A short introduction from Mike

Well hello all.

I have been lurking in the background for a few months.

I have just received my ist D today. I purchased it from Park cameras after reading about them on here.

I started off years ago (22 years ago) with an ME Super, then unfortunatley had it and all my kit stolen, so went out and bought another one (slightly used).

Seven years ago then added a MZ50, and a simple point and shoot digital (Kodak).

I had been waiting for the ist D to come along for the last few years, however when it did arrive it was too expensive for me at the time.

Been waiting for the price to come down ever since and took the plunge a few days ago. It was delivered to my family UK address and then sent out to me over here in Tbilisi, just unwrapped it tonight.

Not had the chance to have a real play yet, but was instantly surprised at how easy the many functions were to operate.

Intro over, now be prepared for many questions from me in the future.

Mike H.

Congratulations, Mike.

It's a splendid camera, and I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun with it.

George

Thanks George.

Just been considering what I will need next.

I will be going for a larger memory card/microdrive and will also be looking for advice on photo printers.

I will be back in UK for a few days in May so I will have time to tap your brains before I get my wallet out again.

I must say that I was very impressed with Park Cameras. I ordered over the phone and had it delivered to my parents address in UK( they then sent it to me via our company mail bag), they had the body in stock but not the lens and battery grip, however by the time it arrived at my parent's house everything was there as per my order, and that was only 48 hrs later (they had managed to get the lens and battery grip as well over night)

I look forward to many more chats on here with you all, just need to upgrade my webspace so that I can start uploading some photos.

regards

Mike.

Mike,

Some intial advice:

Forget microdrives. They are less reliable than cards, and slower. They are cheaper for a reason!

At the moment, 1GB cards are probably the best value.

Get high capacity NiMH batteries from 7 Day shop. Four cost under a tenner including a charger. It's worth having more than one charger. You may have to have these posted to the UK.

Lots of people (but not all) have problems with flash on digital SLRs. I have various Pentax flashguns, and find that I get best results with an old AF240Z in program mode. They go for around £20 on Ebay. Other people get good results with modern guns.

You will need to update the latest firmware update if you wish to use high-capacity cards/drives and K and M lenses.

Buy a card reader, and forget all about using the USB cable. You can do the firmware update by card too.

Good luck

G

Thanks again George.

I will take your advice and go for the 1 Gb card.

I already have high capacity NiMh batteries.

I have a Centon (jessops) 95 pentax dedicated flash that i bought a few years ago, I know that it is not the best on the market, however I read on the flash section of this forum that it should work with the ist D.

At the moment I am still using my lap top, and prefer to use my card reader (pcmcia adapter) tonight I used the USB connector just to check that the software had loaded correctly, but I will use the card reader in future.

I am still reading the *** manual and after digesting it I will then attempt the firmware upgrade.

Thanks again..

Mike.