In situations like that described by your scenario 2. I tend to decide on what Shutter/aperture combo I would like, then program those with TAv mode and watch the ISO. If it starts to climb too high I nudge my settings, if it drops low enough I might boost the shutter speed.

I agree your additions would make Auto-ISO much more useful (hint hint Pentax!!), just passing on how I deal with the situation described.

Pah they made their bed, they can lie in it! leave the good glass for us!

just to give you an idea how bad the bad ones are, I sold my Centon 500mm mirror lens when I compared it to my 80-320 and found that I got better images by taking at 320 and cropping.

bear in mind that I consider my 80-320 a little bit ropey past ~250.

It is also very hard to hand hold a lens that long and slow, even with SR.

K mount = Bayonet
M42 = screw

you wont confuse the two to look at! as long as it's a Pentax lens, K mount will always be fine with any DSLR, except for certain metering issues with M series and earlier lenses. As John mentioned there are problems with certain lenses designed for Ricoh bodies. This is not entirely limited to Ricoh lenses so it's wise to be careful when using older non-Pentax glass.

money no object, I agree, but money no object I'd take the K20 every time

We do not yet know the K-M's most important feature

Street price. (note Street, I know what the list price is, I also know it wont sell for that).

This is certainly true, it will be very interesting to see what the K-m actually comes out at though. If it's cheap enough I might be tempted to replace my ageing DL2 with one as a second body, it would be nice to have SR and 10mp on both cameras.

take it easy and get well soon!!

I use my SFX where my K10D dare not tread, it has never let me down yet and it's always come back in one piece. I actually have 2 of them and an SF7 because you just can't sell them on ebay.

My favourite AF film camera though has to be my MZ-7. hardly larger than an ME-Super with pattern metering and AF. Want to get from P to Av quickly? no problem, just grab the aperture ring (remember those?) and turn.

It also has the distinction of being one of very few cameras which meters correctly in open aperture mode with every K mount lens ever made, from K series to DA series (though of course you'll get some vignetting with most DA lenses).

as with all things you pays your money and takes your choice. But since Lilly is already intending to buy the Sigma 500DG, it seems reasonable to assume that the newer 530 will have at least as good forward compatibility.

Furthermore, Pentax themselves don't have a particularly good recent record with backward compatibility to their own flashguns.

It seems to me the only brand you can go for with reasonable certainty of compatibility with future bodies is Metz, since the AF48 and AF54 both have USB upgradable firmware.

I got my sonnar 135 and flek 35 together, boxed, in a nice gadget bag with a tripod and a camera body for £20.

I knew at the time each of the lenses was worth at least that much, but they just seem to go up and up.

odd thing is that the 35s now fetch less than the 135s, when it used to be the other way around. Certainly I rate my 35mm Flek much higher than the 135 Son. The former actually gets used, the latter I have been on and off intending to sell since I got it.