Already started saving – just in case the 560mm isn’t set at some astronomically stupid price, hoping for sub £2k but somehow I doubt it.

Sorry to take so long to reply – I had forgotten about this thread and only just noticed it again.
Unfortunately along with a nasty ‘impulse buy’ tick I also suffer from severe hording syndrome (a very bad combination) – so the focusing rail is sat in the ever expanding ‘it will come in useful one day’ box.

Just a quick update.

I went with the NEC SpectraView Reference 271 in the end, the 241 was out of stock so I decided to put off the PC upgrade to next year.

Very impressed with the monitor, and when I got the calibration sorted the colours look very natural and finally I don’t miss my old CRT. As good as the Iiyama HS540S was it didn’t quite come up the Iiyama CRT somehow.

Out of the box the Adobe RGB profile was good, but it is worth doing a full hardware calibration.

As for the PC hardware after installing Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit and upping the RAM to 8GB the PC is performing well enough for the time being. Anyone still on XP should consider Windows 7 – from what I saw of Vista, Windows 7 is a big improvement so if you were put off by Vista (as I was) don’t rule Win 7 out – after using it for a few weeks I wouldn’t go back to XP.

Dave.

Thanks for the feedback everyone – from what I’ve found on the web the SpectraView monitors use the same panels as the NEC MultiSync monitors but they are specially selected for quality and then tweaked further. I think the Spyder3 calibrator is supported in the NEC software, but I will check with NEC first. So hopefully I can place an order at the end of September or October. Still have more research on the new PC and what hardware and software will need updating for Windows 7 64bit.
(Already have a new Wacom Intuos4 on order as my current Wacom is one of the old Intuos RS232 based ones which isn’t supported on Win7).

Dave.

As we are finally ‘upgrading’ to Windows 7 at work I have decided its also time for a new PC at home, but the first priority is to decide on a good monitor.

I currently use an Iiyama HS540S calibrated with a SpyderPro3 - which has served me very well for around 10 years, but Iiyama appear to be out of the pro monitor market so I’m thinking of a NEC SpectraView Reference 241 or a LaCie 324i.

Both are 24 inch 1920x1200 and the zero pixel defect guarantee on the NEC is drawing me to that as the first preference.

Has anyone any experience good or bad with these monitors?

Dave.

I also use a Spyder 3Pro. If your monitor can be calibrated then it’s well worth it. I did use Adobe Gamma (software only) back when I had a CRT but it was a bit hit and miss – much easier using a hardware calibrator.

The Spyder 3 system uses the same hardware for a range of different software options – so you could start with the basic model and upgrade the software latter.

2x 8GB SanDisk Extreme III cards
1x 4GB SanDisk Extreme III cards (not often used now)
1x 2GB SanDisk Extreme III cards (not often used now)

Used the 2GB when I got the K10 then added the 4GB. When I got the K7 I also got an 8GB card and latter on added a second 8GB, now using the cards with the K5.

I haven’t checked the prices lately but at the time I bought them there was a very big jump in price for anything bigger than 8GB (i.e. much more than x2 for 16GB). As I don’t shoot video I don’t see the need for a bigger card. In a single days shooting I have never managed to fill two 8GB cards, but do quite often fill one and go on to the second.

Mine is just a shameless plug for one of the best (and most cancelled :roll shows ever to appear on TV

+2
I voted ‘not sure’ – partly because of the takeover. What I’m looking for next is DA* teleconverters, they were on the roadmap but under Hoya looks like they weren’t going to appear.

My next most likely purchase would probably be a Sigma with more reach than my DA* 300mm but if things change for the better then it could be a Pentax lens.

The change in ownership is unlikely to make me jump ship anytime soon – the K5 fits my needs very well and I have plenty of Pentax glass (some of it for over 30 years). So even in the unlikely event the K5 turns last of the line there is no rush to change.

Dan,
Thanks for sorting it out so quickly.
I expect your inbox is flooded with PMs so I thought I’d reply here.

Dave.