Well I am pleased with the camera and the speed at which it arrived but I do admit to having an "oh sh**, what have I done?" moment immediately after I pressed the 'buy' button. If it had arrived damaged then I guess my complaint would have been with DHL. There didn't seem to be any problem registering the waaranty with Pentax UK. On the subject of the *ist DS, am I alone in finding it just a little bit too small? When the MX came out I bought the winder just to beef it up a bit... and I have normal sized hands before anyone asks!

Ken

Well I bought my *istDS on ebay last October from an American dealer for £490 which, at the time, was a massive saving (£250) over the Jessops price. As soon as I placed the order I had a DHL tracking number and watched with delight as my new toy crossed the USA and arrived here via Belgium. I wouldn't worry about buying mail order from abroad, you are just as likely or unlikely to be ripped off by someone in the UK.

Ken

This is why professional motion camera lenses often use two indexes: T-stop for exposure (the actual light passing though the lens) and F-stop for depth of field calculation (the mathematical value) on a 10:1 Zeiss Sonnar Zoom (10mm to 100mm on Super 16mm film: 35mm still equivalent of 30 - 300mm) the difference is around 1/3 of a stop.

Ken

I haven't bought another screen for the ds yet but screens for my other cameras have all been supplied with a special tweezery tool which allows you to release the frame and then grab hold of the tab on the screen. Putting the screen back in is slightly trickier.

They work great on strips of neggatives too.

Ken

I've been told this and I cant vouch for its veracity. CCDs are only charged when the camera power is on. Therefore power down before changing lenses and there is less chance of gunk sticking to the sensor. This is the procedure with pro video cameras although there are other issues there too.

less is more...

Spotmatic F and 55 1.8, I cant think of anything purer

Mercedes Benz dont support cars dating back that far and they cost a heck of a lot more than cameras! I dont really think it would be possible for any manufacturer of anything to offer unlimited support especially when the cost of camera replacement, although not like for like, is likely to be less than repair.

I've been using my 28mm 3.5 shift (on 35mm of course) for over 20 years so here are some observations:

• Spirit levels are almost essential, I use a Manfrotto head with 2 built in
  
  Also essential is a grid focusing screen, as soon as you shift microprisms etc turn solid black and the lines on the grid really do help make sure that verticals are parrallel
  
  On really tall buildings I correct fully and then go back one click stop on the shift mechanism, otherwise the buildings will look wider at the top
  
  Tripod is of course another essential because once you've stopped down (these lenses have pre-set manual diaphragms and you have will have a very dark viewfinder image

My lens weighs a hefty 620g or almost 1.5 pounds and you can hardly see an MX behind it but it is probably the sharpest lens I own, I believe they were and built and collumated. It is a reall pity that on digital it becomes a shifting standard lens.

less geeky but true... the remote that came with my Espio mini 12 years ago seems to work with all current Pentax cameras, and its still on the original battery.

Back to geekiness... some mobile pnones can be used as IR remotes, any ideas Matt?

Ken