You will learn about exposure and photography in general much faster using a DSLR and at a much lower cost.

You say you "can't do manual" and "can it be used fully automatic" . . . so how exactly are you going to learn about exposure?

Stick with the DSLR, your learning curve will be much steeper with some help from this forum.

One point about lenses that seems to be missed is that most current Pentax lenses are made to suit the APS-C sized sensor and produce a smaller image circle than Canon's L series lenses.

This size difference makes them smaller, lighter, and cheaper to produce, yet doesn't compromise image quality.

This point alone, even if relative IQ's were identical, would mean Canon lenses will be more expensive than equivalent focal length Pentax lenses.

And another thing, Canon glass is expensive . . . because there are enough people around who are still prepared to pay. Whether they need it or not, or have the knowledge to use it, is food for a different topic.

Did I miss something? The Pentax AF mechanism requires the mirror to be down, not up. Doesn't the mirror stay up in 'machine gun' mode? If so, how can the AF system work?

Actually I've never used this mode so I'm preparing myself to be shot down in flames . . .

Do I take it that you have a negative opinion of Park Cameras Peter? They are advertised by Pentax UK as a Pro Dealer...

Or, dare I say it, we on the forum are blessed with 'good' service from SRS because of our familiarity with them and people (one previous forum member excepted) have nothing but good to say about them?? A slight aside at SRS, twice I sent enquiries by email, they were slow to respond and lost one sale as a result....

Peter[/quote]Not at all but having spent a lot more money with SRS, and any issues I've had have been resolved instantly and without question, they are still my preferred supplier.

My comment was about the current trend of choosing a supplier purely on price and ignoring the pre and after sales service if it should become necessary to use it.

I had 2 duff DA* 16-50 lenses in succession, both replaced very rapidly, and my current one is excellent. I had a small problem with an AF540FGZ flash, the lock preventing the head from tilting downwards from the horizontal didn't work, again it was replaced without question.

I also know that if you call Chris, he will always give the best deal he can and usually a bit lower than their web price and he gives us free shipping. But you have to call, he's not going to advertise that here.

Truth is a lot of people buy from them, therefore their stock turns over more rapidly. He buys as much stock as he can when he knows the price will go up, just to keep his price down for as long as possible. Eventually of course, that stock runs out and the new stock is at the higher price.

Yes - with the exception that you may get some vignetting with lenses having an APS-C image circle.
Yes
Yes, more or less. You may have to be patient. Mine cost £38.00 and looks virtually unused.

There are other bodies to consider like the MZ-7, MZ-5, & MZ-5N. I think only the MZ-6 can use the wireless and P-TTL capabilities of the AF360/540FGZ flashes and some other third party flashes (Metz & Sigma).

If you want a really small camera, look at the *ist film body, but it might be more than £50.00 and it has a 'crippled' K mount preventing full use of older lenses prior to the SMCP-A series.

Typical 21st century response .

Exemplary pre and post sales service counts for nothing it seems and price is the only consideration to some. Hence the proliferation of box shifters.

Shame.

Checkout a used Pentax MZ-6, usually under £50.00. It does wireless P-TTL flash, and you can s et the aperture on the body for lenses having no aperture ring. Even the 'flagship' MZ-S can't do that. If it could, I wouldn't have sold mine and boght an MZ-6 to replace it for £38.00.

Oh, and the MZ-6 can use pre-A series lenses, unlike the MZ-60.

Now that's the kind of firmware change I would like to see incorporated into the K10/20D models. The K20D is still current after all.

Well ebay is one of the worlds fastest growing economies, so they think they can do what they please. The simple answer is . . . don't use them.

There was a world before ebay . . . it was just a bit more time consuming.

Price this morning (Monday):-