It makes good sense - peoples 'personal life-cycle' on any partictular item can be very long indeed. No doubt my k7 will become the 'backup' and 'adequate for ...' item in the future for me!

But is Peter Burian exaggerating in painting the K7s image processing capabilities as a significant advance at the time it was introduced?

The K20D is a good few years old now - but it clearly has ongoing value to you. Do you keep it because it offers anything practical in particular that the K5 doesn't, or is it more of a familiarity / nostalgia type of thing (like people have collected older cameras for decades) ?

Also, these two cameras (K20D & K7) have been referred here as having the same sensor. I wonder is that really true? I only know the K7 personally, but I was thinking about some details covered in my guidebook to the K7, 'Magic Lantern Guide' written by Peter Burian. Here he talks about the advances over the 'previous model', and refers to the 'Prime 11 Image Processor' and '4-colour Processing' as being newly significant.

He also lists things like the continuous shooting speed, AF assist lamp, and other things as well as being improvements. There's a long list actually but I don't have the book with me, but it certainly makes it sound like the K7 was a good distance on from the K20D.

sterrejte was right earlier - I missed that fact that in Av mode in this scenario, the camera's exposure is effectively locked at way too bright!

Av holds the aperture, shutter speed is 180th max, and ISO is also fixed. The camera cannot 'do it' with these settings.

That doesn't explain why P mode didn't work though - with this setting then the aperture would be free to stop down. The shots are what, 2 to 3 stops overexposed? So f11 or f16 should be getting closer?

Not great apertures for these portraits though. But the next thing for the OP to test is that these ambient exposure settings actually work. I would suggest as an experiment trying a similar scene, set in Tv mode 180th sec, record the aperture the camera gives you, then manually set this (with any minor adjustment if you want it a bit darker or brighter).

I'm assuming the settings will be something like 180th sec & f16. I'd agree with sterrejte also on using ISO 100. These will now all be fixed, and the ambient exposure should be OK.

It gets more fun now - how the flash power is controlled depends on the unit and its connections. But I still think the simplest way is basic aperture and / or distance. As Gartmore said earlier, you want about '1 stop' less than 'normal' flash for this fill-in type. So f16 might be about right! Try it, and if the face is still too bright then move the flash further away and try again.

The K7 is my first ever digital SLR, and my first ever Pentax camera. I made the decision to jump in to the brand based on how good the K7 felt, handled, the controls and features I could see in the shop - and an excellent price for all I was getting. I knew the Pentax name meant quality historically - and that was plainly evident from the item in my hands. I had no opportunity to view any images properly or process anything from the camera.

But I was aware of the sensor size and the details of its specifications, which were superior to the competing brands offerings lining the shelves beside me. In terms of control and operating features the K7 was the only camera in the shop that offered so much without going hundreds of pounds over my budget.

I was using a Panasonic bridge-type digital camera for about 3 years alongside a fairly simple Canon film SLR and a small collection of lenses. I was scanning a lot of my negs at that time and editing them.

So in all the respects I have been highlighting, the K7 was a big leap up for me.

[quote:3496ace15f="Smeggypants] Yup people upgraded by buying newer generation film [/quote]That gave them better images, but also they upgraded by looking for improved camera controls, handling features, ease of operation and configurability of the device. These things were valued and paid for if desired. And in many shooting situations would also lead to improved images.

Sure, Size matters! It doesn't counter the argument though, it applies to different extents in different situations - I didn't say that all images would be more difficult to capture on the camera phone. Obviously you need to be able to get the camera out of the bag But once it is then the K7 body and its features would offer more control over the picture taking process.

Yes it is! Well, it should be. The K7 does, and most of these type of functions are carried on with the K5 exactly the same.

Its the same for Af or M focus - when in LV mode, press the 'Info' button to magnify. Keep pressing to jump to higher magnified views - eventually it'll go back to 1x (full view) again.

While magnified you can use the '4way controller' buttons to move around the image to look at details, very good for focus fine tuning. The green button will return you to the centered position of any view.

Trubshore, help us out here! I see what you're saying sterretje - but if he's in Av or P, OK, the maximum speed will be 180th, but won't the aperture stop down to produce an acceptable exposure. Another poster mentioned metering mode above - I suppose if it was spot mode on a dark face the meter might be way off? So Trubshore - is it just an overexposed background, very bright highlights behind that is the problem - or is it an overexposed subject?

3 & 4 are my favorites, so yes, angles it is! They have more energy, but also the lines behind the cars are much clearer and have more bite.

Its OK, I'll keep chipping away. Take comfort that there's some things in life you can always rely on