[joe.penn]

As for waiting for the price of a K5 to come down, I am certain that won't be for a long time and probably until they come up with the upgrade to that. Sure, you might see the $100 rebates here and there, maybe a $100 rebate and $50 bonus cash, but even when that happens, then it becomes an S&D issue then.

[InlawBiker]

I'm counting on the K-7 used price of about $650, K-20 about $450-500. I have never used a K-7 though or a K-5 so, take the opinion of this newbie for what it's worth - that of some dude on the Internet that you have never met.

I recall the K-7 coming down to $999 right before the K-5 was announced, and if they follow roughly the same release schedule that should happen to the K-5 in about a year. Although, there was a lot of general grumbling about the K-7 all along while the K-x took all the good press so perhaps they were motivated to move them.

Maybe I'm just easy to please, but I spent the weekend playing with an old *ist-D and some primes and I thought it took awesome photos. Nobody seems to be lining up to pay more than $200 for them anymore though.

[jstevewhite]

I'm counting on the K-7 used price of about $650, K-20 about $450-500. I have never used a K-7 though or a K-5 so, take the opinion of this newbie for what it's worth - that of some dude on the Internet that you have never met.

I recall the K-7 coming down to $999 right before the K-5 was announced, and if they follow roughly the same release schedule that should happen to the K-5 in about a year. Although, there was a lot of general grumbling about the K-7 all along while the K-x took all the good press so perhaps they were motivated to move them.

Maybe I'm just easy to please, but I spent the weekend playing with an old *ist-D and some primes and I thought it took awesome photos. Nobody seems to be lining up to pay more than $200 for them anymore though.

Yeah, if you work from the camera forward you can make great images with any system you have. It's only when you work from the subject backwards that you run into trouble.

I love some of the images I captured with my *ist DL, and those with my K20D. I've still got both of 'em, though the *ist DL four-way-button doesn't work properly and it's $200 to repair (!!!!!).

It's often hard to have these kinds of discussions, because I absolutely believe you can produce excellent images with virtually any camera, but I also believe, at the same time, without reservation, that the K-5 is the best digital camera currently available from the marque - maybe from any marque.

[John Araki]

Don't forget the DA 18-135 WR lens, ~$475-$500 USD.

No sense in budgeting for WR camera without having a WR lens.