I've had the same thoughts as I'm off to China. I'll be taking the K20D, DA 17-70, DA 55-300, all in a very inconspicous black rucksac.

Regarding a compact I'm much more tempted by something like the Samsung WB650 travel zoom or one of the others in the test here:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q210grouptravelzoom/

Simon

Just spent 3 days over in Wetton (aptly named) in the Peak District & never removed my camera from the rucksac. Enjoyed some nice hikes around the manifold valley & Dovedale but the weather stopped me catching any photos - the summer months, July & August in particular, are becoming dead photography months for me, most of my shots are now taken between Sept and March.

Simon

Especially like the last Red arrows shot - I must admit I never even knew Rhyl had an airshow, is it new this year ?

Simon

It's always intersting to read tips like this for us "newbies", only having taken up photography since digital appeared. The sunny 16 is something I read about when I first picked up a camera a year or two ago in 2007 (In Bryan Petersons 'understanding exposure' book if I remember correctly) but must admit to never having felt the need to use it, being honest I probably still won't - still good to be reminded about it though !!

Simon

I bought (for very little) the excellent plugin PTlens, corrects verticals and lens distortion - worth all of the few pennies it costs !!

simon

I'm not sure that the rumour is true, at least this time around.

One thing I do believe though is that Pentax definitely will produce a mirrorless camera - personally I think it's where the consumer DSLR market is heading. Mirrors are old technology and personally I'll be happy to see the day when EVF technology is perfected

Simon

Just put your Pentax username in the comments box when ordering

Simon

Just to complicate things....

When looking at the histogram on the camera after capturing the shot this actually represents the processed jpg image, not the RAW data - this is regardless of whether you are shooting RAW or JPG. If you only check the brightness histogram its also possible that one of the colour channels could be clipped - so alway check the RGB histogram too!!

What this often means in reality is that if you shoot RAW and use the histogram to check & then adjust exposure in camera you'll nearly always end up with more dynamic range than you thought when processing the RAW in Photoshop etc.

Just in case I've not explained this well...this guy definitely does..

http://www.ronbigelow.com/articles/camera-histogram/camera-histogram.htm


Simon

Just to add more options..if you feel you won't need 300mm then the Pentax DA 50-200mm is very good and SRSMicrosystems currently has a few for sale at £99 with 6months warranty.

I do find though that when I use the tele (not all that often) the extra range comes in useful (I used to own the 50-200 too).

Reading the comments from Bob and Algi, in your budget the DAL looks probably the best bet. I'm sure a few more owners will add further comments

Simon

True..although personally I prefer the metal mount of the DA to the plastic one of the DAL...I assume that the optics are the same on both though - looks like the OP is spoilt for choice !