I recall a salutory tale in AP many years ago about the person who was a dedicated photographer and was on a coach trip to a fantastic location for shots.They walked from the bus to the site and realised that they had forgotten something critical ( pre digital ).Because of that they were only able to view the location and realised how much they had missed over the years by staring down a lens and missing the reality all around.
I have to say that whilst I agree up to a point,the camera makes me very much more observant in my day to day living and I see much more than a lot of people with their heads bowed down as they try to avoid contact with anyone.

Hi Gwyn,

sorry to have misjudged the man !!

Don`t think I`d like a loose Ds flying through the car whilst driving !!

My dad had the first Lotus Cortina in Liverpool ( it was a Dentist thing )he then foolishly got a great deal for it and bought the Cortina Lotus ( abomination )- shame I never got to drive it - but the Sunbeam Tiger/Rover V8/Capri 3 Litre were nifty as was the BMW 320i I eventually inherited.
I also had a +2 S which was a cracker.Still fancy an Elise...............

Strangely enough hefty , my Lotus 7 Series 3 ( 1600 crossflow )was in John Player Special colours - black with a gold pin stripe - until my missus creamed it ( not herself )in the front of a mini after a blackout in the heat of 1976 - happy memories of a magic motor.My uncle was in the RAF with Colin Chapman - he was always tinkering with cars and bikes and drove like a maniac.
Lovely colours though ...............................

Sorry to hear about your badly thought out anniversary present ( at least it wasn`t a new iron and board !! ).
My wife hated the P&S compacts because she had no eyepiece to look through and they were too fiddly ,so I bought her a brilliant Fuji Finepix 5700 - a great bridge camera with 10x zoom and video capability.She was really happy until she " borrowed " my *istD one holiday and the rest is history.Happy wife ,happy daughter ( got the Fuji )and happy me with an excuse to buy the K20D !! Result..........

Tony

Hi Aiki,

interesting thought - I met my new granddaughter for the first time in December 2009 ( she was 18 months old ) and after taking about 100 shots in the first day or so my daughter suggested that the kid would grow up thinking her grandad had a Pentax stuck to the front of his face ...!!
The up side is that she now plays to the camera and is VERY photogenic.

Tony

Hi Luca,

I`m afraid I sold the 1.4 / 50mm to brightstone over the weekend.

I still have the 100mm macro takumar f4,SMC Takumar 135mm,200mm preset Takumar,200mm SMC Takumar,300mm Tele-Takumar,SMC Takumar 300mm,SMC Takumar Zoom 85~210 - all with original cases,hoods,caps.

Tony

Hi Dan - enlighten an old fella please

No offence taken anvh...................

My wife chooses the car and the colour and IF I can afford it - we buy it lol.
Good job she`s in love with her *istD in Black !!

Sorry Greytop - gotta disagree there - the history of business is littered with companies that " had a great new marketing idea " in order to boost sales and encourage new business " ( burger companies selling "healthy" foods spring to mind ).
The people that want the jazzy cameras would be better off buying a point and shoot / pocket camera or a decent mobile - my last one was 7 mpx .
Leave the serious photographers with their pride and dignity and belief in a once world leading/beating company which should not need gimmicks like this.
After all Rolls Royce complained when a "celebrity" messed with one of their vehicles.

Tony

If I remember my BBC News24 it was his shadow - more winter ! According to my bro-in-law in Toronto it is the first time on record that the USA has had snow on the ground in every state ( except Hawaii )- Shame for Vancouver though !

Tony