External power supply.

I have an *istDL and was wondering about using an external power supply, rather than relying on batteries, if I am taking astro shots ( really long exposures will eat the batteris).

Does it have to be the Pentax unit? From experience, the manufacturers own units cost a bundle and are no better than generic plugin PSUs.

If I am going for a generic unit, I presume it will be 6v with the centre pin as positive?

Can anyone recommend a cheap PSU that they use?

I had a PSU for my *istD, which I think was 7.5v, not 6v (even though it took 4 1.5v batteries ). Think mine was a Hama branded one from 7dayshop, hang on I'll have a look...

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_3&products_id=101...

Seems like an update of the one I had, definitely has the 7.5v setting. You'd need to ensure that the current draw was within the limits of the adaptor, I'm sure there must be details of this in the manual for the camera.

Can't say for sure it would work with your DS, but my version worked with my D (used it for updating firmware).

Come to think of it, I think mine only went up to 7.5v, as when I needed a 9v adaptor, it wasn't any good.

Dan

Thanks. I'll have a look in the manual, see if it says the voltage. I've found these days, they generally don't, that way you are tied to getting the manufacturers own PSU at their higher price.