certainly in terms of astronomy I get better results with my 300mm F2.8 lens than I do attempting prime focus photography with an 8 inch Newtonian.

However, if you want to attach a camera to any telescope with a standard interchangable eyepiece (usually 1-1/4 inch or 2 inch), this is easy. My Dad's Newtonian has a screw thread built into the 2inch focuser to allow T-thread mountings to screw straight on. I also have a T to 1-1/4 inch adaptor somewhere although I rarely use it. Pentax K to T thread adaptors are widely available and should cost around £6 - £12.

I shared your initial concern John, but I think the camera/lens is supported on the lens tripod mount, so as long as the DA* 300 can withstand 16lbs pressing down on it with no ill effects it should be fine. The lens mount is only supporting the camera.

I heard, although I don't know if it's true, that they originally made one multi-coloured Polo as a marketing stunt for a motor show. It was to show off how many colours the car was available in or something, but they got so much interest in buying the car at the show that it ended up being made as a special edition.

TBH though Stefan I can't remember the last time we weren't in the middle of a format overtaking another format.

You can never do a budget upgrade with any sort of futureproof upgrade path. You either have to go bleeding edge now so that in 4 years you might still be able to get parts which fit, or you can go budget line now and accept that you will probably have to replace the whole machine next time.

It has been ever thus.

I think there's a hacked firmware for the K10D which allows you to adjust back/front focusing issues. I believe it's a camera issue rather than a lens issue.

I've seen that many a time, usually from sellers who don't know anything about cameras and just copy the front of the lens incorrectly.

I've always been waiting for the day someone does it the other way around...

have you got a decent monitor? no 1 most important spec IMO.

after that I'd load up on as much RAM and HDD capacity as you can afford with a mid range CPU and GFX card.

also you will need a 64bit capable CPU to use any 64bit OS. If you're running a Core, P4, AthlonXP or early Sempron you're stuck with ~3.5GB tops.

Core2, Athlon64 etc are fine of course so in practice most fairly recent computers are 64bit capable.

agreed, an interesting discussion while it lasted though no? I hope you didn't think I was getting at you with my response above, I can get worked up on occasions!

I suspect you are right while Pentax exists. The way I could see it happening is if Pentax itself was wound up and Samsung saw a chance to buy the rights to the lens mount and maybe some of the designs without having to take the whole company.

Sigma is another potential in that situation, they've been trying to launch their SD line for years with no real success. They already have a large array of glass, the top end of which is very good. A widely recognised mount with a large installed base might be the leg up they need.

As you say, too many unknowables really!

Dead mans boots is the way in if you want in, the question is if anyone actually wants in!

of course you'd have to get hold of one of these to go with it