That's the theory, but Cokin's ND grads have a reputation for giving images a slight magenta cast.

I was under the impression from the discussion of the patent Hoya got that the DC motors are an entirely new technology, and more than feasible as a replacement for SDM.

Also, I can't imagine that the new 18-135 requires less motor torque to focus than, say, the DA*55 prime.

Asking permission to be present in a public place*, simply because one happens to be a photographer, is bad enough but to be charged a £35 fee is (IMHO at least) unacceptable. It's fair enough if someone is taking a crew/equipment on stands/etc. that could obstruct the normal use of the station. The permits also apparently don't include a "Licence" to publish the photographs in any way, including on the internet. I can't figure out what they're on about to be honest - since they don't own the copyright to photographs taken by anyone other than their own employees.

*Public place, not public property: I'm aware of the difference

That was the point I was trying to make - when I was considering switching to Nikon a couple of months back, the prospect of not getting access to certain sections of Nikonians unless I paid meant I simply went to another forum.

Why couldn't the canonite just have bought a K series?

These are, however, the same idiots currently trying to sell a used FA77 for more than they cost new.

In that case why have Pentax gone to the enormous expense of developing a new focus motor? Most people whose SDM hasn't failed seem happy with it, so I can't see much beyond reliability that they gain by doing so.

In other news, the Pope is a Catholic

A fair few people on here find that Photoshop Elements is a sufficient complement to Lightroom, as it has the necessary features for most photo-editing tasks. I only use Lightroom at the moment though so I can't offer any personal advice on that.

I'm actually warming to the idea of a PU review section: reading a review from someone on here, whose judgement I trust, would be more useful than the Other Forum's section where an average score of 9.6/10 is mediocre

+1 for Photodo not counting - aside from the tiny number of reviews, the layout really is a mess.

If you can afford the extra £35 or so over those special-offer AF360s, then I'd suggest the Metz 48 (£135 from SRS). Compared to the AF360 (which is pretty good itself) you get:
*One third more power (GN48, vs GN36 for the Pentax)
*Swivel head - this means that you can still bounce the light off the ceiling in portrait mode, which the AF360 can't