Doug - the K-7 with your Nokton lens on the front of it will make you very happy indeed! Looks really good too, even though that doesn't matter (much)

I would recommend getting the WR kit lens(es) as the freedom of being able to go out in the rain without worrying is great. If you get one and it's not sharp, send it back until you get one that is! There are some good ones out there.

Better image quality....no. If you prefer JPEG I would suggest sticking with the K20D. The K-7 needs to be used in RAW especially at higher ISO.

Better at quite a lot else though. I wouldn't go back. The things I've noticed are:

(1) I much prefer the smaller size. Clearly a matter of personal preference but for me a more portable camera gets used more often and I found the K20D a little too big

(2) faster AF and especially continuous AF. I've tracked an energetic springer spaniel charging around with the K-7, which I think my K20D would have had problems with. Focus assist light is occasionally helpful

(3) Much better live view implementation. It is now genuinely useful, and also much easier to access

(4) Better dynamic range enhancement options by separate controls for shadows and highlights. It's possible to use the latter without generating the significant image noise that you get out of the K20D implementation

(5) I prefer the control layout with direct access to things that are covered by the Fn menu in the earlier cameras. Quick access to key settings via the Info screen is also helpful

(6) nice to have a 100% viewfinder

(7) much better auto white balance (although not much of an issue if you are a RAW shooter)

That said, my camera has been back for repair after 6 months (I've never had to send a camera away before) so at the moment I have the feeling that where the K20D was perhaps a Saab equivalent, the K-7 is an Alfa Romeo - more stylish and does some things very well if you can live with its foibles, but also possibly a little temperamental.

Thanks to everyone who came along last night - we had quite a decent turnout both from here and DPR forum. It's a shame the weather wasn't better so may be we'll need to try again sometime closer to the summer. In the meantime, here's a few shots.

First few were taken on the way to the meeting. I walked from London Bridge to the BFI, and took a few pictures on the way, mostly around a bridge with some interesting lights installed, and then behind the Oxo Tower (more of that later). All of these were taken with an old 50mm 1.7 SMCM:






















I was a little early so had time to quickly check out the skateboard/cycling part near the National Theatre. Couple of quick shots taken with the 135 f3.5 SMCM:












After a short drink and chat while we met up (I think others took some pictures of this bit so hopefully they'll be posted sometime soon), we wandered back along the South Bank during a gentle drizzle. Looking at what I took, I seem to have a lot of variations of essentially the same picture! This one (135 SMCM again) is probably the best of them - and also the first time I put my recently-acquired Redsnapper tripod to the test (2 second exposure). I'm very pleased with it - a good compromised between price, quality, stability and portability.






One more before we decided we were getting too wet even if the cameras were fine! Back to the 50mm for this one, and a 4 second exposure leaning against a wall. Sadly it's not as sharp as it would have been if I'd used the tripod again. Lesson learned for next time:






We decided an excursion into the Tate Modern was in order - a time to dry off and use the facilities. And a time for me to use another old-timer (for the last two shots): this time a Tamron Adaptall 2 24mm f2.5:
















Hopefully others will post a few more pictures in this thread, but it was nice to put some faces to the names from the forum, and also nice to finish up for another quick drink in The Anchor before starting home. Hopefully we'll be able to do it again some time.

Cheers,

Jon

There is another way apart from the green button! Here is how I use manual lenses with all Pentax bodies. It works well and is quick when you get the hang of it. I prefer it to the green button but each to their own.....

INITIAL SET UP - WHAT YOU NEED TO DO IN THE MENU BEFORE YOU GIVE IT A GO

(1) set the depth of field preview (the ring around the shutter) to optical rather than playing on the rear LCD. This means you can use this button to stop down the lens and the viewfinder will give you stop down metering.

(2) set camera to enable use of aperture ring as Stefan has said

(3) set an edial to control shutter speed in manual mode. On the K10D or any twin edial body I would suggest you set the rear edial to do this - you'll see why below.

WHEN YOU USE THE LENS

(1) set the aperture you think you want to use

(2) with your eye to the viewfinder, turn the optical depth of field preview on (all goes darker depending upon the aperture you have set) and use your thumb to adjust the shutter speed with the rear edial until you have the exposure that you want. The viewfinder display will tell you what the camera thinks you should do but....

(3) my experience with the K10D was that it tended to overexpose photographs with my old manual lenses, so I used to underexpose compared to what the meter told me to do - generally by 2/3 EV (but obviously you also need to adjust this depending upon the subject matter). The K-7 seems to be more accurate so far with these lenses.

Hope this helps. May be worth experimenting and see which method you prefer?

Jon

I wouldn't let non-A put you off if you found a good lens at a good price.

It's easy enough to set the camera up so that you can use the optical depth of field preview to give you stop down metering, and the e-dial (I use the rear edial for this) to control shutter speed. So it's not really that much different from many of the old manual cameras that we used to use with an aperture ring on the lens (tick) and a shutter speed dial (tick, sort of) with indication in the viewfinder of whether the camera thinks you've set the correct exposure (tick).

Alternatively, the green button is pretty useful too!

You did very well to get the Sigma for that money! If it's in really good condition I would expect it to go for a lot more than that on EBay. It has a great reputation.

Aside from Pentax lenses (likely to be three figures for 24mm), the best regarded of the older 24mm lenses are the Sigma Ultrawide II. The same lens is also available rebadged as a Carl Zeiss Jena, but for silly money.

I recently bought a Tamron Adaptall 2 24mm/2.5, which I'm very happy with. Bought from KEH outlet on EBay (they probably still have some left) and it is brand new, complete with 6 year warrantee (Tamron standard 6 years in the USA!). It's a bit soft wide open (which I expected and which does not bother me) but nice and sharp by the time you reach the apertures you're likely to use. Secondhand, I would have thought these would run to around £60.

But you also need a Tamron PKA adapter, which adds a lot to the cost. I already had one of those, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered getting the lens as the cost the lens and a PKA adapter together would have been more than it was worth.

We missed you but managed to generate a nice smug feeling as we wandered around in the rain whilst all the Canikonians had gone into hibernation!

Another vote for the GGS protector - just used one to replace the Innov8 film, which does the job but is not really big enough for the LCD. It was cheaper than the Innov8, fits the LCD perfectly, and much easier to fit (if you keep the screen on while you do it).

FINAL CALL - London meeting after work tonight (Friday 19 March), with some people from DPR forum too. Starting at BFI Riverfront Bar on the South Bank at 6:30. Come and join us if you can.