Steve,

1. Not sure - but loads! Having a CMOS sensor (as opposed to CCD) means you get a lot! Several hundred shots - and if you use the grip then you can fit a second battery.

2. Out of the box it is menu based (press the Fn key). However, you can easily assign it to one of the wheels. I normally use "Av" mode, with aperture on the rear dial and ISO on the front. Pressing the "Green" button switches to Auto-ISO, and rotating the front dial switches immediately to a selected ISO rating. All values shown in the viewfinder too. (No other dSLR does this!)

3. Manual focus is fine - you can even use the AF system as a focus confirmation with manual lenses. With AF lenses you can use "auto focus on demand" by making use of the dedicated "AF" button on the rear.

4. Sorry - no experience here.

EDIT: Overall I love the K20D. The flash metering and wireless control with P-TTL could be better (Nikon have the best control as far as I can see). However, the range of lenses, the quality of the CMOS sensor, and the low-light capabilities and the sheer value for money make the K20D a "no brainer". Printed results from RAW are superb (even if I say so myself! ).

Hope that helps!
Matt

Compositionally it works nicely. The problems with lighting are easily fixed in post production - as well as the differential white balances

I've had a really quick go at it - three curves layers:
1) "Hill shaped" curve to change gamma and lighten butcher's face. Then "hid all" masked and painted back in with soft white brush.
2) Fairly steep "S-shaped" curve to increase contrast in the shadows - blended this in for the counter only.
3) Very slight "S-shaped" curve to give a bit of extra pop

Then, a "Color Balance" layer to try and balance the top lighting (masked).

Link to image: http://www.pbase.com/image/108563121

That's about it
Matt

PS If you want me to email the Photoshop PSD file then I'll happily do that. Just PM me

Since I shoot RAW, I leave the noise reduction set to "Off" or "Weakest". Silkypix does a great job of cutting the noise. However, I find that ISO2500 is about the highest I go, and ISO3200 at a push.

Matt

Not sure about a "simple" one, but the PhotoME ( http://www.photome.de/ ) shows an unbelievable amount of information - including 16-segment metering values, lens name & ID, camera temperature etc.

I know there are EXIF libraries around, and some command line tools as well, but PhotoME really has a vast set of information decoded from the EXIF.

EDIT: Exif tag information for Pentax here. (From where PhotoME gets information)
Command line tool "EXIFTOOL".

HTH!
Matt

See this old thread - Pentax USA said 300V for the *ist-D As the K20D has a PC socket, I think it's unlikely they'd reduce the protection limits... might be worth phoning them in the US

As has been indicated, using a cheap light-triggered slave cell is definitely an option - you'll just need a plain manual or "A" mode Pentax flash to trigger it (the AF160 can be bought for under £10. There's not much control on it, but it'll do the job, especially if you diffuse its flash too)

HTH!
Matt

Some dSLRs... notably Canon

I've never heard of a Pentax being "fried" Nikon and Pentax appear to have good protection on the flash triggering - around 300V apparently. Nikon actually state the highest safe voltage in the manual (D300), but Pentax, alas, do not - though there was a copy an email on here that specifies 300V too.

If you are paranoid then there are little adapters that include extra protection circuitry (some on here use them).

You can always measure it - carefully - by using a voltmeter between the edge connector (the spring on the side of the flash that makes contact with the main part of the hotshoe) and the centre pin. Just mind your fingers!
(BTW it has nothing to do with how powerful the flash is - it's down to how they designed the trigger circuity)

Matt

The 50/1.4 is really rather sublime - if only for the ability to shoot at f/1.4 to f/2.4. It really shines around f/2.2 - and I've found it superb for flower shots. Makes a great portrait lens too.
On digital it's not a "standard" lens, but I've done days out with just the 50/1.4 - as a compositional challenge

The bokeh is just out of this world on the 50/1.4

Matt

PMSL!! Hysterical!
My favourite sentence was "The dawg was lawst in the fawg" I'm going to be saying it like that now
Matt

a) Because of the physics of the normal lens
b) Keep the camera back parallel to the subject (which may mean you have to go higher)

or... you can correct using the Photoshop distortion correction filters (or Silkypix has vertical & horizontal correction controls too).

or... you can get a "Tilt / Shift" lens at a huge price You may find this helpful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perspective_control_lens

Convergence can be used for creative effect - to create more diagonals in the image, for example. Basically, pointing the camera slightly upwards makes verticals converge at the top, and pointing slightly downwards makes them converge at the bottom of the frame. The same thing happens with horizontals, incidentally, if you are not pointing perpendicular to the subject.

Matt

VirtualPhotographer is another great plugin!
(Thanks for the link John )