yes, that can be annoying. And photography is the only place I've had it happen to me. No one has ever said to me "you have a really good sword" after seeing me fence, or "you have a really good pistol" when I shoot well.

It could be argued that my camera equipment collection far outstrips my abilities as a photographer, but personally I like to make sure I am the weakest link in my hobbies. I find it far more frustrating when I can't do something because my equipment isn't up to it than when I haven't got the technique right.

what it comes down to is the fact that any chain is no stronger than its weakest link.

The process of photo-making can be thought of as a chain, with links representing such things as subject, lighting, lens, camera, and photographer. Whichever link is weakest decides the strength of the chain, or photograph.

Like most things, Photography requires the correct combination of equipment and the knowledge/skill to use that equipment.

A person with a K20D and a full set of DA*'s who doesn't know what an F stop is wont get far, and if they aren't willing to learn then they might as well have bought a full auto bridge camera and spent the money on a holiday.

Equaly theres only so far you can take photography with inadiquate gear.

Still, the experienced pro with a point and shoot is likely to do better than the numpty with a K20D IMHO. Knowing the limits of your equipment and working to them can do wonders.

I may be wrong but I don't think the AF system has changed between K10 and K20.

K20 ISO settings go all the way to 6400 where the K10 tops out at 1600. My brief play with a K20D in SRS last weekend seemed to show that 6400 is a real weapon of last resort, 3200 might be usable but without seeing the shots on a computer it's hard to say. Certainly I would expect the K20 to be better at 1600 than the K10 is, and with noise reduction the K10 is quite usable at 1600.

My impression was that the K20D has a quieter shutter, not completly sure though. It's far from silent, but it seemed more refined somehow.

K20D also adds dynamic range enhancement which effectivly seems to use 2 ISO settings at once to give better highlights and shadows. Not clear on how it works, but it will be neat if it does what it claims to.

but the point of turning it off is not that it doesn't get done, it's that it doesn't get done NOW. When I'm shooting astro, I take my dark frames manually and subtract them later myself using UFRAW. Taking just one DF per exposure setting litterally doubles the number of exposures you can take on a night.

I sincerely hope so! I would think very seriously before buying a camera where the long exposure dark frame subtraction can't be turned off.

is that right? it's a grave omission if so Pentax! Essentially makes the K20D useless for astro photography with any meaningful exposure time. I was really hoping that the CMOS sensor would re-establish Pentax as the brand of choice for Astro photographers.

with regard to how big you can print from the K10D, Ben the Pentax sponsored pro who posts here sometimes makes billboards from his K10D. If you and the lens are good enough, you can print as big as you like and then some.

Sounds to me like the only K20D feature which might tempt you is the dynamic range extension. Since we have no test reports yet on how well this works we can only speculate, but if it does what it says on the tin then it could be handy. Other than that, get a K10D and spend the £400 you save on better glass.

is that right? it's a grave omission if so Pentax! Essentially makes the K20D useless for astro photography with any meaningful exposure time. I was really hoping that the CMOS sensor would re-establish Pentax as the brand of choice for Astro photographers.

Alas, no you don't. Don't ask me why, but the *istDL2 still pre-flashes on manual mode. I know this because I have a friend with an exceptionally fast blink reflex who cannot be photographed with any camera which does the pre-flash thing. To loose the pre-flash you have to use a dumb on camera accessory flash.

It was good to meet you too Mike, I still find it quite ammusing that after my Dad and I spent several hours playing with all that expensive gear it was my Mum who bought a camera. The T30 is great, terrible shame they discontinued it, if not only the fact that I want a 200 F2.8 would prevent me from buying one.

What's the ETA on the 200 2.8, similar to the 300 F4?