I remember reading this, an honest review, now I wish I could afford the 77 and 31 lenses.

Although they did not admit it, they reviewed a pre-production model, rather than a production model with the correct firmware, trust me I know (insider info), the firmware sorted the issues the mentioned.

interesting thread.

I think I can sum up accordingly

The Pro photographer who totally rubbished the K10D over his D200 is clearly wrong. (and probably jealous)
The camera is only a tool, it's the person who uses it is the creative aspect.
Some Pro photographers clearly do not earn the name, yet some amateurs create stunning images (just look at some of the images on Flickr!)
Pro photographers are only confident due to a lot of practice, which any of us are capable of doing, especially in the digital age (but you have to have the eye first)
Some Pro photographers create stunning images with "humble" equipment (eg. refer to Ben and the images with the K20D as opposed to medium format), yet amateurs will produce poor images with "Pro" kit ( I know a person who has a 1D mk3 and the images are "snapshots" at best)

Finally, Go for the Kit that best suits you, if you have an eye for an image, you will get the shot you desire.

As an addendum, take a shot with different makes (say K-7 with FA50mm F1.4, 50D with EF 50mm F1.4 USM, Nikon D300 with nikkor AF-S 50mm F1.4G and Sony A550 with SAL50mm F1.4) put them through photoshop to tweak, and I bet you wont find much difference in the final results

You are quite right, horses for courses. A camera is only a tool, the user is the creative aspect.

I would not expect a photographer to use a large format whilst doing a corporate event, mind you it would be funny to watch though....

Money no object, a photographer would have different formats for different situations.

Large format for Landscapes
Medium format for studio and product
Full frame DSLR for corporate events and weddings
APS-C as a walk about, travelling and general purpose.
Compact (of course a decent one like G11/LX3/DP2) with full control to always have in your pocket to have to hand.

Of course none of us can afford to have each type of camera, so we go for the best compromise, and go for one or two types to suit (normally a DSLR and compact)

Even then the user still has to be a photographer.

I did see a Pentax 110 SLR a couple of years back, with its own velvet lined box. I looked stunning. Never bought it though, wish I had, as even if 110 cartridges we no longer available, it would still be an item to behold and keep. As for Leica rangefinders, they are beautifully engineered and look great (and Leica knows this), but probably too slow to focus and shoot. However Cartier Bresson did use his to good effect (understatement)
But Pentax were right in mastering the SLR as it is better in many ways to use than a rangefinder.

I can understand why you have changed, but it is a shame that you had to sell the Pentax gear in the first place.

I have taken images in low light on the K20D up to 1600ISO and not really had a problem with noise.

However after doing a recent corporate evening do to help a friend out, a couple of issues did rear their ugly head with the K20D (same would be with my K10D and *DS), namely the low light AF and the P-TTL metering is not consistant. Too many times I had the light all wrong on the images, yet others were perfect, and this was alternating on the shots, rather than in a batch, and this was in program mode!
IQ was fine on the images though.

Also, the D700, is full frame, which short of arguments about sensor size, is on the whole better than APS-C, which in turn better than 4/3rds etc etc.

There is nothing wrong with Pentax, and under most situations would be perfect as a camera, but under certain conditions, which are conditions that pros normally encounter, such as corporate "do's", a more accurate AF/TTL is crucial, as you are capturing a moment under intense circumstances, you don't want to keep looking at the LCD to see if the shot is okay, you want to ensure that the shot will be right first time.
Weddings are a different matter as you have more control, and I have seen excellent images (even I have done weddings with the *DS) with APS-C cameras.

In an ideal world the best Pentax DSLR would be FF (sorry) fast accurate AF from the Nikon (which I consider the best) and an accurate reliable TTL which is like CaNikon's, but of course uses Pentax's legendary optics.

Good luck with your new situation and you have probably chosen the best FF camera at a reasonable price (certainly beats the 5D and Sony FF)
I hope in the future you will add Pentax to your kit and enjoy the limiteds again.

Can't argue with that. What other manufacturer can list the 21mm, 31mm, 40mm, 43mm, 70mm and 77mm Limiteds, all considered amongst the finest prime optics made. And lets not forget the 35mm F2, the 50mm F1.4, 50mm F1.7, 55mm F1.8 A and the "holy grail" 85mm FA* F1.4. Of course, none!
Only Leica can be considered to make "better" primes, but with prices up to 10x Pentax primes, they can't really be rivals.

Anyway one of my favourite lenses is the Takumar 135mm F2.5, lovely creamy bokeh, no coating though, but that does'nt matter. Price? a mere £40 secondhand.

I forgot one more thing. according to WEX the Samsung is £294, not bad a price currently.

However, have you thought of the Pentax 35mm F2.8 Limited Macro?
Not as fast (F2.8 as opposed to F2) and more expensive (£474 on SRS, mathers in bolton at £319 if you hurry), but you do get full 1:1 macro with the lens, and I have heard that it is still a great "normal" lens too (some Macros are not so good as a normal lens). The downside of the Limited is that it will not work with Film bodies, but if you don't have any film bodies, then this is not an issue. It is however a Limited after all, so it will have the best optics that Pentax provide.

Hope this does not make things more confusing....

You're very welcome, glad to be of help.

In the meantime, might be worth searching in flickr with the lens you are looking at, to see what a lens is capable of. I do it all the time

Chris, if you do get the 35mm, let us know what it is like, as I might be interested myself as my 50mm can be a bit long at times.