Contrast control involves the use of the flash on the camera plus a separate flash triggered by the first.

A slave flash is one that is triggered by another. It must therefore have a sensor of some kind.

A master is the flash that triggers the slave flash. It is usually the camera flash, or a flash mounted on, or connected by cable to, the camera.

High speed sync involves a number of separate but very rapid bursts of light which coincide with various positions of the shutter, so that even at high shutter speeds (when the film/sensor is never completely exposed to the light at one time) a sufficient amount of light reaches all parts of the film/sensor.

It can, for instance, be used for fill-in flash on a bright day when you want to use a shutter speed higher than the sync speed.

The only Pentax flash that provides all these facilities is the AF360FGZ, and it will only work on its own as a slave flash with the *ist D. If you want to use it as a slave flash with the DS or (I think) DL, you will need to mount another 360 on the camera. Not a cheap option.

G

That's bad news. Hopefully somebody will have the version you want. I would suggest you try asking on DPReview as well as here.

G

If I were you, I should try re-installing the new firmware. It is unlikely that it has a bug that would only affect your camera. What is far more likely is that the upgrade failed to install correctly.

I should download it again from the Pentax site, then try to re-install. Make sure you either have fresh batteries, or a mains connection. Power problems are known to ruin firmware updates.

G

Theoretically, yes, at a price.

Practically, Pentax may no longer support that model. You'll only find out if you ask them. See the links page for phone numbers.

I'm afraid that fast continuous shooting is not the *ist D's forte. It has a relatively slow processor, and a small buffer.

Using JPG rather than RAW will help considerably, as will lower quality and smaller picture size. A faster card might also help, though in practice I haven't noticed card speed to make much difference.

G

Dave is quite right that pulling on the DOF lever does not stop the lens down in Av mode, unless the lens is an A lens set to A. This discussion is, of course, about non-A lenses.

Furthermore, the camera has no way to "remember the aperture" of a pre-A lens, so it is a fallacy to think that it can make use of such information, even if the DOF lever were capable of imparting it, which it's not.

Arthur, I have tried pulling the DOF lever, and it makes no difference. Because you keep changing the light, you have no idea what is happening to the aperture. Mount the camera on a tripod, ensure you have a constant light source, then experiment away.

G

Arthur Dent wrote: "The same apature yielded different shutter speeds, and all exposures were correct."

If that statement is true, then the light must have been different each time, and if that was so, then you aren't proving anything.

You must carry out these tests with the SAME light.

With the same light, the camera will give you the same shutter speed in Av mode (and correct exposure) regardless of what aperture you set.

Try what I suggested. You will find, when you look at the lens, that it stops down AFTER the shutter has tripped when in Av mode, but BEFORE in Manual.

You are so convinced that you are right that you are refusing to look facts in the face. Sleep on it, and have another go tomorrow with an open mind.

G

I think I can explain what is happening here.

In any mode other than manual, the camera takes a meter reading and adjusts either the shutter speed or the aperture or both (depending on which mode was selected) to give the correct exposure.

In Av mode, with the lens set on the A setting (which won't apply to M and K lenses), the camera will base the meter reading on the aperture that has been set on the body, and will adjust the shutter speed accordingly.

In Tv mode, it will accept the speed that has been set, and adjust the aperture accordingly.

In Program mode, it will set both (if neither of the wheels has been turned to fix either the aperture or the speed).

If the lens is not on the A setting, the camera has no way to adjust the aperture, and no way to know what aperture is set if the lens lacks contacts (ie: K and M lenses). So in these cases, it takes the reading at full aperture, and DELAYS stopping down the lens until the picture has been taken. That means the picture is taken at full aperture, as with the meter reading.

You can actually see this if you set the lens to f22, and fire the shutter first in Manual mode, then in Av. In Manual mode the lens immediately goes blank apart from the small hole in the middle representing f22. In Av mode the shutter fires, and then the lens closes down much more briefly.

A moment's thought should suffice to convince Arthur that there is no way that the camera can operate in Av mode with the K and M lenses (other than using the lens full-open). It simply doesn't know what aperture has been set on the lens.

G

Try this:

Put the lens on f22.
Select manual mode.
Press the green button.
Note the shutter speed indicated.

Put the lens on f22.
Select Av mode.
Lightly depress the shutter button to activate the meter.
Note the shutter speed indicated.
Now trip the shutter.
Press the Playback button, then the Info button twice.
Note the shutter speed.

If your theory is correct, the shutter speeds should be the same in all three cases. If they are, then you have a very special version of the camera, because neither of mine behave like this.

G

You've missed the point, Arthur. I agree that the camera sets the correct shutter speed, but it does so for the widest aperture.

Put your lens on f8 and take a shot. Then (with the same light conditions) put it on f1.4 and take a shot. Both will be correctly exposed, and both will be at the same shutter speed (press the Info button to check). That means that both would have used the same aperture, to wit: f1.4 (wide-open).

Try a proper controlled test!

I have to admit I fell into the same trap when I first got my camera. It's still quite a useful feature provided you have a lens that's sharp wide-open, and are happy with a narrow DOF. For portraits, of course, a less-than-sharp lens and a narrow DOF may be just what you want.

G