[jmdeegan]

recently wrapped up a family vacation, had some thoughts i wanted to put to the forum for feedback...

1-was plagued by the annoyance of taking the camera from cold to hot (was in A/C during the day, and out to the beaches of hilton head at night for family photos). silly me, i left my silica gel @ home, so i had no drying agent. i hoped the few minute walk to the beach would be long enough, but it wasn't quite. finally did clear up, but what further flustered me was even after i was getting a clear lens/pictures were clear, i'd get some which were totally fuzzy, even though they looked in focus. guessing this was residual from the temperature change? this was with the k-7 and 16-45

2-what further annoyed me was my PITA mother in law had her olympus point and shoot and is boasting she took the best pictures--because its all p&s and auto, and she didn't get hit with the same condensation issues. of course, because "it didn't happen to her, i must be making stuff up"...honestly her words....

tho, i did take some minor happiness in the fact that, with minor auto adjustments in iphoto, the k-7 images were better than those snapped by the other point and shoot in use (my wife's cousin's canon powershot).

the 3rd issue i had was, i packed the kit up, hauled it down and barely used it....partly because i was running around chasing the kids, partly because every other camera my wife or i have is a waterproof point and shoot far safer around kids and the beach. but i am now wondering...might it be worth it to substitute or augment my kit with a more travel friendly PEN (ok, partly i am dying to justify one)...or better yet, see if the rumors of a Pentax EVIL camera are true, and if so if they might be rugged like the majority of their other cameras....


as for the image quality...anyone in NY who can recommend classes, or clubs, or feeling like doing some after-work tutoring? i hate dealing with the mother in law lol

[Wheatfield]

I was on a pleasure trip to Chicago back in may. My consideration for camera was dictated by my desire to carry one bag, and not use checked luggage.
So, rather than take my K-7, and a few lenses, I ended up borrowing a friend's Panasonic. I don't recall it's model number, but it was a nice little package. I think it was a 24-60mm equivalent, or some such.
It worked well, but I missed my Pentax.
Anyway, I'd certainly look into one of the better compacts if it looked like the better tool for the job at hand.
Quite often, ultimate picture quality is less critical than actual usability. I bought my wife an Optio W60 for when the SLR is more camera than I want.

[adwb]

I sympathise with you problem, i think the way to look at is if you want to be able to take images you are proud to exhibit then the KX and assorted lenses will give you the most creative flexibility. If you want to point and shoot a little ""cheap" Happy snapper will do. Unfortunately the little happy snappers now have nearly all the features of their big brothers and this kind of make you wonder which is the better route to spend the hard earned and not to plentiful cash on!!:ugh:
Alistair