To those who say the K5IIs isn't a worthwhile upgrade from a K5, I would say 'Of course it isn't! Who said it was supposed to be?'

Who are these people, who feel they have to have reason to upgrade with each new body? If they stopped doing that, they could probably save enough money to afford something really impressive, like a D800! (J/K)

The minor improvement in sharpness is neither here or there really if you already have a K5, but if you are a landscape photographer currently deciding between a K5IIs and a Nikon D7000, the slight increase in resolution (and in particular, the online buzz about it) might just swing you towards the Pentax body.

Unfortunately marketing is rather important. 13.8 evs of DR trumps 13.6, according to the blogosphere. One extra line of detail per mm, or 30th of an iso.

Vista just seemed too slow. My partner's Vista laptop had a much higher spec than mine on XP, but the performance was much worse. In fact it was barely usable.

You've let your beard go a bit, Vic!

Merry Xmas everyone!

I have pretty much given up on the forum search! Pop this into google - pentaxuser.co.uk: the tree

I prefer the 'blended layers' approach myself. I don't like a blown out sky, but I don't like images to look over-edited. So I just bring back a bit of detail to the clouds without overdoing it.

Being serious for a moment, when I see 'that shot' the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. I don't know about 'get it right first time' - there's no way I'll take that risk, I'll shoot and shoot.

What motivates me? Seeing what I think will make a great picture. On holiday last month (Lanzarote) I was taking some OK-ish snapshots of a volcanic cone which had some nice light on it. But they weren't special. Shortly after we set off in the car, I saw a scene which I knew would have made a much better photo. There was a family out working a field (of black pulverised lava, with lava drystone walls), on a little ridge with the same volcanic cone looming up behind it, the whole scene lit beautifully. The composition was just there in front of me, for the taking. Unfortunately I kept my mouth shut and we drove back to the hotel without stopping!

I think photography is a bit like hunting or fishing, but instead of a stags head, you bring back something a bit more aesthetic to hang over the metaphorical mantelpiece.

At least the camera never has a headache. And there's no 'strings attached'.

.... but the mount doesn’t half chafe! Oof....

What you want to do sounds fairly simple; I'm sure you'll find a tutorial online or just ask here. Puma might even do a video for you!

Well I snagged a K10D for a very good price. My partner thinks it must be a more 'professional' camera than my old K7, because it's so big I presume! Going back two generations of Pentax cameras makes you realise how far things have come, but I like it. And the image quality with indoor flash is superb.