The web is a great resource and tool for photographers, but it's also a great void where a lot of excellent work gets buried beneath a vastly bigger pile of inferior stuff. We can all see where Guilio's photos lie now, and I am guilty of not taking the time I should to seek out the best to gain insight and inspiration.

Thanks Guilio for your support and encouragement on this site's gallery .... And please let us see more of your images right here

He hasn't hit high summer at midday yet

Very true - the lens is a crucial element and can have a dramatic effect on every camera body. Camera 'resolution' is a difficult thing to nail precisely in a discussion. It's not just about the number of pixels and how large that number will allow prints to be made at a certain DPI. That issue is going to be important for some, but I'm guessing those that really need it for this specific purpose are spread fairly thinly these days.

Its also about 'perceived resolution', and there's plenty of reports around documenting this as increased with the K3. But we have ways and means of adjusting and controlling perceived resolution with any camera. The type of sharpening techniques and how they are applied to your images will play a part in what you can extract from your shots.

You mentioned the Samyang 14mm Tom, and some of my shots with it ... It has an extremely high technical resolution that would benefit and complement any camera, and no doubt would be a stunning combination with a K3. However, what is most important in an image is infinitely variable. Many of my shots with the Samyang have been praised, and many have been criticised, for all sorts of things ... but never for a lack of sharpness or 'resolution' - and that's with the humble K7

Hope everyone has been able to enjoy the day in their own special way ... (oh no, that does sound like a cheesy Christmas card )

Let me try something about cameras then .... I hope that everyone's brilliant Pentax camera did a great job in perfectly recording the events of today.

Christmas Day can be tricky I think - white balance, now that's always
tricky - if you use flash do you set flash WB, or Tungsten and try to control it with manual exposure settings, and what about the camera custom menu options (like controlling if flash WB is automatically used - that saves some fiddling around, its good...)

I know - I see an opportunity ... I must get around to doing my 'Pentax DSLR-Specific Christmas Day Shooters Checklist' And don't worry, you'll all be the first to know about it

The Samyang 14mm f2.8 UMC is excellent in resolution, and all for less than £300. There's plenty of discussion about it on this forum, just search for 'Samyang 14mm'. And there are many examples of its use on the K7 on my portfolio also - please check 'em out .... link

It is Manual focus, not much of a concern at 14mm really, but it has the advantage on Pentax of an 'A' setting on the aperture ring, giving full auto-exposure control.

You'll certainly enjoy the upgrade - the amazing flexibility of the auto-exposure controls (using both front and rear e-dials), allowing instant access to each 'priority', along with the ability to customize the use of both e-dials, gives Pentax an edge I believe.

I guess you're talking about a dedicated shutter speed dial, like a mode dial on the top plate? I can see how these would have been very quick and intuitive to use, coupled with the aperture ring around the lens. You'd have had to read off the meter in the viewfinder wouldn't you, so you wouldn't be looking at the dials all the time - not dissimilar to what we have now where you can either check the meter and exposure compensation in the viewfinder, or on the rear LCD - clearly more flexible.

Seeing that beautiful old MX is nearly enough to tempt me back to 35mm ... probably not, but it does make me regret that I didn't use Pentax in earlier days

Its the build and feel of the old stuff that is so special - my 2 1980's lenses (an 'A' prime & an 'M' zoom) are always such a pleasure to use, and they both appear to have never been out of their boxes - I was lucky there. The finish is clearly of such quality, and it looks like the cameras were the same.

It will be interesting to see how long this trend towards 'retro' new digital versions of old camera styles continues. It will I think if its not just restricted to looks - the build and solid feel that is valued from the older items would be key to it lasting. I'm sure many here would enjoy 'retro' versions of lenses for example - the new AF, coatings etc within the solid & quality constructed bodies of the 70's & 80's.

I like these very much, in particular the cool winter tones with perfect whites!

No 1 is the pick for me. With 2 & 3 perhaps the contrast is a little high (ie shadows a bit too dark and whites a fraction too bright) ... a slight reduction on a contrast slider should sort it

Great macro, and I like to see them in their environment a bit. Great work!

No, its the cover of the Christmas Special edition of AP! Bought that one the other day! A good issue, and I read with interest the tutorial on how to produce the perfect magazine cover shot! You clearly must have written the rule book on that DrO

Its a beautiful shot, how could they not have chosen it? I'm not too happy though that I read all about it and not once picked up it was a Pentax image