[bymy141]

I don't desperately NEED a new camera right now.
Will

Will,

I recognize the symptoms. Something I'm suffering a lot from myself....
I truely believe that you are suffering from a severe case of CBA.

MY recommendations:

- Try to avoid leisure time. Periods where you have nothing to do.
- Do not get on the internet, or have somebody block camera store websites for you.
- Stay away from camera shops while shopping. Inform your spouse or the like, so you and she will make a detour without discussing the subject.
- Have somebody block you credit cards for a few months.

All funny stuff aside :
Make sure the hang on to your current camera's. I'd spend my money on the next generation if I were you, if you can live with your K20D, there is no need for a K-7 or K-x.
You can find small 720p camera's for $200 - $300 as an intermediate solution for #1 and there is very good noise reduction freeware on the Internet available for #2.
A higher res display? Think of that like this, the older you get, the less high resolution you will be able to see (Also something I'm suffering from)

Cheers, Bert

[Rondec]

I guess from what you are saying, I would plan to get a K7, but I would wait until summer. The price will go down some more (I'm betting to around 750). I think iso 1600 is very useable on all of these cameras if you shoot RAW. I'm not sure what to think about the kx. You certainly can make the high iso look bad, but over all it does seem to retain a lot of detail up to iso 3200. So, maybe a stop improvement from the K7/K20 sensor. To me, that's not enough for me to want to shoot with a camera body that feels crippled.

[yusuf]

I went from a 100D to a 20D and i cannot imagine going back to an entry level camera, it just annoys me being handicapped like that. The 20D is such a great camera to shoot with.

Would you elaborate advantages apart from higher megapixel and AF speed? I use K100D and plan to get a new body but still not very convinced.

[WMBP]

2 dial thing is indeed personal....

Well, I don't think it's a matter of personal opinion that having two e-dials makes life easier for photographers who find themselves wanting to adjust both aperture and shutter speed frequently, that is, those who shoot in full-manual (M) mode or who use the K20D's hyperprogram (P) mode and frequently switch from effective-Av to effective-Tv mode by moving one dial or the other. Whether it makes life easier enough is, I guess, subjective. I personally find that I don't use my *ist DS as much as might, and there's just 1 reason: I miss the two e-dials.

Maybe if I only have 1 e-dial on ALL of my cameras, I'd get used to it. Anyway, now that I've grown used to two, I'd hate to return to one.

More important might be the individual AF adjustment of lenses.

I agree that this is a plus, although I have not used it much.

Will

[WMBP]

I've owning a K20D a little bit over a year now, and last summer that I used it almost everyday. I notice that the more I use it the more I love it . That's why I didn't want to replaced it with the K7 which doesn't give much benefits to what I need . So I rather wait for the next flagship model come out, probably K8 (in K7 body) or K30D (in K20D body) which packs all the goodies of the K7 and K-x and some more attractive things (like maybe a swivel LCD).

Ken,

Are you making these model specs up, or has something been announced along these lines? I have never actually held a K-7 in my hands, but I know that it's smaller than than the K20D, and I don't THINK that's a plus for me personally, because I rather like the size of the K20D. I also have a K10D but I have only one grip. I usually keep the grip on the K20D and I prefer to shoot with the K20D—even when the K10D would in every other respect be good enough—because I like the larger size. So if there really is a K20D-sized camera in the pipeline, I'd prefer to wait for it. Actually one of the things I don't like about the K-7, when I think about its price, is the fact that I'd have to buy a new battery grip, as well. On the other hand, I do like about the K-7 the fact that it will use either proprietary battery or AAs. That's a nice touch indeed.

Will