"It's not the size of the film, it's the quality..."

I have taken years of Photography classes, in college, and that's just not true for two reasons:

1.)  With a bigger negative(Large Format; over Medium Format, over 35mm, etc.) you actually record more information.  Likewise you can expose much larger prints, are get bigger digital scans.  Having a Large Format camera vs. a 35mm, would be comparable to have a digital camera with two Flash Cards, but where one Flash card is 1GB the other is 64MBs.

2.) The ISA rating of film is'nt a measure of quality.  100 speed film is'nt much, or at all more expensive than 1000.  ISA is a measure of speed, but you do'nt always want or need it.  Indoor pictures, stuff at night, still shots, etc. require slow(100) film.  While images with the Sun, Backlit images, or images from a Race Track, etc. are when you would use Fuji 1000.

"Automatic cameras are very easy to use and in most cases are ok, but it is an automatic process where the camera decides what to do and in some cases is not what you want to do."

That's what I said !  ... ;  )

" If you are not able to turn off the automatic process then you cannot use this camera for some scenes."

Automatic cameras are'nt cheap.  I generally do'nt think it's possible to have an automatic camera that won't also function in Manual mode.  Unless a User is just to lazy to read the manual, and figure out how to make the switch.

"With some little experience you don't need any photometer or anything, you know very well how to set the distance, speed and shutter for what you want to photograph."

There is never an excuse for not having a/your light meter with.  You'll always see a good photographer/director with a little Golf ball looking doodad hanging around is neck.  It's just a tool of the trade.  Not having one would be like playing Baseball without a mitt.  Sure you could do it, but eventually you'll pay.

"The path of light is symmetrical for the direction...because this ray always reach the camera."

That is what I first read of this, on a Metacreations page somewhere, back in the days of Poser3...I still do'nt think the Vector path of the light, backwards, is all too key though.  Sure you'll trace light rays that lose their charge, but then you've found a coordinate to map, so what if it's dark?

"rigul64, were your examples above rendered in Poser7?"

I think he said that was Maya.

" Has anyone actually been able to produce a great-looking result using the P7 HDRI feature?"

I am also hoping someone can show us some examples, and screenshots too!

For now I'm still waiting for my copy of P7 to be shipped.