Did anyone notice whether he was shooting Pentax, Canon or Nikon?

I like his stuff, very much.

I hesitate to think of the reaction to any sort of change/improvement to this site! Whatever they did to it, the result is a very user friendly FREE forum without intrusive advertising.

I cannot see the joins! Which is more than can be said for most panos. Well done.

K200D is a lovely camera, but I think it's pretty much discontinued now. You may be able to get a s/h one about £250-£300. I got mine for £280.

However unless the small size and AA capability of the K200D appeals specifically, the K20 is a tremendous s/h bet at the moment, as people upgrade to the K-7... about £450. For the extra money you get more external controls, live-view, and improved resolution (will you really be able to tell at normal print sizes though)

The 18-55mkII is far from a dog! It's actually a very capable lens, and it's nicely built for a kit lens.

Your old lenses will be usable though, perhaps in manual mode if they are M lenses. I had the 28-80; surprisingly decent for an old zoom IMO!

I agree with you 100% Rich, and like you I have gone for the K200D as a sensible compromise between quality and cost. Compromise isn't really the right word though! If I can't get the results I want with that camera, it's down to me, not my kit.

'Beginners' who upgrade to high-end kit at huge cost are chasing expensive moonbeams if they think it will improve their general photography... although of course there are pros and serious users who may need the extra features

I did a combination of two shots taken using this lens (just uploaded to the gallery in fact) and the two images merged very well, in fact I didn't need to use any special software! So I am thinking along the same lines as you - it would be great for panos.

I understand that, but I was really only talking about USM tweaks. The gallery has resized my shot to 600 pixels, and that has made it slightly fuzzy. I guess it's best to stick to 600 pixels in future!

But no matter, it's no biggy... was just wondering...

The first argument is that it isn't full frame!

Is it possible/permissable to reupload a shot if, for example, it needs a bit more USM?

Although slightly overpriced, £35 is still a very little to pay for an excellent bit of kit - as sharp as virtually anything you can buy!