror will be locked up before each exposure, so no need to use any form of remote. Only the shutter speed will change.

I use 7 one-stop intervals for the exposure and that gives me the results I want. Many people use less, but that's a choice to make.

Hope that helps.

Think it was almost 2 years, then a few of months for the IIs and then about 7 months for the K-3? Something like that....

It's not totally possible to predict how people will react, and no doubt various options are always on the drawing board.

At the moment, mirrorless cameras are not doing very well in most markets and the money seems to be in DSLR lenses. Time will tell, but as for the mount the K mount is a modern mount compared to say Nikon, so I don't see any particular problems for it in the foreseeable future.

When the K-3 can out-resolve most FF offerings, I don't see much of a problem for APS-C either. There's nothing wrong with being the leading APS-C manufacturer and Pentax are very well placed in that regard.

Personally I'm not wishing for a FF mirrorless "compact" any more than I was for using a Fuji 6x7 or 6x9cm rangefinder when I used film. Pentax 67 was far more useful and that's the one I wanted but never actually managed to get.

In "the good old days" (were there any?)this would mean a huge pile of brochures to browse and browse and ruminate over.

These days models don't last long enough to print brochures...so we download them and use huge amounts of paper and ink if we want a hard copy. Or we don't, as the case may be.

But, as an aside, don't throw those brochures away. I sold one for £58 recently.

I have no particular desire for a KL, although I know many do, because I don't see the point in buying something just because it looks like something from the past.

This may seem like a contradiction as I've been enthusiastic about my MX-1, but that enthusiasm isn't because it pays lip service to the MX of old. It doesn't look anything like it in reality, any more than any compact digital camera can look like any film SLR. The MX-1 is a delight in what it is, and it borrows some aesthetic qualities that it has in common with things that appealed about the original MX. Its beauty lies in what it is and what it does and the fact that it's really well made.

Back to the KL, if it happens we'll see how many buy it or not, but it is worth doing as it will appeal to some. Of course if it just so happens that it turns out to be a really ergonomic DSLR design, then I will be interested.

The K600 and K60 seem logical extensions of the current range. The K50 in particular is a really great camera, so a new chip with more pixels seems logical enough.

Meanwhile, my K-5 bodies keep soldiering on...and I'm loth to upgrade even the K20D as it's in pristine condition and worth more than anyone would pay for it.

I have been using Pentax DSLRs for a long time now, since about 2006, and I have never needed to use any sensor cleaning that meant touching the sensor. The inbuilt dust removal usually is enough, but from time to time a rocket blower may be needed to remove a stubborn speck.

In any event never, ever clean the mirror. The mirror surface and mechanism are both very delicate and easily put out of alignment.

The gasket is on the back of the lens jules, so it would be on the back of the converter.