Originally posted by steve500 Today I went to inkley's pondering at lenses. There wasn't much of a wide available selection, even knowing its a GIANT store I was in. They had endless selections in Sony, Nikon, Canon, etc... but pentax was very neglected. (snip)
I've never really understood the notion of worrying about selection at local retail stores when choosing a camera brand. Decades ago, catalog retailers broke the age-old restraints imposed by local stores, offering much greater variety at often lower prices. Online shopping today makes that process even easier.
Thus, even if something (Nikon, Canon, etc) was offered at a local retail store, I likely wouldn't buy it since I could probably find it elsewhere at a cheaper price. Further, that local store is not likely going to carry everything I might need (accessories, the particular lens I want, etc) for that particular Nikon, Canon, or whatever. Hince, whichever camera I might buy, I'd have to shop online anyway.
Given all that, there really is no incentative, at least for me, to base shopping decisions on what is available at local retail stores.
And, indeed, very little of my photography equipment came from a local store. Few local stores stock studio equipment, such as strobes, background stands, background materials, reflectors, light stands, and so on. None stock the particular items I picked for that studio. No local store stocks the post-processing tools used in my studio, such as the large-format printers, paper, and so on. Most of my office supplies also come from a catalog supply center.
In fact, if I purchased only what is available at local stores in my immediate area, I seriously doubt I could even be doing this business.
Quote: (snip) I was expecting so much more with the K20D's firmware, but it still seems like "DOS on an intel iMac". (snip)
Huh? Are you talking about the operating routines, the user interface, or something else? The software within the K20D offers a great many options in a fairly straightforward manner. While each manufacturer might do this somewhat differently, it appears, since this is a fairly consistent complaint across camera platforms, no particular manufacturer has a lock on the ideal method for everybody. By the way, I own an Intel Mac and certainly would not use it as some sort of ideal.
Quote: (snip) The lack of "mirror-up" bothers me.. (snip) ..AWB sucks. (snip)
Mirror lock-up is a feature available through the self-timer mode on both the K10D and K20D. Auto White Balance, like most other in-camera tools (exposure metering, etc), is something which must be learned and mastered.
stewart