I was recently standing next to some press photographers who had the whole full-frame thang with them to cover an event. The size of their kit was just ridiculous for any other purpose and must have weighed a ton. I reckon each one was carrying at least £10,000 or £15,000' worth of equipment (2x bodies, 3-4x top-end lenses).

Is this really what so many folks are alleged to want? Light and compact (and, er, not £15,000) is the way to go, imho. Pentax have always been very savvy about this, but I don't know how easy it is to keep it compact on FF. Going larger and more expensive is a very odd thing to do when the rest of the world is going for smaller, lighter, nimbler and often cheaper too - mobiles, laptops, etc. It could be that the whole Full Frame ballyhoo is about ten years behind the times. Come and gone already. Unless you are a press or media person who really really needs this stuff, the world's moved on.

In my case, about 90 per cent or more hit the bit bucket. The ones I feel work are uploaded to my Flickr stream as jpegs. I use Lightroom to sort and develop from the RAW files (which I keep after deleting the pics which don't make the grade). When/if I have assembled enough quality pics, I might well try a photobook. That would be fun.

I have the DA* 16-50mm. My copy is very good at f5.6, goodish but starting to go at f8, poor at f4 and terrible at f2.8. 16-20mm and 45-50mm aren't great either, imho, particularly the wide end. Very good build quality, mind. Pretty grim CA in the right ie wrong conditions, not that good for flaring. Very good resolving power at f5.6, impressive. Lovely colours and contrast at f5.6 too. In fact, I am taking it back under the warranty for a check up or calibration as I've only had it a short while and the drop-off on either side of f5.6 is startling. If my copy stayed on song over a wider range of settings, so to speak, it would be an excellent lens and perhaps after a visit to the repair shop it will be.

Given how many folk seem to have quality or reliability problems with these xx-50mm f2.8 lenses, I wonder whether any is really worth it. A slightly slower xx-70mm sounds a bit of a safer bet and at least it won't entirely bust the bank. Shops are now asking around £879 for the Pentax. I think you'd have to be very brave to recommend it at anything like that price.

Sorry to hear about Jacobs, but maybe they'll be able to restructure and continue. I've had good service from their Oxford Street branch. I wouldn't buy anything from Jessops or even go into one. The few stores round here have the look of shops which closed a couple of years ago only the staff haven't yet realized.

I second the Kata 465i. I have a 467i model (a small backpack) and it is still going strong after three years of abuse. Well-made kit, imho, and it doesn't look so obviously a bag stuffed with goodies as some others. If I recall, price was around £65-70 which was good for the quality.

Lovely shots there, Charlotte. Do you mind my asking what extension tubes you are using? I have an D-FA 100mm and would quite like to try some but have no idea what to get. Also, are these shots hand-held or using a tripod? At the moment I am using hand-held with, usually, flash.

Well the street price might be lower than those quoted so far. From the buttons and the write-up, this looks as if it may offer a lot of camera for the money and it is weather-sealed as well. So while it may or may not be Pentax's entry-level model it will be much more than that compared to the Canonikon entry level models. We can already be sure that it will offer top-notch image quality if that 16-meg sensor is the one in the K-01. I wonder if there'll be focus-peaking in live view ...

Would that have been in Grace Brothers by any chance? It may well be inaccurate, of course, but perhaps not - and in any event you can go to the other forum and check it. See here

Lol. That's not what the list (a shot was included) says. It's on the other forum, so I'd check it before helping yourself to some more tripe. The margins differed on different lenses, ranging from 37% on up. However, bear in mind that I said "a notional selling price" before any reductions. The top price may not be what a dealer actually charges so his margin might well be lower but it wouldn't in the least surprise me if the price soon becomes the top one if Ricoh have their way. As I said, these gents in Japan are after big money - yours.

I guess the message is shop around. At present the K5 is a lot cheaper in Germany than here, as are some Pentax lenses. It probably won't last, as I expect that Ricoh will soon bring their pricing magic to the Eurozone too.

The news from the USA is risky for Ricoh. Internet sales serve a greater function there than in Europe because the vast size of the place often makes local stores impractical and because of their culture. Penalizing internet sales in order to support B&M stores may not work all that well in the US whereas it may work better in Europe.

In giving up the advantage of value that Pentax had over the Canonikon steamroller, I guess we have to hope that Ricoh have something else up their sleeve because it was one of the main things which kept them in the game, imho. Otherwise, trouble in store I reckon.

A certain irony in that the "big money" which some mention whenever the name of Ricoh comes up has turned out to mean the customer's money. A post on another website alleges that the dealer margin in one Eurozone country on one Pentax lens, the 50mm f2.8 macro, is 69% with the DA 21mm coming in at a scarcely less tasty 61% - on a notional selling price before any dealer reductions. I've no idea whether similar margins apply to the UK. Even so, brush up those bargaining skills boys.