The problem would seem to be that the Amazon confirmation of order received is not the final contact that says you have made the purchase. It is the wrong document and we could cancel at that point.

The despatch advice means the deal has actually been completed. What would happen if we then returned the camera before 30 days had elapsed I don't know, but perhaps the delay in sending cashback has something to do with that? Maybe the systems used can actually flag up cameras returned and payment can be stopped.

I think you need to stop reading reviews and just buy the camera and enjoy taking some photos. Sometimes the more information we have, the more confusing it becomes.

Oso, it's likely that the K-5 is at its pre-replacement stage, so apart from second hand ones it may not drop any further in price.

It may still be possible to get a good deal on a K-r or even the previous K-x, but they are becoming more scarce now.

I'm not sure any image on the web will make us aware of the advantages of the 645D. I'm happy to accept if I ever buy one I will be staggered by the quality when printed large.

Yes, by a whisker, and using the samples I tested for EPZ.

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/smc-pentax-fa-77mm-f-1-8-limited-lens-16892
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/smc-pentax-da-70mm-f-2-4-limited-lens-review-1...

Having said that, I would choose the 70mm as I prefer the focal length and the QuickShift facility. Others will prefere the 77mm for its wider aperture. Either is fine and represents a very high qual;ity of lens manufacture.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the performance of the FA Limited series. The 77mm, for example is a whisker better than the 70mm Limited.

They may be getting to the limit of resolution for the current crop of sensors, but as they outresolve the zooms anyway, is there a point in redesign for the sake of it?

The square format has been asked for many times since the 1960s onwards, and we did have it in the form of Rollei and Zeiss 126 format SLRs. It made them look very boxy though and didn't catch on. Don't forget you would end up with a square the size of the shortest side of the APS-C format, not the longest.

Looking at it the other way round, if you want a square you can crop your images square. I often do and it fills an ePHOTOzine space very nicely at 1000x1000 pixels.

You knew what I meant. Speaking of amplifiers, as we are, I always understood that the noise and distortion of a transistor amplifier was constant. hence a disproportionate problem at low levels. This appears as hiss in audio and seems to be the case.

By comparison, a valve amplifier will distort more as the volume increases. I don't see a Pentax DSLR with valves though, interesting as the concept might be. We'd probably have to call it Full Frame Plus and a cart to carry it provided.

FF or not, Pentax seem to pull the rabbit out of the hat and produce some very interesting stuff. It will be interesting to see where it goes.

I'm no expert on this aspect, but my understanding is that there is a "native" level and all other ISO values are obtained by turning the "volume" up or down. The native level of Pentax DSLRs I understand to be ISO 200.