Thanks for the spec. I don't feel a need to replace my K20 yet, but an 18-135 WR lens is tempting. If it can hold its own against my 24-90 that is

I'm thoroughly pleased with my K20D, but they still seem to sell for £4-500+ and I guess you are looking for something less expensive. I know people who use the K100D and K200D and don't have any plans to change in the near future - the K200D owner uses his semi-professionally.

Now I've bought a KatzEye screen I almost always use manual - otherwise centre point and re-compose if necessary.

The most reliable car I've ever owned was a Saab 900 hatch, about '93 - kept it for 10 years and 130,000 miles and virtually nothing needed replacing - odd brake pads, couple of bulbs, one battery, power steering belt at the end. I can't get on with the newer 9-3 body shape (like most modern saloons) as I'm fairly tall and the driving position doesn't work for me (I had a 9-3 TiD for 6 months then sold it after suffering chronic backache). I now have an '05 Megane which I like driving, but it needs regular electrical repairs - plus all four brake discs wore out before 30,000 miles. Won't be buying Renault again.

The toughest car I've had was a '59 side-valve Ford Prefect that I had as a student. I drove it into a pond once, the bonnet was under water up to the windscreen and water got into the oil, but it bump-started and got me home. Apparently it was still running 20 years later.

For a simple explanation I recommend 'Weather at Sea' by David Houghton (Fernhurst). It's marine-oriented but most of the principles apply over land.

Incidentally a good weather site I use for any outdoor activity is http://theyr.tv - it has hour-by-hour charts of precipitation, wind & cloud cover for the next 2-3 days, and covers Europe and North America. It was free when I signed up though there may be a charge now.

Stan

I have a Sigma 70-300 that I sometimes use with my K20D and while it's basically OK (definitely not up to the standard of my two 'main' lenses below), it is slightly soft at the long end. I've not noticed any problems focusing, but I mainly use it for landscape shots with a tripod, usually f8+ and focussing manually.

Hi Martine,

I bought my K20 just over a year ago and now have a small collection of lenses. I mainly take landscape/seascape, townscape, buildings and other largish objects, rarely macro. This is the process I went through:

I thought the 18-55 is actually a pretty good lens (and it's small and light), so I kept it as my sole lens for 6 months to see what limitations I found. I was often using it at full stretch, suggesting I needed something longer - I found a used Pentax FA 24-90 which fitted the bill (these don't come up very often and are fairly expensive). My next deliberate purchase was a DA 16-45 as a wider lens manly for town use: image quality up with the 24-90, and noticeably wider than the kit. I also have a Sigma 70-300 and some old manual primes; on walkabout I put on either the 24-90 or the 16-45 and may carry the other in my bag depending on what I'm expecting. So far I haven't felt the need to go wider than 16mm, and the 70-300 only makes a rare appearance. If starting from scratch I might consider a 17-70 as a compromise single lens.

You might come to different conclusions e.g. need a wider/longer angle, or look for primes at the lengths you use most.

Stan

I understand the initial impetus for this came from museums and galleries, many of which have hundreds of unattributed images that they can't publish for fear of breaching copyright. But (and this depends on the way it's interpreted and applied) it could be a spectacularly foolish piece of legislation that, as other posters have said, could open the British government up to litigation through both British and European courts. My guess is that some publishers will exercise a high level of diligence while others will take the risk assuming it's unlikely that they will be sued.

Paul, I have the same zooms as you and my choice for travel is the 16-45 and 24-90, plus a Gorillapod with a tripod head for shooting at dusk/dark: all + K20D go easily in hand luggage even with Ryanair which is about the worst for size limitations. I like to walk about (10-15 miles in a typical day): on the day I either pick one lens (e.g. 16-45 for city or 24-90 for general landscape) or take the other one in my backpack. I'm not that into primes (have 28 and 50 manual), but recently did a walkabout in a local village with only the 28 on and surprised myself by the range of shots I could produce. All depends on what you want to do!

Stan

I occasionally have a photo published in a specialist (mainly sailing) magazine or similar. One shot in particular (taken with my old Olympus 5060 and first printed as a double-page spread) seems to appear regularly, producing a small cheque every year or so. I've also used my photos for a couple of books/brochures I've published myself, and might one day get round to doing a series of my home town to put in some form of publication. But all the above is basically for fun and otherwise I'm strictly amateur.

Stan