Check out EU directive 1999/44/EC here to see that, in the UK, you can expect a repair or replacement anything up to 6 years from the purchase date if the purchased product could reasonably have been expected to last that long and the fault can be proved to have been there at the time of sale. The last bit might be difficult in some cases.

The Super-A I bought from new in 1983/4 eventually was sold for spares or repair when the shutter release failed to work intermittently . . . after 20 years of service. I'd call that reasonably reliable.

It did suffer an early life failure which was repaired under warranty.

I don't expect my Pentax digitals to last that long unless the 10.2Mp milestone remains for a long period of time, which it won't. So my digital bodies will be replaced long before they get worn out.

Re-wash and dry the negs and clean your scanner. Set up your scanning suite in a relatively dust free environment. Avoid setting up in the bedroom or anywhere close to a bathroom.

You could also use a vacuum brushing system or blown compressed air (away from your scanning suite of course) for dust removal but now matter how clean you think your materials and equipment are, you'll still get dust of some kind.

Viewfinder,

Before you answer my forthcoming question, please download the K10D manual, read it's spec and capabilities. Then please . . .

. . . tell us what you percieve as the "semi-pro qualities" that this camera lacks.

I'm not a pro, or even semi-pro, photographer and I'd genuinely like to know what constitutes a pro or semi-pro camera. I'm interested only from the camera body perspective. Obviously any camera body needs a reasonable lens system to back it up. Pentax has that already, mostly, and it'll be just about complete by mid 2007.

My first 35mm film camera was a Petri 7 rangefinder, before that I used a Kodak Brownie 127. I was recently reunited with the Petri when I cleared my late father's estate. I haven't dared put a film through it yet but it is totally manual, non interchangeable lens, with a CDS cell for metering - not a battery in sight.

As at today, the only non Pentax camera I own is a Fuji Finepix F810, a magnificent point & shoot. My wife uses a Minolta 3Mp Dimage ??? P&S and owns, but has rarely used, a Canon Ixus APS film camera.

I own one each of MZ-S, *istD, and a K10D. I use . . . all of 'em but I'm still on a bit of a learning curve with the K10D . . . but I'm getting there.

I'm sorry I can't be there. Its about a 3000 mile round trip for me (or several Ryanair airmiles).

Have a great day and do make sure at least one of you has a de-fib kit. All that excitement in one day can't be good for everybody

Cheers,

PS: We that can't attend insist on seeing some pics. Even if they are taken with a Boots disposable film thingy. The K10D may be weatherproof, but beerproof . . . ? I think not. Enjoy.

It is conceivable that the grip has some movement when fitted to the body. That'll be the sponge rubber weather seals moving. On the grip I have (I don't have the camera yet), there seems to be plenty of positive location pins to ensure an adequate fit to the camera.

Lilly,

IF = Internal Focus which means the filter end of the lens does not rotate when focussing. This has two main benefits, you can use a circular polariser and it won't turn, and you can fit a 'petal' shaped hood rather than a round one.

It seems these are made by SP Studio Systems but I can't find a web site for them either.

It might be worth contacting a wholesaler/distributor for info.

Isn't that because the camera 'knows' about newer lenses, focal lengths etc. and applies the correct amount of shake reduction depending on the lens fitted.
For the older lenses, you have to 'tell' the camera what the focal length is for it then to be able to apply the correct amount of shake reduction and hence the menu is only enabled when the camera needs user input.

I can't actually verify this because my K10D, posted from UK on 2nd January, still hasn't arrived