[Marc Sabatella]

I take RAW pictures because I need to photograph documents.

Why do you say that? This seems like the *least* demanding application I could imagine in that respect. I mean, th advantage of shooting RAW has to do with being able to get finer control of PP and more latitude to correct WB and exposure errors. But with document photography, it should pretty much always be possible - and indeed quite easy - to get consistent lighting/color/exposure. And it's not like one really needs to fine tune curves and so forth on a document. If there was ever an application for which JPEG seems every bit as well-suited as RAW, this would probably be it.

[Kerrowdown]

If you are taking the kind of image numbers you mention, you need to have back up camera bodies. Especially if this is the way you plan to make your living, you need to be able to cover the bases if one fails.

Also it low cost way of resolving potential endurance issues, it sounds sad but bodies come and go, good glass is for life, well with Pentax it is, unlike some other makes.

As for memory cards buy the best something like Sandisk Extreme III or equivalent, they are also inexpensive and also get plenty of them, problems once again go away.

Simple advance advanced planning leads to an enjoyment in photography without dramas, because "Murphys Law" will apply.

[PentaxistDS]

I use a 4GB 166x SDHC card in my ist ds without any problem. I upgraded the firmware from 1.00 to 2.02 and it added some little features also. Now I can use all sdhc cards, continuous and single focusing, automatic iso selection which is not available with original firmware. A 4gb SDHC card can help u whatever you shoot. It means aprrox. 350pics with raw and about 1300 jpeg best.