If you insist then, I suppose I must... Truth is I don't have much confidence in my own scientific abilities for this sort of thing. I imagine the variables are considerable.

Strikes me that to have any meaning to an individual, and then to inform that persons buying decision, that you'd have to apply some kind of comparative testing using tools and methods that you are familiar with. But I am concerned that this limits the value to other people, and so the test would have not much significance.

For example, in my case, I don't use any PS output sharpening - nothing I do in this respect to prepare my images for view is termed 'sharpening' at all. I guess the principles are similar, but the particular combination of 'definition', 'Detail' & 'DeBlur' filters that I like to use picked from a range of different softwares is not something that other photographers are going to replicate or be able to apply to their own workflow.

But on a purely personal level then I guess it might be worthwhile. The big question is - what is the best measure to establish that might give a meaningful conclusion and a practical benefit?

Check out Vanguard ballheads. I use one that comes with a built-in spirit level and 360% compasss markings around the base for precise adjustments. It has a standard fitting that screws securely onto my Manfrotto 055XPRO tripod and the baseplate is fully Pentax compatable In my opionion it offers great value for money and quality.

No! I much prefer just letting other people do all the work. And it doesn't sound like fun Do I really have to?

Thanks, I appreciate the encouragement!

No shortage of natural colours to record here at the moment. I'm busy preparing another selection from these two particular shoots. Its nice to showcase the local area when it is possibly a bit neglected, photographically at least.

Nah, blame it on that Lightroom thingy he's always using !

Hi Alessandro, good to hear you have chosen Pentax. No confusion at all - the price - performance ratio is precisely the correct way to make a buying decision. What else, looks?

Pentax stands up very well in my opinion in any price-performance comparision. And this forum is also a place to discuss accessories that work with our Pentax cameras. With lenses in particular it is this high level of compatability both with older Pentax legacy lense and independant brands that makes Pentax a very flexible camera system.

Plenty of people here will gladly offer advice on accessories for Pentax.

Oh yeah, of course - I'd forgotten that! Just what I need Its a very different beast though. I'm thinking more along the lines of the dimensions of the competition's top Pro bodies, but with the great Pentax handling and control features.

I've also made use of Lightzone within my workflow for quite a while. Like most software I use, I pick out the bits that offer something different or a better way of achieving a particular result, and for me in Lightzone the standout feature is the detailing options provided on the 'Relight' panel. This is a type of sharpening, but easily and quickly applied and very effective, at least on my landscapes.

The shadow boosting and highlight reduction offered on the Relight panel is also very quick and effective. And the program uses a completely different method of selection, with a range of shapes that are pulled into place to select different areas - quick and useful sometimes, not flexible enough for other things.

White balance is controlled using a very flexible colour wheel (similar to PDCUs 'Fine Colour' control).

The headline feature is the 'Zones' method of controlling brightness and contrast - a sort of Ansell Adams style division of brightness bands over the image - its a very different way of working on a digital file (no levels or curves here!), but in practice I have not found it as intuituve or controllable as alternative approaches in other programmes.

Initial RAW development options are very limited. For this reason I start out in PDCU and output a 16bit TIFF, which can then be opened into other editors, including Lightzone if needed.

OK, I'm happy to 'can it' for now . As Alan fairly points out, talk of Grips and other formats is off topic. It stems from my own desire for a larger Pentax DSLR body - that is looking like a minority wish-list item here . Lets hope Pentax can cater to this wide range of needs and wants.

I'm also interested in the discussions about the K5iis, and ever since it came out I have wanted to explore the question of whether you can reproduce the same output effect from a standard K5 simply through additional or differing sharpening methods? David seems to be saying this is not the case.

This is nice and 'clean' looking. Its a bit hard to assess the success or otherwise of any HDR process - success to the extent that its not overcooked or obvious in a negative way, but hard not to assume that the shot could look fairly similar without any HDR.

I think the textures and subtle light tones in the ropes are a strength. Personally I fine the large out of focus 'bollard' (?) in the foreground irritating - I think it would be more effective with a much greater DOF to the bottom edge.