I like having a manual when I buy something expensive and complicated like a dslr. After spending £500+ it seems a bit cheap not to include one. To be honest when I have such a special new toy, there are several days where every moment I'm not playing with it, I'm leafing through the manual. Sad eh.

I have no idea of your level of knowledge so please forgive me if the following is teaching my grandmother to suck eggs!

Generally the higher the ISO the 'worse' the image quality. 1600 ISO is quite high, and although the K-x is great at high ISOs, it is not perfect, and you will notice a slight blurring of the image when viewed at 100%.

Aperture - generally f8 offers a good depth of field for general shots like this, ensuring ,ore of the shot is in focus.

Shutter speed (shooting hand held) - generally the shutter speed should be about the same (or higher) than the focal length of the lens. So 1/20 should be the lower limit when you are shooting wide-angle.

It's hard to tell what's going on when the pictures are posted small on the web. Resizing them always makes them soft, which is why most people apply Unsharp Mask (in Photoshop Elements) to pictures before they upload.

Looks like Pentax's marketing strategy worked out for once! (ie. don't do any, and hope the product is good enough to sell itself)...

I can see what drew you to take the shot Pauly. Nice graphic qualities in this shot, perplexing mix of angles and reflections. Maybe a crop would make it more easily digestible in one view.

How frustrating. Something's not right if the automatic settings like Av didn't produce anything close to a correctly exposed shot by moonlight.

Well done Apple. Cos the one thing we are all missing in our lives is another screen to look at.

Anyone seen the new iPad announced today? WOW, a giant IPHONE! How revolutionary!

If a gaping hole appeared in the sky and sucked up all the iMacs, Macbooks, iPods, iPhones, iPads and assorted Mac-based applications, never to be seen again, I would be delighted.

Try a second hand LINEAR filter. People think they need circular polarisers so the linear ones go for less on ebay. Hoya ones go for under £20 usually and Hoya is a brand I would trust.

The linear ones work, no matter what anyone tries to tell you - on Pentax at least. The picture here was taken using a second hand Hoya linear pol: link I can't see any reduction in image quality whatsoever, and the sky is considerably darkened.

As far as people spending £££ on premium filters, I have a nagging suspicion a lot of it's down to clever marketing, although the bargain basement brands are definitely worth avoiding like the plague.

I bought an Ortlieb handlebar bag padded camera insert from ebay (£12) and found it fit perfectly inside a small 'army style' canvas haversack (£3.99 from Yeomans). Absolutely brilliant! Fits my K200d plus 16-45 and 4 manual lenses plus room for bits and bobs like filters, batteries and flash. The padded insert came with adjustable velcro dividers.

Ortlieb handlebar bag: link