I bought my first DSLR, a K200D, just about 2 years ago now. Before that, I used manual lenses on a film SLR, so the transition to using manual lenses on the K200D was a breeze.

Andrew

I'll add another vote for MSE. Works very well - free, automatic updates.

Unbeatable for the price!!

Andrew

FWIW, here's my attempt. I deliberately didn't crop too closely as it seems to compromise sharpness a tad too much. Fiddled with in Photoshop Elements 8.




Andrew

I gave up waiting for the second to load. The first feels nice.

Andrew

She'll probably only take about 10 photos a year and it'll live in a cupboard for the rest of the time. If I got her a K5, I could "store" it in my camera bag instead.

Andrew

Ah, I forgot to mention - the most important attribute of this camera is that it has to be pink.

Andrew

No, I did mean it in one of its original english senses - to wander about or ramble.

In a way, cleaning a sensor is scary stuff. Film cameras are much more forgiving if you trash some sensor material - you just get another roll out of the fridge, problem solved. For a DSLR, you have visions of having to buy a whole replacement camera.

Hang on a mo, I've had an idea ............

Andrew

I need some advice from the more experienced amongst you. I have been asked by my "better half" to buy her a cheap point & shoot camera for Christmas. Should I buy her a K5?

Andrew

Fortunately (or otherwise), I am old enough to remember and sometimes use words in their pre-internet sense - as in this "wandering about" session on ebay. I do, however, usually have the sense to avoid challenging the most politically sensitive distortions of modern english usage

I managed to replace the focussing screen on my K200D without mishap a while back, so I suppose I shouldn't really be trembling at the notion of applying a "known clean" swab to the "sensor". I will attempt to banish both dust and wimpishness, as soon as the swabs arrive in the post.

I usually manage to avoid having to do the "washing up" - my condolences.

Andrew

The dust alert function on my K200D used to show a few spots of dust. I must admit to getting a bit anal about cleaning the sensor and spent quite some time using the sensor clean function and a Giottos Rocket Blower in an attempt to banish dust forever. I then naively assumed, at least until recently, that because the dust alert function on my K200D showed no dust, there was probably no dust on the sensor.

One day recently, I took a few a few shots at f16 that included quite a bit of blue sky and lo, I do have dust!! To check just how much dust, I took a photo of a white sheet of paper, at f16 and then enhanced it a tad in PSE8 by upping the contrast a bit. I can count *about* 19 distinct round and quite obvious spots of dust. Maybe my dust is the wrong kind of dust, because the dust alert will still not admit of its existence. Ho hum ....

I've read about the Arctic Butterfly and know that they are popular with many forum contributors - but they are also a bit on the expensive side and do get mixed reviews in some places . Anyway, I've ordered some (much cheaper) sensor swabs after a troll through Ebay. I quite like the idea of them being manufactured in a clean room and pre-impregnated - saves the cost of buying cleaning fuid separately and less for me to screw up.

Here's hoping ....

Andrew