I concur. Ten minutes browsing on the B&H site should be sufficient. Be sure when comparing with Nikon and Canon you compare with image stabilized lens since all your lenses on the Pentax will be stabilized.

A few years ago I was recently retired and wanted a DSLR. I got the Pentax IstD and certainly don't regret it. Over the next three years I acquired my lenses and moved to a K10D. I tend to not be the first one on my block with a new model. I prefer waiting for prices to drop and for the pros and cons to be well known.

Get a camera and have fun.

A. Give it a few days to adjust to a new camera.
B. I use the magnifier and like it a lot but it won't help with the problem you're describing.

FWIW, I'm eagerly awaiting for Pentax to write some raw codecs for Win7-x64.

You can have a....

wide-angle lens or a wide-angle zoom lens. A 14mm lens would be a wide-angle lens. A 12-24mm zoom would be a wide-angle zoom. The same holds for all ranges.

I just bought a K20d and will be getting it in two weeks when my sister visits me in Mexico.

I chose the K20d because of the price, $629, and it's performance and problems are well known and documented.

I have absolutely no need, or interest, in video. If I did, I'd get a video camera. I have thoroughly enjoyed my Pentax DSLR cameras and my only real wish is to have better focusing. All I want is instantaneous focusing that is always smack on.

For me, I didn't see the K7 as twice the camera as the K20d and right now it's twice the price.

I suspect at some point in the future I'll be considering the K7 versus whatever comes next.

I always carry my camera on a strap so I'm usually in the market for a new strap. I considered the R-Strap and how I shoot and decided it wouldn't work. I carry my camera with the strap diagonally across my body. I'm left-handed and the camera rides on my left hip when I'm walking down the street. If I enter a crowd or an environment where the camera might get bumped on my hip, I take the strap across my chest/stomach and pull it up six inches or so. That means the camera is riding in front of my hip. Occasionally, I do the opposite and have the camera riding on the small of my back.

With the R-Strap I'd have to hold the camera in a position other than my hip.

My normal strap is the soft Op-Tech Pro. Works for me.

I've never used the shimmy on startup feature. I live in Oaxaca, Mexico, and we're famous for dust and soot. So far, neither has been a problem with my K10D. If I get dust spots, then I shimmy, use my blower, and I'm good to go. I have nothing against using it on startup but I have no reason to do it.

I'm not as hardware focused as some. When I bought my IstD, I really liked it, enjoyed using it, and took some photos I really like with it. Then I bought the K10D when it had been out for about a year. The price had dropped, I had a lot of user comments, and decided it was a good move, even though I liked my IstD.

I got the K10D and rather quickly using my IstD was irritating. Probably my favorite characteristic for the K10D was I've never had to do a wet clean. I did a wet clean four or five times a year with the IstD. It was also more convenient to use and had more flexibility in assigning tasks to buttons and dials.

I just ordered a K20D. I'm not expecting it to be a big step from the K10D but with the K7 out the price was good, it has a few features that might be nice, users seem to like it, so I'll go with it.

So, for the specific question, no, I haven't upgraded or changed a digital camera and had regrets. Now with film cameras, I did.

People who buy DSLRs for some reason other than photography I think they are frequently disappointed.

I have never bought the hot new camera. I'm always a year or so behind the curve and sometimes I don't make the curve at all.

I never regretted going to DSLR and I didn't regret going from IstD to K10d. I'm considering going to a K20d now.

I recently went through my first exhibit, fifteen photos in a restaurant. I sold six which made me happy. But, you've said this is your passion. You had best be prepared for snotty comments and ridiculous criticisms from people who know nothing about photography. My favorite was from a guy who doesn't own a camera and sniffed, "Well, everyone seems to like them but they aren't any good."

As a practical matter, I had two friends, one a professional photographer and the other an art dealer, help me select the fifteen photos. When I look at a photograph I've taken I know the story that goes with it and I don't see it as a person coming to an exhibit, or coming to have dinner, would see it.

I refused to have an "opening night" for the exhibit. I told the owner of the restaurant that opening nights attracts supposed artists and freeloaders who come for free booze and snacks and they wouldn't buy photos or return to have dinner. Instead, we had invitations printed up that offered a free coffee and sweet when the invitation was presented. The restaurant owner was delighted with how that worked out. A surprising number of people went with the invitation and decided to order dinner, with free coffee and sweet, when they saw the restaurant and the menu. The exhibit ran for four months instead of the original one because people kept coming in with invitations. Another surprise was that most of the people who went to see the exhibit had never been to an "opening night" and didn't generally go to exhibits. Some of the people who bought pictures were in this group.

I live in Oaxaca, Mexico, and carry lollipops to give to children in the street. After 12 years, most of the kids know me as do their parents. A young Chamula girl came into the restaurant for a lollipop and I pointed at the pictures and said, "I took these. Do you like them?" She stood looking around the room and said, "No." Everyone in the restaurant started laughing and I laughed and said, "Everyone's a critic." Then the little girl said, "Wait, I like the picture of the clown." People who had finished eating or hadn't yet been served started getting up and strolling around looking at the photos. I told the little girl I should have her come in every evening.

I had two pleasant surprises. One was that people who had dismissed me suddenly thought my work had credibility. Same photos as before but they'd been exhibited. The restaurant is across the street from a Photographic Center which includes two galleries and I got some nice comments from people connected to the Center, too.
It's fun but don't be sensitive.