Interesting indeed...

My own thoughts (and the article hit the nail on the head) is that the "casual consumer" no longer cares about image quality, possibly caused by "techno-babble" that claims that more megapixels = better photos. The added "bonus" of smartphones is that most (if not all) add gps information to the metadata, making it much simpler to geo-tag on websites such as Flickr. The only camera that I can think of in the Pentax stable with this function is the Pentax WG-3. I cannot speak for Canon or Nikon, but surely now is the time when a gps-sensor is built in to Ricoh Pentax cameras, whether they be compacts or DSLR's? If something the size of a smartphone can have one, why can't a DSLR? Would having such a thing built-in compromise image quality?.. Surely not.

The worst thing I can say about smartphone photography is that it "encourages" people to take photos of their friends with trees growing out of their head, and the like. Due to the relative cost of film and processing, I learned to think a bit more about what went into my photos, and whilst I'm no David Bailey, Patrick Lichfield, etc - I certainly think that for all its benefits, we are increasingly witnessing the "downside" to digital photography from the "casual-user" perspective.

Circuitry problem?.. Take out the batteries, give it a couple of minutes to lose any built-up charge, then reload the batteries to see if that's cleared the issue for you.

If the K-3 is being assembled in Thailand, I might have a word with my wife's uncle, as he works for Canon Optical there. He might have connections at the Ricoh Pentax assembly plant in Ayutthaya! All being well, I might see if a few bottles of a good SCOTCH malt whisky will get me a deal, since uncle enjoyed the few bottles we've already took him!

John - if I knew which forwarder was entrusted with the storage and distribution, I'd be on their case!!

John - it usually takes around 4-6 weeks for seafreight to arrive in Felixstowe from Japan, or if arriving by air, a direct flight from Tokyo Narita would be overnight. I'd imagine that, to simplify the customs clearance process, the bodies are shipped on their own Master Airway Bill (MAWB), or if by sea, on its own Bill Of Lading (B/L). As the bodies are duty exempt, it remains for the associated lenses and other accessories to have duty applied at the correct rates. My guess is that the cameras are shipped "as is" from the factory, and whilst the cameras are being packaged at the factory, their electronics bod's are working on ironing out "teething" problems that are then released as firmware updates. Taking into consideration the actual logistics of a "tandem global launch" these shipments will probably have left the factory in July/August, in order for them to arrive at a distribution hub, Europe's perhaps being based in Germany, who in turn would distribute to other European distribution warehouses. And, just for good measure, consider that most logistics companies work to JIT (Just In Time) practices!!

Gwyn - perhaps a firmware update has been released to address the kind of "problem" you've encountered. Have a look at the firmware update history - it may make reference to this problem, and advise that a particular firmware update has been released to address this for you... Either that, or sell it on Ebay as the ideal camera for Hallow'een, as it comes with built-in ghosties and ghoulies!!

Most obvious suspect (in my view) is caused by a glitch in a firmware update. If it was battery removal for a period of time (say, 24 hours) then the internal clock in the camera would lose its settings, and return the camera date to, say, 01/01/2001.

Check your recovered file sizes, Earl. If most of them (from the metadata attached to the 2 jpg's you emailed me) have a file size of between, say, 2-8Mb, then I guess you've pretty-much recovered the photos. If the file sizes are measured in Kb, then attempt to use another recovery program - a second program might pull the "lost" files for you.

Ok... Q.2 - which programs give you the grey screens, and which display the jpg's correctly? Whichever displays correctly, try "SAVE AS" prior to closing the image down again, or, if you are dealing with lots of "faulty" jpg's, go to your "SET DEFAULTS" from the control panel, and set the relevant successful program as the default. Hopefully, that'll fix things for you.

Earl - first question is: when you "hover" over the thumbnails (or right-click, and scroll to PROPERTIES), which file format has the thumbnails been retrieved as? (JPG, DNG, etc)