cdaunis

No doubt. The camera is merely a tool, the lenses are the key. If the body lives up to the hype, having a half dozen benchmark lenses released 3 to 6 months after might just save Pentax from being a footnote in photography texts. It's not enough for Pentax to please the "believers", Pentax has to add converts for the bottom line.

Yann, do you shoot with Pentax? I have the *istD and I am looking forward to the K10D. The camera does some interesting things for the price point, but the best attribute of Pentax DSLRs continues to be the "backwards compatibility" of lens use. As Z points out, the proof will be in the pudding, and my understanding is Pentax is putting the final touches on the firmware (which is worrisome, but not enough for me to take my name of the list of buyers). I have a not inconsiderable sum of money tied up in Pentax glass, so their continued commitment to DSLRs is just as important to me as the ultimate success of the camera (in fact, you can't separate commitment from success).

Ben, I realize you just "bought up", but the 40mm pancake is coming with a "rebate" in the USA, final cost about $225. Now, that ain't scratch, but as a start on the new K10D it will be my preferred walkabout lens. And it causes conversation wherever I am with my *ist D, people are shocked at the size.

I have the 40mm pancake, what a sweet little lens. With the 21 and the 70 the K10D is a portrait lover's delight, but a little speed on the long end of the lens line would be helpful. The K10D is bigger and heavier than Pentax's other DSLRs, but these lens/camera combos are still practically pocketable.

I honestly feel like I did, at 11 years old, anticipating my first 10 speed bike. Value and specs for the dollar, clearly a potential giant killer. Now, if they open up a lens pipeline to feed the hysterical masses, I will collapse in a quivering puddle of goo.

And I ain't waiting till Christmas, either.

It's already on Santa's list, number one, number two being the DA 70mm pancake.

Brian, no doubt about what you're saying. I find it whimsical, amusing and often uproariously funny the things said about ratings in general. They are useless except as a tool for visibility, and if you know how to play the photonet game, you can be a very average photographer and get lots of visibility. I have no aspirations to be "discovered" on photonet, but there are many, many excellent photographers, many of whom go out of their way to help a kindred spirit improve his or her craft. It's a community, and perhaps I'm barking up the wrong tree for a sense of relationship with others sharing a similar passion. I love that I get some visibility, and I truly smile when I get 1/1's sprinkled with 6/6's. I'm not that bad, nor that good. But requesting feedback when your work is rated on either side of the bell curve shouldn't be like pulling teeth. And when I get ratings across the spectrum I know I've succeeded in producing a decent photo.

I would gladly trade any 5/5 or 6/6 ratings I get for a 1/1 with a commentary. The rates get the photo noticed, that's it. While I like the notoriety ratings provide, I'd prefer the instruction and feedback. I guess I could go critique only, but there is still the ego to boost, and even 20 1/1's means that someone hates your work bad enough to take the time. I'd just like to know why!

Here's my subjective take on the whole thing. I've been a member for a while, and I'm a complete amateur. I have an understanding of the workings of my camera and lens, but compared to the talent present on the site I'm quite a novice. Feeling this inferiority, I was rather reluctant to comment or critique, much less rate, until I found that by commenting/rating on what I liked (nudes) I began to think about what I liked and why I liked it so much. This experience, breaking out of my own little sociological shell, "enabled" me, or perhaps "empowered" me, to begin making comments on other categories of pictures. If you click on my link, you'll see the vast majority of my comments go to the nudes category, but not all. I've developed some favorites, photographers who I feel do good work, and I check their new offerings frequently. But I also run through the TRP daily to catch the last 24 hours' worth of offerings and rate, and comment, on those that request a comment, constructively. My interest in one genre has translated into viewing more photographs, not less, and in many more genres than I might otherwise have searched.