There are several alternatives, these are the main ones. I've left out the Sigma 70-300 versions as they are close to the Tamron 70-300 in price, but they are better at PF control but not as sharp, I've included the DA 55-300 as it performs better than it's price point would suggest.

Slowish AF, external zoom, but high IQ, small, light and cheap, better colours and less PF than the Tamron 70-300 - Pentax DA 55-300 - About £190

Reasonably fast screw AF, f2.8, big lump, internal zoom, and the sharpest of this type available - Tamron 70-200 f2.8 - About £650

Faster silent AF (HSM only), f2.8, biug lump, internal zoom, but not quite as sharp as the Tamron (by a small amount) - Sigma 70-200 EX DG HSM Macro - About £740

Fast silent AF (SDM and screw AF), very very sharp all the way and at any aperture, external zoom, small when packed, long when at 250mm with hood, the best colours and a decent focal range - Pentax DA*60-250 - About £899

Big, sharp, long range, internal zoom, huge, heavy and loved by many, fast screw AF but not HSM - Sigma 100-300 f4.0 EX DG - About £1120

I've owned all but the Sigma 70-200 EX, but I've used one. I've also owned the Tamron 70-300 Di. I still have the 55-300, the Tamron 70-200 f2.8 (sold, but not paid for as yet ) and the DA*60-250.

My favourite is the last, with the Tamron 70-200 a very, very close second (the size was the issue, nothing else) and I have a soft spot for the DA55-300, but might sell it on. Both the Sigmas are rather too big and heavy for me, definitely the 100-300!

The IQ differences between the Sigma's, Tamron and DA*60-250 are fairly small, in my book the Sigma's hit 8.5/10, the Tamron 9.0/10 and the 60-250 a high 9.5/10 (the DA 55-300 is 7.5/10 against the Tamron 70-300 at 6/10).

Sadly there's nothing in between the price of the DA 55-300 and the Tamron 70-200 f2.8. If the buyer of my virtually brand new Tamron 70-200 f2.8 doesn't pay up soon, that will be available!

Remember that the US price is without taxes. Add 15% to make a comparison.

Makes it £1023.50, therefore cheaper in the UK.

The Manfrotto 055 is a nice tripod, but it's a bit large and heavy, especially with a head, the 190B series is more my size/weight target, but I have my eye on the Giottos MTL 8350B tripod link and the Giottos MH1302-652 head link

The tripod is £176 and the head is £68, so the combo is £244, which is not too bad. The tripod actually has a built in pan and tilt mechanism which you can use without a head which is very handy (page down about halfway in the tripod link).

I shall be visiting my favourite tripod dealer to check them out.

I can see your logic, but think it will be a 3 model line-up for this year at least.

K-m - K?? - K7

I think the K200D/20D slot will be merged into one model (K??) that will effectively replace the K20D, the K-m is really the K200D replacement. I just hope they don't dumb it down too much.

Picture of video modes (courtesy of Pete Fang) - More shots on his Flickr site - link

Although the K7 is very interesting and an obvious step up from the K20D in many ways, it's probably too expensive and also a bit too small for me, plus I wouldn't use most of the additions/improvements.

I believe that the replacement "enthusiast" camera will will cover both the K200D & K20D niche, i.e. a mid price model. I suspect it will still be a small body and may be too dumbed down to be considered as a true replacement for the K20D, i.e. Penta mirror and single wheel but with the K7 sensor with all the LV features, as that seems the new de-facto requirement.

If the IQ is considerably improved and the body "feel" is okay, then I may consider a K7 when the price is around £500!

The K20D has everything (and more) than I actually need/use, so I have a feeling that for those of us who really like the K20D, it will fast become a classic.

You will find some more info on Pete Fangs Flickr site. link

Only $2500! Wow! I think I will order one for me and a few for my friends (NOT!)

I can really vouch for the Velbon Ultra Luxi L, my F model is pretty much identical except for the garish gold colour, thank goodness they are now black (they must have listened to their customers! :lol. It can comfortably handle 2 kgs with no real problems, but it's not a Gitzo GT1541T, which can handle an amazing 8kgs! But then, it's affordable!

I've used it so much these days in preference to my large Gitzo 2220 Explorer that I've just sold the Explorer together with all my big heads. Apart from use in very difficult windy conditions or awkward macro shots, I don't miss the Gitzo that much, but I do miss the accuracy of it's positioning especially when used with a Manfrotto geared head.

However, I would like a very slightly larger tripod which has an adjustable centre column and smooth ball head (for macro work). I am currently looking at the various alternatives. I don't want to spend much more than £150 - £200 for the combination, but I may have to go higher in order to get a carbon fibre model for lower weight and rigidity considerations. I will also have to invest in a stone bag link to keep the tripod on the ground when I have the camera and lens stuck out on one side! But I'm not in any great rush.

If you are a millionaire, then there are no finer small travel tripods than the Gitzo Traveller series. They are rigid, lightweight, small and very very expensive!

The GT1550T (the smallest) - Only £480 inc head! link

The GT1541T (still pretty small) - £380 w/o head link

An ideal head for it, GH1780QR - £186 link

Otherwise, if you're like most mortals , you are looking at the Manfrotto Modo Maxi or the M-Y series, Giottos MT Travel series, or one of the smaller Velbon Sherpa or Ultra Luxi range.

I use an Ultra Luxi F, which has been replaced by the UltraLuxi L which includes quite a decent removable pan and tilt head with a QR plate link.

Available for around £75 link

Here is a picture of my tripod holding a K20D with Tamron 70-200 f2.8 and 1.4x Teleconverter. If you need to add extra stability, you can use a stonebag, but I've never had the need.




Hope this is helpful rather than confusing!

Raw data has no sharpening applied, it is left to the converter to apply whatever setting it has as a default, or your own choice, unless you use the Pentax PhotoLab software which reads the camera setting and applies it to the conversion, unless, again, you choose to apply a different setting. Some converters do read the camera setting and apply their own interpretation.

If you are using Faststone and are viewing the embedded JPEG (fast) instead of converting each Raw shot (very slow), then the sharpness is whatever you set as your default on the camera.

Faststone can convert Raw images or display an image converted with it's own (very basic) Raw converter based upon DCRaw, you can choose what it does in the setting menu (F12), Raw tab.

Some folk prefer to do all sharpening at the Raw conversion stage, others prefer to apply no sharpening and do that as the last stage in post processing, some a bit of both. It depends very much upon your workflow and the destination/size of the final image.

There are many discussions on the topic of sharpening, both on the web and in books. Have fun and good luck!