No reason why not, it has a moveable rear screen which is handy if you want to get down low, live view, takes remote shutter release and so on. More important for macro is a good lens, either a dedicated macro lens or one with extension tubes or a macro 'filter'. Also good lighting technique helps even if just using a reflector, there is lots of information out there as you have probably already found.

I am with you on that K30pete and can totally empathise. Many years ago I was persuaded to take a few of my paintings to a local gallery where they subsequently sold a couple. However when they asked me for some more it completely stymied my work, thinking all the time it had to be good enough to take in and failing to finish anything. I have since submitted some to exhibitions with one in particular being well received, but it is an expensive process. Also you get to think why is some rubbish accepted when yours isn't; the online equivalent is how many likes and comments an image gets although that doesn't cost anything. I wondered why some pretty mundane photos got hundreds of likes and comments on Flickr until I realised they had been put into dozens of galleries with loads of key words which seems to me a bit infantile. Just doing stuff for your own pleasure is much less time-wasting and more rewarding.

The FA 77mm f1.8 limited is claimed to be specifically designed for portraiture, although over your budget. How about waiting for a good secondhand one, or trade another, as it is usually good policy to not settle for anything less than the best.

Can I please make a suggestion to Ricoh? I welcome the K1 updates and it would be really helpful if the operating manual is updated at the same time. The printed version is available to download from the website, and I keep a copy on my iPhone and iPad for handy reference. I appreciate that reprints at every update would be costly so how about a digital version which can be updated and downloaded? Don't get me wrong, I love the detail and quality of the printed manual which comes with the cameras and would hate to see them replaced by cds, but assuming that new bodies will have the latest software won't it be confusing if they have features which cannot be found in the manual?

I gather that MLU uses less battery power than LV but of course you are 'blind' for the process, so better for long exposures. I seem to recall reading somewhere that for long exposures with MLU you need to mask the eyepiece to prevent light leakage but that isn't required in LV.

Who needs it when you have Image Synch?

Would it be so hard for Ricoh to put announcements on the various Pentax forums?

Why are these updates not put on the news updates column right? It shouldn't need a vigilant Pentax user to alert us.

Another question - if you haven't updated from previous versions are those changes incorporated in the latest one?

Cynics! Best dslr aps-c expert camera award this year for the KP, last year the best dslr FF expert camera was the K1 so Ricoh must be doing something right for us experts! Only kit launched in the current year qualifies so not really a useful assessment of the whole market. Is this year's category winner better than last year's, or vice versa? Nice little badge to put on promotions though.

Sorry, thought it was implied