If you have a prefered JPG look 'n feel setting (bright, B&W, etc), you can still set them even if shooting RAW. Then, if you use the software supplied with your camera, those settings will be applied to the RAW image so the end result should appear the same, but better.

I can't see how image stabilisation of any kind could make that happen unless the stabilisation system is not given time to stabilise/lock. If that's the case, it's user error and not a fault of the stabilisation system. If using in body SR, have a look at the EXIF of some of the 'soft' images and check if the SR had locked.

And how would he know?

Hence the expression "Expose To The Right (ETTR)". If you ensure the highlights are not blown you can recover shadow detail more easily. Blown highlights are blown for good, no matter what camera/lens/software systems you use.

From my own experience, top end and mid range Pentax glass is optically superb, the focussing and tracking speed of the newer SDM lenses lets them down badly however.

I rarely use lenses from anybody's 'budget' range so can't comment.

I have both and I can see no difference. I've even left both turned on, and I can still see no difference.

If the highlights are blown in RAW, they would have been in JPG as well, and there's no way back no matter what file format is used.

With the greatest respect to a seasoned and very capable photographer, you must'ha got it wrong.

In RAW, you have about plus and minus 3 to 4 stops latitude to recover detail, the same just is not so with JPG.

I recently ordered 2 x 32Gb SDHC cards from Amazon.es, 2 x 32Gb SDXC cards arrived and both were either faulty or fake and would record only 3.6Gb no matter how they were formatted.

If ordering from Amazon, make sure Amazon is the seller, not just fulfilled by Amazon.

More images here.

Thanks for the comments. The sun is still a bit low in the sky at this time of year but we had one of the hottest days of the year so far.

The sun was not as much a problem as 2 of my new memory cards.

I bought 2 x 32Gb Micro SDHC cards drom Amazon.es recently for two Samsung phones. The seller delivered 2 x Micro SDXC 32Gb cards. To cut a long testing saga short, the cards have proved to be either faulty, or fake. Both will hold only 3.6Gb data and the writing speed is so slow, nothing like what I would expect from Class 10 cards. Consequently I lost a significant number of images yesterday.