I would'nt say it was daft, but it will help. As the lens mount is by far the largest area on the body, any sort of sealing in that area will help, even if the body itself is not sealed. Plus, some sealing is better than none (as Canon users always say.....LOL)

John has got it right. Three lenses, for travel. Any more and you find it a bind.

1. A wide to short tele zoom - 18-55, 16-45, 16-50. You won't be shooting wide open anyway, so their relative slowness (apart from the 16-50) won't be an issue.
2. Tele zoom - 50-200, 55-300, 50-135 even. Gives you a bit of reach when you need it, but depending where you go, you might not use is much.
3. Fast Prime - 50mm F1.4, 35mm F2, 55mm F1.4, 50mm F1.7...the list is endless. Perfect for when you want DOF control beyond F2.8 and small and light to use.

I have done plenty of short breaks and holidays, and the reality was that I did'nt need anymore than these three types.
A couple of years back I went to Budapest and took 7, yes 7 lenses! Did I use all seven. no, it was just the three, and carrying them around was a pain in the end.

For you and SE Asia, I would say the 18-55 and 50-200 WR lenses, plus a nifty(albeit not sealed - unless you can afford the 55 DA*) as it can get VERY humid out there and WR lenses will come into their own.

Hope this helps.

The copyright is global unfortunately, however you are able to photograph it, and put an image on a website as long as it is no bigger than 600px on the longest side, and you put a copyright notice with the image.

For personal use (ie no exhibitions, web-site showing or competitions) you can have it any size you want. IE if you want to put a nice large print of it on your wall.
Link here from a website concerning the Atomium in the US.
http://www.chillingeffects.org/fairuse/notice.cgi?NoticeID=760

Hi Chris and welcome to the forum.

I have done a couple of airshows and understand your predicament.
300mm at times is not enough.

However for new lenses, at the moment there are only two which would fit your bill, and both are Sigmas.

The 150-500mm and the 50-500mm (aka the Bigma)

The Bigma will give more flexibility due to it's focal range, however it is up to 50% more in price, and a lot heavier.

Both have SDM drive too.

Second hand you might find MK1 Bigmas (which are EX) and 170-500mm Sigmas which are perfectly fine for Aviation shooting.

Hope this helps.

I would'nt say it would be worthless, especially if LCE are selling an *istDS with kit lens for £199.
It will probably hold its value quite well.

Difficult to know really.

LCE in Manchester have a K20D and grip for £399 (no lens).

But they also have a *istDS with an original 18-55mm for £199.

I would say probably £350-400 would be a ballpark figure, depending on condition.

Unless, that is, anyone else has an idea?

In all honesty, I would be surprised if they have. Even now 14 months after it's announcement, it is still the entry-level camera to go for, (it is still the best bangs for bucks DSLR out there). However, even though the K-r is a K-x and then some, and a great mid range DSLR, maybe Pentax thinks it is too close for comfort to the K-x, so drop the older model.

Maybe one day we will see a consistant 3-4 model DSLR range from Pentax, where you can have a great camera for your budget. A bit like the others really. Having a 2 model range can only have a negative effect on the buying public.
On other hand, maybe Pentax have something up their sleeve and a new entry level camera will be announced in March at Focus?

No problem Dave. I was only going from personal experience when comparing my K20D (which is the same sensor as the K-7, in spite of Pentax say) and my K-5.
At low ISO there is not much in it really, we are talking about only 2MP difference, which when printing is not much IQ difference in reality. However at high ISO the K-5 it is something else entirely. So far, when I push the K-5 to High ISO's it easily out performs the K20D by two to three stops.
In fact today I did some portrait shots at ISO320, and they are better than the K20D at a similar ISO, not by much, but there is an improvement.

However, both the K-7 and the K-5 will out perform the Alpha that the OP had, mainly due to the fact that tech has moved on. But, and it is minor, it is whether the OP can afford the K-5. If he can, then that is the camera to go for. If not, then the K-7 will be a very worthy alternative.

However users going from the K-7 to K-5 is a different matter.

I suppose it comes down to step changes.

K100D(and eqv) to K10D - Big difference
K10D to K20D - Small changes involving ISO and IQ
K20D to K-7 - No IQ change, but build/fps/shutter changes
K-7 to K-5 - again quite small, but ISO and FPS

But step over a model and the differences become more apparant
K10D - K-7 IQ, ISO, build, shutter, AF, etc
K20D - K-5 - Again ISO, IQ, build, shutter, AF, etc

Hope this helps.

Could'nt agree more. Get a fast fifty and use it. This will be the best way to learn about Depth of field. Plus the images will have so much more quality and impact than the lens provided with the camera at the same focal length.

It is there to protect Pentax, should you use the camera for taking things that are copyrighted, such as Videoing a Play or show, take an image of a copyrighted building (such as the one in Brussels) or other items already copyrighted (National Trust springs to mind).

However, When it comes to images that you have created, it does not affect you submitting those images (apart from above) to stock agencies , uploading to websites etc, as YOU are the copyright holder and not Pentax. And don't worry about RAW files, as this is only the basic image and the end result will be jpeg anyway.

Jpegs are the industry standard nowadays, and not subject to copyright for the user who has taken the image.

As long as you comply with the stock agencies requirements for submission, you will be fine.

Hope this helps.