A minor warning regarding Canon... Supposedly some of the recent Sigma lenses do not work well with flash on some of the latest Canon bodies. I'd assume Sigma will rechip them, when they figure out what to do about it. Pentax probably keeps their lens communication standard more or less the same through the years.
Little things on the 300D which I appreciate during event photography include the quiet shutter, the backlit LCD display, and the fact that the LCD display is on the back of the camera where it faces you while the camera is mounted high on a tripod. I wish Pentax brought back the MZ-S tilted control surface and real back lit displays. I hope Pentax keeps the AA battery too, since I need spares for the Canon which cut into the cost savings vs. the Pentax.
I also wish I had purchased the *Ist-D instead of the Canon rig and two big Sigma lenses which might not work so well with later Canons!
To save money and have flash units which provide good exposures and which can be used across brand lines, I chose four auto flashes instead of dedicated units. Two Vivitar 285HVs and two Sunpack 383 Supers. The Minolta has its own dedicated external flash, too.
For what it's worth, we also use two K1000s, a ZX-M, and a Minolta 600si for events. My wife says she could hear a K1000 going off from the other end of a huge church balcony during a children's musical, so I may have to use something else for that. During a wedding I had the 600si ( great camera controls... ) and people heard it but recognized the film wind camera sound and ignored it. The ZX-M is also fairly quiet until it rewinds. I bought it for the split image and quieter operation ( forgot to test the rewind sound in the store! ).
Another interesting warning for those still considering digital... The Sigma 24-70 f2.8 is a big monster of a lens with an 82mm filter size which can get old to carry around all day. It scales to around 35-105 with the 1.6 crop factor. The Pentax 35-105 f3.5 A lens is only a half stop slower and covers the same range, but it is MUCH lighter to hold all day long.
Brian http://www.bdphotographic.com
