as far as i've read,
the self cleaning sensors in both canon and pentax are practically useless. Only a marketing gimmick.
only olympus's fare decently in this.

about it not having as many lenses, well pentax, having inbody SR, have much cheaper lenses that can provide top notch shots at a fraction of the price of Canon's IS lenses. With SR, any third party lens you can find for pentax immediately benefits from it, resulting in inexpensive yet sharp photos. With canon, cheaper third party lens doesn't have IS, which means no help at all in tackling handshake. Don't think Canon will introduce inbody stabilization anytime as it will greatly undermine sales of it's IS lens.
Plus, Pentax actually have lenses that cover all reasonable ranges. Tamron and Sigma have macros, telephoto and wideangles for pentax to boot. http://www.shashinki.com is a reputable online camera shop, cheap and has a range of lenses for pentax. Founder is a malaysian based in japan but has a store in Perak. Very convenient transactions, free shipping for purchases above rm50.
i've purchased a FA 50mm/1.4 from him, and it arrived the day after payment.
good service as well very recommended

Just thinking IF:
The thing about your purchase of 350 is that it's already being seen as an outdated camera by the pace of today's technology. if you get 350d, u may soon begin to outgrow it and be tempted to upgrade. the next upgrade that you'll be thinking of will probabbly be the 30/40d or the 5d, depending on your level of enthusiasm. Those cams body cost around 4k and 8k respectively. Though you can probably look for the many used canon cams for sale in malaysia. Canon actually has a notoriety for introducing upgrades of little value for the same level cams [ie: 300d>350d>400d], forcing people to come out more money for higher end dslrs.

Pentax's K100d will inevitably lead you to k10d or higher. Many are speculating a more advanced k1d to be launched next year. k10d is a direct competitor of 30d and d80, at rm 3k body. i'm using k10d as my first dslr, it's a fabulous camera, user friendly, easy to grow into and has plenty of lessons in store for me.
i would say that i will use this for many years, without worrying about further upgrades.

I'm just saying all this, at the risk of being long winded, because i think people who wants to invest in a DSLR will have to think about their level advancement and their rising expectations as they learn more about photography.

Or else, prosumer P&Ss will more than suffice, with live view, waterproof features, video shooting, more compact/mobile, sharper images [but more noise], and much much cheaper too.

only gripe i have about pentax is its marketing strategy in malaysia. i hardly see its presence in the market due to this. Despite the fact that pentax has a variety of accessories, the stores in kl don't stock them because they say, pentax not as popular. : / Sad, because i think pentax stuff is as good if not better than the rival brands.

I think shriro should invest in its marketing, with more promotions.

This post has been edited by idyllis: Sep 25 2007, 07:11 PM

you're welcome. it's still only a subjective opinion, but am glad to have helped!
good luck with the purchase, whichever it is.