One more shot from this trip. C&C on all of them welcome (and thanks to those who have commented so far!)

Best wishes, Kris.

I only had about 30 minutes before my meeting and an hour and a half after my meeting so not much time for setting up compositions. I did miss one lovely shot of a lady cycling carrying two bunches of flowers --- I was swapping lenses when when the traffic lights changed. The biggest shock was getting back to Luton Airport to discover my motorcycle covered in snow and a blizzard. Made riding home more interesting than I like!

Best wishes, Kris.

(a) they are all good cameras and the choice is a bit subjective. All will produce photos good enough for my needs

(b) in body shake reduction and backward lens capability is a plus

(c) I don't care about FPS or full frame, both are irrelevant to me

(d) I've always used Pentax and have quite a bit of Pentax kit

(e) I hate to follow the crowd!

Then add to that the friendliest forum I have come across on the net.

Best wishes, Kris.

Learn to read the histogram. It'll help you a great deal while you work towards Peter's holy grail of getting exposure right first time.

Use your feet. Often you'll get a better shot by moving rather than just zooming.

Have fun.

Best wishes, Kris.

I managed to take a few photos before and after my meeting in Utrecht today. Not too much time and a bit of a grey day but the occasional splash of blue through the clouds. There is a bit of a theme...

Lifting bridge




Stone bridge




Cheeky pigeon




Wooden reflections




Coinage Museum




Barge




Floating ruin




All K10D, either kit lens or DA* 50-135mm, processed in Lightroom and CS3.

Best wishes, Kris.

As to long term storage, the Archaeological Data Service whose job it is to archive digital files for archaeology (and convert them en masse to a new format if needed) insist on tif files for images. I believe this is true for other data services too.

Best, Kris.

I tested the exposure problem on my K10 a little while back and found it gets progressively worse as you say until about f/11 then got better again. Not sure what the issue is with the Chinon lens but the fix -- determining a standard EV compensation -- should still help I would have thought?

BTW... does the K20D have the same problem with the M-series lenses?

Best, Kris.

Great, many thanks Hefty, I've ordered one. It is a shame that it doesn't use the more standard mini-USB fitting like my Blackberry, Palm, Canon compact and other past toys. I have a drawer-full of those!

Best wishes, Kris.

When you see photos like that you wonder why sell it! I only wish I could afford it but I am saving my pennies for other toys

Are you using manual mode and pressing the green button to get a light reading? Even if you are, there is an issue (with the K10 anyway) that it will not do a good job of getting the metering right. I suggest you set the thing on a tripod pointing at some flat neutral scene (a grey card if you have one), press the green button for manual metering, take the shot, check the histogram, then dial in some exposure adjustment and try again. After a bit of experimenting you'll know to add or subtract x-amount to the manual reading for that lens. As it had a fixed aperture you won't have the problem of compensating for different f-stops.

Hope this helps. Kris.