Is that the Bigma to the left of your K20D? It doesn't look quite as enormous as I'd imagined.

The performance does seem to get better after it's been installed awhile though. After a day or two with the 30-day trial I was on the point of uninstalling it, but decided to wait and now (2 days of trial left) it's performing well enough that I'll probably end up ordering the student version.

What do you mean "you didn't get a chance to use it because it was dark"? From all I've read, the middle of the night is when its primary improvements (less hunty AF and better high-ISO) come into their own. Go find a black cat!

Or a sign that they haven't finished cleaning the sensors on the previous production run

I'm not that desperate to buy a K5 - though the high ISO capability would be nice. For one thing, my K20D is still as cracking as it was when I bought it and my photographic skills have yet to catch up. For another, my long-term saving/purchasing plan is geared towards the FA77 rather than another body.

Smeggy were those with the 10-17 fisheye? The backgrounds look too bendy to be the Sigma 10-20. Nice portraits though!

I agree with Snootchies' point - what matters isn't a lens's reputation, but rather how good a photograph the user gets out of it. I've had a similar experience with my 35 Limited: very few people would suggest an f2.8 macro lens (well, not a 35mm one anyway) as a portrait lens, but I wouldn't be without its sparkle.

To summarise: test charts don't take photographs, photographers do

Bear in mind that for £60 more you could get the Sigma 50 f1.4. It beats the FA for wide-open sharpness. However it weighs (much) more and isn't quite as sharp at f4-f5.6. You might also have go through a couple (SRS pay for return postage on faulty items IIRC, so only inconvenience rather than cost) before you get one that doesn't front focus.

Don't imagine it'd kill the DA*60-250, which (IMHO) is the best of the DA* lenses. Perhaps a DA*200-400mm f5.6 would fit the Pentax 'quirkiness' and also fit within the range?

Bear in mind that whatever you take has to fit into your hand luggage along with the actual hand luggage which is in your hand luggage.

There is little point in getting the 18-135 lens (now, at least) for its WR capabilities - since the K100D isn't WR itself. Just take a non-WR lens and either a) One of those £50 'camera jacket' things or b) A freezer bag with the end cut out, which does essentially the same job Neither of these will help with humidity of course, which could (I imagine, never been there) be an issue depending on where in Thailand you're going.

Bear in mind that Adobe are one of the companies which require proof of academic status before they'll give you a CD key for the student version

Well most of summer 2010 was taken up with dissertation-writing, but I had a generally good year. My main aim for 2011 is to take more 'good' photographs - I don't mean that in a dismissive way. A lot of my time since I got my K20D has been spent learning what type of photography I like, and on occasions where documenting the event is the primary aim (ie birthdays etc.). I've now got (I hope) at least a basic grasp of what it is I'm looking for in my photography, and hope to get more shots of the kind I'd want to mount on my wall (got two in the last month-and-a-bit so getting there!)