Silky aplomb? Appease all? Carefully crafted? You credit me with too much forethought, I was just speaking what I felt.

Older lenses have always been supported by Pentax, but there are obviously technical issues with some of them regarding metering. This was even true of the AF film cameras and the cautionary note in the operating manual has not changed since then.

It's just a matter of knowing how much compensation to apply and with practice it should become more intuitive as time goes by.

JPS is the official repairer for Pentax in the UK. If you go to the Pentax UK website you'll find their info under the servicing heading.

Some like the image quality of the K10D CCD sensor, but I prefer the K20D. I still use one for studio work.

I've just sold a pristine K20D that went for a low £185.00 and a K10D that went for £130.00, also pristine.

You could probably do your upgrade at a very low cost, less than a repair I would think.

Actually, there is more to resolution than the MP count. I was reading the AP test report on the Canon 70D and it struck me that the resolution was lower, for all its 20+MP, than from the 16.28MP Ricoh GR. By implication, probably lower than the K-5 IIs as well, I haven't checked that.

Ricoh have quite a bit in common with Pentax, never having been afraid to offer very different products. There's one highlighted above, but there's also the film SLR with power derived from photo-electric panels on the pentaprism and the rather odd GXR series. It could be a very happy combination yet.

I would never underestimate the pleasure derived from using quality items. The MX-1 is a case in point - absolutely sublime and utterly gorgeous. If the leatherette didn't fit properly or the supplied battery had a label on it that was peeling off (like a Rollei battery I once had in a new camera) then it would spoil it for the sake of penny-pinching.

Whichever way you look at it, the value and quality of Pentax are spot on. That really should be enough, but it may be coloured by our world-view. The everyone does everything for selfish reasons logic is a bit bleak IMHO.

Sometimes people just want to be of good service, hoping that by being so the business will come their way. If it does and they do well, that doesn't need to change into something else in our minds, does it?

If doing real jobs I don't think a budget route is a good one. you need the best tools possible.

Two Lenses? A general zoom, lots to choose from, and a fast prime around 40/43/50/55mm. Within that, the best that could be afforded.

The problem with your previous list Nigel was that it was suggested it be used every time someone went to shoot something - an unrealistic expectation I think.

All DSLRs have lots of options, probably all digital cameras actually. I set up my new cameras once to what I use and then apart from something specific cropping up, that's it. I concentrate on the images after that.

It's apparent though that when I do a workshop on camera settings then many photographers have no idea what's in there or what it's all for.