Well it is not in between really it is just a k-5 with a worse sensor. Having said that I almost despise the crammed product lineups of other manufacturers. At least with Pentax things are clear, the K-5 is a serious step up to the K-r simple, however the K-r retains plenty of the main characteristics of the Pentax line up to be a very viable alternative.

Pentax should bring out a mid of the road option I think. I understand that their market share might not really be able to sustain three models but there is a fairly big gap between the K-5 and the K-r.

They are... I am not

Sorry I did not make myself very clear. I should have said I have now a similar setup to the Nikon in regards to covering my photographic needs. Ie a decent wide angle, a small prime walkaround and a medium telephoto.

I didn't own kit lenses on my Nikon setup.

No matter how brilliant the 70-200 is it is massive. Didn't and was not planning to own any of the 70-200 on any form. No matter how excellent the 14-24 is it is a 1k lens and it is not really wide enough on a cropped camera.

I could go on but I didn't get rid of 90% of my Nikon setup without reason. For my needs Pentax so far seems a better fit. No denying the plenty of advantages of the Nikon system, they were not advantages I valued enough.

Bought two from 7shop even if they end up managing 200 pictures each for 10£ the pair I can't complain! If they manage the 700 odd of the original I have then it was a total bargain

Assuming the weather gets a tiny bit better you probably will I have successfully replicated my modest Nikon setup with a Pentax one and I am rather chuffed with the change. All I need now is a bit of time to take some pictures and some better weather

Ok played a tiny bit around the house. Lens wide open at 135 is extremely sharp. Sharper than my 40mm at 2.8 for sure. The Sigma was definitely not as sharp wide open on either end of the spectrum.

AF definitely slower though but it is a trade off I am very willing to make for that kind of clarity. It also balances very nicely on the camera for me.

Thanks everyone for the advice guys!

Well I was not planning on it, yesterday it fell to one line, today I called SRS and was told 50-135s were in stock so I dropped by to try out and buy one. While I was taking a couple of pictures the battery icon emptied and the camera would not respond.

Now I know that when it drops to one line it goes right for the charger, thus why i am after a second one as it only lasted me something 600 pics.

Admittedly it is not very precise it stayed on full for over 500-550 shots then it dropped from two lines to none in less than 150...

BTW Smaggy do you have SR on when you manage your 2k.

Got one. Love it!!!