Maybe Pentax have decided too much compatibility is cutting into their profiits

Maybe the best is yet to come - but hold that thought as it depresses me when I think of how much money I have already spent!

I use Uniross 2100 mAh NiMH batteries and easily get a thousand or more shots from them. However I rarely use the built-in flash, I have switched off Instant Playback and turned all other power-saving options to give me the longest battery life (i.e short auto power off). When transferring images from the camera I always use a card reader, and I have a mains power adapter which I use indoors on the tripod, and when cleaning the sensor or updating firmware. I'd probably get more life out of the batteries if I used autofocus less. At only £9.99 for four they are turning out to be great value.

But not beer!

Well it looks a lot like f*n*u* as shown here http://www.chem.helsinki.fi/~toomas/photo/fungus/. I'd bite the bullet and get them professionally cleaned, too risky for homebrew.

This picture was taken under stage lighting, and I haven't corrected the colour balance because I though it looked nice and moody http://www.ammonyte.plus.com/galleries/showcase/slides/chicagoblues.html

You didn't make a reasonable choice, you made a great choice! Welcome to Pentaxland!

OK, I'll keep my money in my pocket for now! Even the official bower website doesn't mention the specs of that unit.

On evilbay I came across this flash unit http://cgi.ebay.com/AF-Flash-for-Pentax-ist-ZX-PZ-ZX-SF-LX-MZ-645NII-67II_W0QQitemZ7596769981QQcategoryZ15221QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem made by Bower and claimed to be equivalent to the AF-360 FGZ. Does anybody have any experience of this, particularly with use on a *ist DS? It's cheapo price lead me to 2 conclusions - (a) if it doesn't do all that a 360 does, then I haven't lost much money (b) it is too cheap to be true, and I should save the money for a tru AF-360 FGZ!

Yours, confused :

George,

No problem, the pigeon loft at Painswick House was 1/4sec @ F4.5, ISO400 using a Sigma 12-24mm F4.5-5.6 DG EX lens at 12mm (18mm 35 film equivalent), taken lying on the floor. Pan (not actually the devil - check out his pipes!) was 1/180 @ F8, ISO400 using a Sigma 70-300mm APO DG lens at 70mm (105mm 35 film equivalent). Shot in RAW on Pentax *ist DS, processed with Rawshooter premium and punched by Matt's technique in PSE4