K-5?

Go for it.

I did.

It's great!

In my opinion, if you are serious about photography, you should always aim to get the best equipment that your budget will allow. This could be secondhand (i.e. used), because Pentax stuff is well-made, robust and reliable, but nevertheless buy only from a reputable trader who will give you a good warranty. e.g. If you are in the UK, SRS always have a good Used range.

With your suggested budget the K-r is a good option, but you could also consider a used K-7 with Pentax SMC 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL WR Lens. With both body and lens being weatherproof (a great feature to have in the UK!), this would give you a superb base for you to begin to pursue your outdoor nature and architecture photography.

It was about 3 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon, 27 Nov, after a quarter-pounder at the Marlow Wimpy Bar.

This was and still is a great slr camera, very compact and well built. I bought one of these as good as new on eBay here in the UK just a few weeks ago, to add to a collection of one of each of the cameras that I used to own in my younger days. Last week I collected a CD from Boots Photo shop of pictures from a Kodak colour negative film that I shot with it a few days earlier. This is one of the suspension bridge over the River Thames at Marlow, using a Pentax-A SMC 50mm f2 lens -

[IMG]http://i42.tinypic.com/2exlwew.jpg[/IMG]

Bought a bayonet-fit one for the 18-55 kit lens on ebay a couple of days ago - £7.79 free post, and it works fine. Here is the address -

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330534322854&ssPageName=STR...

Genuine kit now under £400 at Currys/PCWorld.

As these comments appear to have begun in April, is this all a joke?
(I do hope so!)

I am pleased with my LowePro Altus 120. It is just right for my K-r with one kit lens attached, plus it has a zipped pocket for the other kit lens and another zipped pocket for a spare battery and SD card. It can be carried as a holster or shoulder bag. I bought it at PCWorld.