I've dealt with the same guy and had exactly the same experience. I got very wound up by the whole thing, but as people say, ultimately the lens came, which is the important thing. I would never deal with him again though.

I own PS CS3, Lightroom, Silkypix and Capture One. I have to say Capture One is the best RAW converter I've ever used. Silkypix would be my third choice, but does sometimes come in handy for difficult conversions (like others, I often find that a difficult RAW file is best tried in several converters).

Interesting, I didn't know that. I was quite interested when we bought our house in 2006, and the legal documentation referred to "messuage". This was a word I'd never heard of, but I mentioned it to a lawyer friend, and he instantly knew what it meant.

I guess certain professions do require the use of certain language (although you'd think datum would be more common in IT)

Would anyone ever say "datum"? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datum As someone who works in IT, I always find it strange that I would never be comfortable using the grammatically correct word "datum".

Whilst I have a pedantic tendency myself, I recently read "Amo, amas, amat and all that" (see http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,1958659,00.html ) and thoroughly enjoyed the description of Latin w*nkers... people who use Latin to make themselves seem more intelligent by quoting in Latin without explaining what their quotation means. Then again, can we ever beat "Eats, shoots and leaves" for challenging overponcyness (my word!)?

The great thing about photography is the way science and art get jumbled up together, and I think that goes for cameras too. My all time favourite camera is the Olympus 35SP. It's relatively modest and can be had reasonably cheaply, but it's given me the most "keepers" of any camera. It's the right camera for me.

I never tried a *IstD, no. I've been looking around since selling up most of the Pentax stuff, and it's interesting how homogenous the market is. Only Pentax and Fuji really stick out for me. I am trialling a Canon 40D as of today, and we'll see whether I enjoy it as much as the 20D I had before.

I don't really know, George. I've taken 1600 shots on my K10D in 3 months versus 1600 shots on my RD1S in 18 months. I have literally hundreds of great shots from the RD1S and only a handful from the K10D. My ME Super and MX get used tons too, and I get loads of good shots from those.

I love the lenses and the Pentax colour, but at the end of the day I'm not getting the shots. I'm not blaming the equipment, but I think sometimes equipment is like a glove... either it's a good fit for you or it isn't.

I started with a Canon DSLR. Canon for me was all about sharp sharp sharp. As I've matured and learned to develop BW film, I've become more interested in tonality than sharpness. Hence the interest in the K10D.

I'm just rambling now. My only concrete criticism of the K10D was the autofocus, but once I went manual focus only that problem disappeared.

Who knows? I'll probably still hang around here a little. I'm still a Pentax user, just film bodies only

I don't think Pentax users have any need to be defensive. There are some things which Pentax does better than anyone else. In my subjective opinion, Pentax colour is the best, and backwards compatibility with lenses too. I would have to say from my experience (20D) Canon autofocus and high ISO is generally better. This Fuji S5 thing supposedly has the best dynamic range. Canon and Nikon have full frame, so might be more suitable for those who like wide angles better. Olympus and Pentax are generally smaller than the others. Pentax and Canon and Nikon have weathersealed bodies. These are all just different flavours.

What I think is incredible is how many of the boxes the K10D ticks at such a low price, even if it's not for me.

Still a couple of nice SMC-A lenses to sell and it looks like the postal strike is off, so postal buyers are welcome...

Not all my Pentax gear no. I still love my MX and ME Super and wouldn't change them for the world. I've kept my K and M lenses.

As I said to Reuben yesterday, I just haven't been getting many keepers with the K10D. I also use a rangefinder, and I get a lot of keepers with that. I am not necessarily getting another DSLR. Pentax has such great colour compared to the other brands that I'm spoiled for life!

Mmm lovely, gosh I will miss that one. Nice meeting you today!