off to Lakes tomorrow after some high res landscapes

Do I buy a couple of rolls of Velvia for my MX and film scanner(£20 inc processing), or a new K10D (£550 ish) in place of my istDS?

I have a Sigma EX 100-300 f4 and a Pentax DA 16-45 f4 (also Pentax 24-90 and FA50mm f1.7)

Both are excellent. Despite the regular counter claims on here (John?) many of the Sigma EX lenses are very good in deed. Why not wait for the new generation of Pentax lenses due over next year? If bonus money is burning a hole in your pocket, how about a new A3+ printer and better tripod to make use of all those extra pixels?

I've had problems with the mirror freezing in my MX at around -20deg C when ice climbing, it is rather old though and has never been serviced so the lubricants may have degreaded or dried out

I am very pleased with my Sigma EX 100-300 f4, if that's any help

I've ordered mine

Clever of Pentax to release te K10D to coincide with my annual bonus

I agree with John, the Pentax 16-45 is superb and also very good value for money

The true price of the kit lens is only around £50, (whatever the rrp may say) to enable kit bumdles to be attractively priced; you get what you pay for

I have nothing against Sigma, I use their excellent 100-300EX f4, but in this vcase the Pentax 16-45 is a no brainer

I have a Sigma EX 100-300F4

It is a very good lens, I use it with my Pentax DS, and previously on a MZs with no compatability issues.

It is mostly very sharp with no noticable flare shooting into the sun, autofocus is quick and accurate

Gets a little soft at 300mm f4, but sharpens up nicely at 300mm f5.6 - f8

watch out for the filter cost for the large diameter front end

I am looking to buy a tripod too

I currently have a Jessops cheapo, which wobbles like mad and is not anywhere stiff enough for sharp photos with my 100-300 zoom

I was thinking of a Manfrotto 190 pro tripod and a ball head, costing around £130 all in. I have heard that ball heads are much better than 3 way designs for landscape and action

I would welcome advise from others on the forum

Kevin

Although I mainly use my DS, I do enjoy shooting a roll or on my MX

With a good prime lens and fine grained film I can still get better detail resolution on very large prints; I often shoot film on my Ricoh GR1 with excellent results too. (I expect the K10D to narrow the gap)

I also have the satisfaction that it is bomb proof, having dismantled it to resolder the meter circuit after sea water got in (I wouldn't have fancied my chances with my DS)

I think it is also good occasionaly to make sure you get things right first time with film, eg grad filters etc rather than making good in photshop afterwards. Also MX is a good failsafe backup to the DS

Film or Digital>

Both of course!

Is this all about tring to get the noise reduction right?
Particularly electromagnetic noise from SR system?