Follow JonSchick's advice - use M mode, adjust the aperture with the ring, and adjust the shutter speed on the camera with the DOF lever turned.

As someone has said, the K-m has an ideal companion in the pancake lenses Pentax do:




If the lenses are too expensive, second hand Pentax-A 50mm lenses give a similar effect for about £30!

I suspect few of us would part with cash for a second body, even a small lightweight one.

What about a super-sexy, rangefinder style Pentax with a BLACK AND WHITE SENSOR? Now, that I'd buy!

I used to have a 'Prosumer' compact camera, and while it was brilliant and offered full manual control (like the G10), the small zoom lens rules out experimenting with things like minimal (or enormous) DOF. And you are forever constrained by its minimum focusing distance and focal length.

[/quote]I... also like the idea of a camera which could always be by my side). That said, I don't want to feel like I'm compromising on image quality or functionality, or that choosing the G10 would hinder my development (i.e. if a DSLR is essential I'll learn to live with a bigger bag!).[/quote]I think the k-m is pretty small and discrete, and you will love having a proper DSLR so much that it will always be by your side, despite the slightly larger size! A compact will always feel like a bit of a compromise IMO, although they're nice to have a second camera if you have bags of money.

Wonderful exposure!

We could have our user name on it!

On second thoughts... maybe not a good idea in my case

(What was I thinking!)

Depressing to have to resort to such measures, but a good idea nonetheless. I inspect play areas sometimes, which involves taking pictures, and if I feel vulnerable (i.e. there’s some great big bloke with a rottie sitting there with his kids) I do put a hi-viz vest on. The downside is that people assume you are from the council, and come to you with all their little complaints!

The person was obviously one of those self appointed busy bodies you get from time to time. Why couldn't she have talked to you herself if she had an issue - would have saved everyone a lot of time.

Amin, you're taking absolutely the right sort of action. By handling the situation so well, and taking the time to talk to the park wardens, you are probably helping those officials to have a better understanding of photographers... why we take pictures etc. It can be hard for non-photographers to fathom why we do what we do sometimes!