The K10Ds 10MP sensor really comes in handy in indoor sports.

you can afford to use a shorter, faster lens and crop a bit tighter.

My most used lens for indoor sport is my Tamron 90mm F2.5 macro, but then most of my indoor sport is fencing and I can get pretty close in.

my experience is that the earlier, Japanese made, Tak Bayonet 135 F2.5 is pretty good as long as you don't give it an excuse to flare. The later ones made in Taiwan are less good. Alas the later model is much more common and my Jap one has a stuck aperture

well done, it has always puzzled me too but I didn't quite care enough to look it up (thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it!)

Pete, if you're using flash why use 1600ISO?

for the shots where flash is acceptable I'd have thought you could drop the ISO right down.

you've lost yourself a 0 there Tyr, shutter life on K10D is rated at 100,000 releases

looks like they dropped the price since I bought mine

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_1&products_id=996...

is the one I have, no problems with my K10D and 80-320, can't comment on suitability for anything heavier and as always YMMV.

I have the one from 7dayshop.com

£14.99 for a pod with tilt swivel head, very good value and surprisingly well made.

one of the other forums I contribute to had a brief fad a few years ago for avatar pictures showing the member pointing a gun at the camera. Started out with people holding airsoft weapons and progressed with variations based on the individual members interests.

Mine had me holding a Colt Walker .44 (a muzzle loading revolver of the wild west type, the largest legal handgun in the UK). That's one image I never want to see any variation on in real life! Especially since a quirk of the lighting situation made the chambers appear to be loaded (they weren't, of course).

I've never been on safari, but what wildlife photography I have done has lead me to the conclusion that 300mm is an absolute minimum for this sort of thing.

When I go hiking with intent to photograph things, I pack the following:

K10D with 80-320 and Tamron 90mm SP macro with matched doubler. This deals with the wildlife.

*ist DL2 with 18-55 kit lens. This deals with the landscapes.

I'm planning to get something in the 500mm range to replace the 80-320 though, either the 170-500 or just maybe if I can find the cash then the Sigma 100-300 F4 constant with a 1.4x converter.

If you want rid of it I'll give you the postage