My advice would be to look for a cheap second-hand DL or DS to get yourself into digital. The extra features of the MK2 versions and the K100D might be desirable but they're hardly essential! Then after a few months or maybe a year, you'll probably have a real hankering for a K10D and the price will have dropped to a more acceptable level.
Whichever Pentax DSLR you chose now will be an ideal learning tool and will provide you with a spare body to accompany your K10D.

I agree, but also with Matt's comment.

Mr. Rockwell's review seemed honest and truthful - he admitted that he hadn't set up the SLR properly but that he did use one for most of his serious work and he also highlighted where the compacts' performance was poor - so it was a pretty well balanced review.

The whole point was, I feel, that he was attacking the techno-freaks who simply have to have the latest and greatest kit but who have absolutely no intention of learning how to use it properly or how to handle post-processing.

For us non-professionals, most of the time the majority of our photos are taken at social events and holidays and they are inevitably 'snapshots' and are rarely viewed at large sizes.
Shots have to be taken as and when the opportunity arises and it is simply not possible to expect everyone to stop what they are doing and wait for the photographer to find the best vantage point, set everything up and then further wait for the 'light to be right'.
In such situations, a decent point and shoot compact (that you can whip out of your pocket at a moments' notice), is perfectly adequate.

My DL is a vastly superior camera in every respect compared to my Trust compact but the Trust does have a decent Sony sensor and a pretty good Samsung lens and I have to say that there are many shots where if I didn't know better, I'd be hard pushed to say which were taken with which camera.

That is what I believe Mr. Rockwell was trying to illustrate and I think he did it rather well!

Having said all that, I probably wouldn't come close to taking full advantage of the K10D's capabilities, even on a purposeful photographic expedition, but I still want one

The K10D certainly promises to be a fabulous camera but I just wonder what else Pentax have up their sleeves and how quickly they'll be released.
By then end of '07 we'll probably have the K10DS followed shortly by the DS2 and K10DL and then the DL2...ho hum!

I kind of assumed that the 'K' was to further promote the fact that all K-mount lenses were usable, the '10' for 10Mp and the 'D' for Digital...........so where does the '100' in K100D come from? (blimey, wouldn't that be a camera )

at Don.

I think it's an improvement but what about peeps with their 35mm compacts :

Err, "45-70 range".........have I missed something here?

Ah, yes I see, the Sigma is a wider range but I very much doubt that it's a better performer but it's certainly good value.
I think you really have to handle a lens and preferably fire a few test shots before you can decide whether or not it is for you

Goodness, Zaphod Beeblebrox and Arthur Dent together in the same thread!

Stick with eBay, F and FA lenses do crop up from time to time but don't forget that A series lenses will also provide focus confirmation on the K100D (I don't think M series do though).

I believe Don is right.
As for the lens, it is neither listed as suitable or unsuitable in my adapter's manual.
The A*400mm F2.8 ED(IF) is listed but causes vignetting when used in conjunction with the RTF.
My manual was printed in March '87 (SF cameras) and I guess the 400mm 5.6 might be listed in later editions and I'd be very surprised if it didn't work just fine.
I thought the recommended minimum max. aperture was F5.6 but the 'slowest' lens listed in my manual is F3.5, so perhaps I'm mistaken and F3.8 is the limit.
Given that up to date cameras are somewhat more capable in low light than the SF range, I would expect a reasonable speed from the adapter and your lens in bright light and pretty decent image quality from that combination too!

I certainly have no problem focusing my Tamron 500mm F8 mirror lens with the AF adapter (bright conditions) although holding it steady enough to be usable is another matter entirely

Err, I think DaveR is looking for a manual for the Timer Switch

This has certainly been an interesting discussion but as always, there are so many variables to consider.
I don't own a 'really' fast lens but I love the bright viewfinder image that I get with my A50mm 1.4 and find it very easy to focus and my Tamron 135mm F2.5 is also excellent in this regard.
Different lenses should always be tested on the same camera body as I'm sure there are minute differences in the precision of AF sensors.
Focusing manually (by eye), will be easier for some people than others simply because of their eyesight but I do recall, when my eyesight was considerably better than it is today, that I often disregarded the split-image and used the entire screen in my ME-Super.
Sometimes it's the apparent focus that is most important - why use a spirit level to put up a shelf if it ends up not being perfectly parallel to the skirting board or ceiling, it might be precisely level but it simply won't 'look' it!

[quote="impotentspider"]Well, that would also have a diffusing effect