Just to be clear, my previous statement was not meant to disparage you, HG, just to make a general point that people should bear in mind.

Since rumours feed people who repeat the rumours, the fact that two or more sources say the same thing is not significant.

A mouse that sits on the Delete key won't get much searching done!

Since your mum is the judge, find out what SHE likes and then take your best shot at that.

Behold, the K-x will then be yours.

Yes, but I am sure the ballet more than makes up for that small inconvenience.

(Visited once. Loved the art gallery. Everyone wore black metal shirts. Was some time ago.)

Personally I believe the DA12-24 to be both a much better lens and a much more useful lens than the DA*16-50, regardless of any Limited or star designations. It is absolutely distortion free at 24mm, very good at the wide end and usable from wide open. The DA*16-50 has rather middling performance and the SDM motor is haunted with failure. I rather dislike the distortion the few times I played with one, plus it is far too heavy and bulky for my liking. I see people using it without the hood in order to keep the size down, which is false economy.

One will often see pro shooters with a wide and tele zoom, leaving the range in-between uncovered, or maybe switching to a fast fifty when needed. The DA12-24 fits this plan.

But everyone likes to shoot differently. personally I have little use for tele and am happy with the DA12-24 and FA77 as a two-lens kit for much of my travels.

Seeing the price hike on the horizon I managed to trade the excellent DA35 macro for my DA12-24, which was a great deal IMO. Some day when I have money I will have to buy back the DA35, but in the meantime I have the wide end covered.

A good decision. There is one on Pentax Forums right now for $600 (no affiliation). That is well worth it for the best wide-angle zoom you are going to find.

Wow. I know when I started with digital I shot like crazy, but now a given outing does not come close to filling 8GB. In fact I only need cards that big when on holidays in special places (eg Andalusia). Generally when I pause for a pint or coffee I trim my previous shots of obvious rubbish, so when I get back home I have fewer to process.

The limitation currently is the processing speed in the Pentax bodies. Other brands do better in this regard... if you pay big bucks.

Not me. I'm with Man Ray. (The photographer, not the cartilaginous fish.)

That is a good rule of thumb but is not always true, nor even practical. With slow zooms I'd be shooting as fast as possible all the time, knowing my resolutions might suffer but that I needed the light. With a fast prime I'd be shooting so I had the DOF I wanted. It is rather infrequently I would say "a-ha this aperture has absolutely the best resolution so it's the perfect one for me."