[NicholasN]

I have never used a scene mode in my life. I had a K100DS and never used it and I am quite happy to now have the K20D without them.

[Class A]

...aren't you using a K10 with another name?

The Kx0D models have more buttons/controls on the camera allowing for quicker adjustments (ISO, RAW, etc.). I think that's quite an advantage.

I would have been tempted to use scence modes, e.g., "sport" if all they did was say optimise shutter speed for freezing action without forcing it to a static value as in Tv mode. However, the scene modes also influence the contrast, sharpness, etc. settings, so they are all useless to me.

if my camera has a scene mode that means i'm paying extra for it

Probably on the contrary. Auto modes make the camera easier to sell to more people. That means the camera can be sold cheaper.

like a Canon 5D, it does not have a built in flash, and for good reason, and is thus cheaper than if it did.

Not having a built-in flash is probably meant to emphasise the pro character of the camera. I'm not convinced that Canon could not sell the 5D at the same price with a cheap built-in flash. But it wouldn't gel with the pro aspiration of the camera.

i would never buy the 5D to shoot my kid playing with the dog in the first place.

You'd buy it for other reasons but would you refrain from shooting your kid with the dog because it is a 5D?

i dont need a camera with a built in flash, nor do i need a camera with scene and "action" modes, also myself particulary i dont need FPS either, i just dont shoot that fast

Because of the rules of mass production, manufacturing such a feature-less camera just for you and a few other minimalists would result in an unreasonably high price. I too can do without superfluous features but I don't expect to pay less for less these days.

[Sir Snapsalot]

I like the scene modes.

Why? As a complete beginner I can put it into a particular mode (say night portrait) and see what the camera is doing by looking at the info displayed in the viewfinder.

I can then snap off a few shots, and see how they come out. Then I can go into full manual mode and try and replicate what the scene mode has shown me to get a picture roughly the same.

So as a learning tool I like them. I find I spend most of my time in Av/Tv/M mode anyway. You can bet if the modes weren't there, there would be people complaining of a lack of scene modes

[shutterpuppy]

I like the scene modes.

Why? As a complete beginner I can put it into a particular mode (say night portrait) and see what the camera is doing by looking at the info displayed in the viewfinder.

I can then snap off a few shots, and see how they come out. Then I can go into full manual mode and try and replicate what the scene mode has shown me to get a picture roughly the same.

So as a learning tool I like them. I find I spend most of my time in Av/Tv/M mode anyway. You can bet if the modes weren't there, there would be people complaining of a lack of scene modes

Yep, I wonder why these same complainers aren't bitching about having 3200 and 6400 ISO settings on their K10/K20 if they're hardly used. I used to think I'd need them a lot until I got my DA 50mm 1.4 lens and then crop when needed during PP.

Barry