If your GP batteries are the one's I've used in Spain, they are rubbish.

If not used, Sanyo's Eneloop batteries are claimed to retain about 80% of their charge after 12 months. They are supplied pre-charged too.

They are also slightly smaller than most NiMh batteries and don't put such a strain on battery door catches.

Just curious, why would you need to use 2 different RAW converters?
Unless you do some editing in one, export, then continue in another, but I can't see why you would do that.

Have you tried PhaseOne's CaptureOne RAW converter?

I wish I was as innovative as you, Don. There was me thinking we had a serious problem, and there you are with an answer already, and so simple too. Um, do they make notepads without lines ?

I'm only interested for George really 'cause he only has a piece of paper (did you know he used to claim to be a gear freak?, a sheet of A4 paper is hardly gear, is it?). I'm OK 'cause I've got a really expensive piece of plastic that does the same thing. I have to concede that it's not adjustable in the same way George's 'gear' is though. Well, only in size . . .

It was a good choice as an all-rounder walkabout lens. There's not much in the way of photographic opportunity that you'll miss with this lens.

Prime lenses are of a fixed focal length (which you probably know) and therefore don't offer the convenience of framing options that you have with a zoom lens. Compromises have to be made in the design and construction of zoom lenses however. Speed is the obvious one. You'll find f1.4 - f2 prime lenses available at reasonable (affordable) prices but a zoom lens, say 16-60mm having a max. aperture of f1.4 would involve truly astronomical cost even if it were achievable.

Frankly, yes, it's asking way too much.

Close-up is more commonly called macro photography and there really is no substitute for a dedicated macro lens. This does not really include the zoom lenses claimed to have macro capability, they are simply able to focus much closer than normal zooms. Pentax macro lenses include 35mm, 50mm, and 100mm. I prefer the 100mm to maintain a decent distance from wary or dangerous subjects. Other manufacturers (Sigma, Tamron etc.) produce 90mm, 105mm, 150mm, and 180mm macro lenses. These are all primes and can double as telephoto lenses producing astonishingly sharp images.

Two lenses that I can heartily recommend to satisfy your requirement for portrait and wedding-type shots if you have the budget are the DA* 16-50mm and the DA* 50-135mm lenses. Armed with these two lenses plus a D-FA 100mm macro lens and you're just about sorted for most of your current needs.

If you take Georges advice and get yourself a SMC Pentax-FA 50mm 1:1.4 lens, it makes a good portrait lens as it is the equivalent of a 75mm lens in 35mm film terms.

Cheers.
Alan.[/quote]

But surely, once you adjusted your piece of paper once, it's useless.

Ah, but I had a thought, a piece of paper has two sides doesn't it so you could use the other side if you wanted a cooler effect.

Damn, now it really is useless for white balance. There's a job here for Don after all, we need a three sided piece of paper to resolve this.

Don . . . Don . . . never around when you really need him.

Canon and Nikon have their plus points and If I were ever to change from Pentax I'd go the Nikon route, but I'd have to win the lottery first. I have no plans to change brands and I don't do the lottery.

Pentax gear produces results equal to other brands without suffering a painful wallet or max'ing out the flexible friend.

You made a good choice.

Georges advice is very sound. If you have only one Pentax prime lens it should be a SMC Pentax-FA 50mm 1:1.4 (excepting a Limited lens at this stage in your Pentax journey).

Have you used film SLR's previously, or is this your first?

Come to think of it, Tim (Ammonyte) hasn't been around for a while either.

As Matt says, Sandisk Extreme III SDHC cards are blindingly fast.

Beware SDHC though, the cards Matt mentioned optionally include their own SD/SDHC MicroMate reader, which is great if you have a USB enabled PC available. That of course is most likely when in the comfort of your home, but away from home on holiday/expedition/assignment, unless you take a laptop, you may want to use an image storage device for convenience.

If you have any older SD readers however, it's likely that they can't 'see' SDHC cards. My own particular problem is that I have a JoBo Giga One storage device and it can't use SDHC cards.

Another satisfied Pentax User then, well done.

I'm sure you'll have plenty of questions and this is the right place to get them answered.

Now all you need is a grip, flash, half a ton of lenses, polarising filter . . . the list is as long or as short as your budget, but you have a great platform to build on. Enjoy.