The main thing is this:
* The smaller the sensor, the small the photo-sites and the more susceptible to noise they become.
* So... the larger the photo-site the higher the ISO can go (especially with CMOS, rather than CCD sensors)

A case in point is the Nikon D3. Check out the ISO rating on it

Additionally, for landscape photographers, the FF has the appeal of gaining ultra-wide that is very difficult to do with APS-C.
But, if you're into sports or wildlife, you'll probably find the APS-C better - because the lenses can be effectively smaller

(Oh yes, and one big downside of FF is it shows up any bad lenses you may have )
Matt

Well I paid for PTLens anyway - great product
It includes the Tokina 12-24mm lens, which bears a striking similarity to the SMC-DA 12-24mm in terms of correcting distortions.

Matt

Just some links that might be useful.
I've been reading a lot about CA and ways to fix it, since the SMC-DA 12-24 in some circumstances shows CA - most importantly the amount and type of CA varies according to f-stop and brightness, which is probably why I've been having such a pain of a time correcting with Panotools (though I haven't given up yet!!).

http://www.shaystephens.com/ca-ps.asp
http://epaperpress.com/psphoto/prePurple.html
http://epaperpress.com/ptlens/

Think I'll probably pay for PTLens, find a decent test target and get all the Pentax lenses I own profiled - that way everyone can benefit

Matt

Just paid £54 for an iPro 100x 2Gb card from Davoom
Matt

George,
There's a reasonable one on www.retouchpro.com :
http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/?m=show&id=213

And the "Dior" look:
http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/?m=show&id=209

Hope that helps!
Matt

Tricky question. I would say that for screen display, at that size, either the 1st or the second. I would go more with the second around the eyes and important details.

For printing, I would say the 3rd for film output, and the 3rd or 4th for inkjet output.

Regarding the eyes, it might be worth hopping over to ePhotozine and checking out my little tutorial on eye enhancement
http://www.ephotozine.com/techniques/viewtechnique.cfm?recid=376

(DO let me know what you think of it!)

Matt

Well he did say he wasn't buying any more lenses this year... so a new body is allowable

The original "MZ-S digital" was a full frame sensor and was going to be mega bucks (I think £5k or £6k). Pentax pulled out because the market wasn't large enough.

The *ist-D was Pentax's flagship, and a very fine DSLR it is too. The new product is based on the combination of experience gained from the *ist-D, the *ist-DS, the *ist-DL and the expertise of Samsung. Like all the rest it the sensor will be APS-C sized.

Pentax probably won't ever get to the dizzy heights of C or N. But I don't care - their products are excellent, the compatibility with older lenses is awesome, the friendly user base is a great help. And the Pentax SMC lenses... well they might not be built to Canon L series water-resistant standards, but the optics perform extremely well and are significantly cheaper.

If you haven't yet actually used one of the *ist-D series bodies, I suggest you do so soon...

(And when the new DSLR arrives, I'm in the queue. My *ist-D needs a companion )

Matt

Actually I should have said UltraEdit and UltraStudio - which is great for large scale C/C++ development

I do all my html (and C/C++) programming in UltraEdit.
Matt