I saw that, but as I already have all the constituent bits, there was no point in bidding.

Unless you are well-supplied with flashguns, I would be inclined to hang onto the 400. It's powerful, it zooms, bounces and swivels, it has TTL and manual modes, as well as low-light focus assist, and has a socket for 5p cables. It's only competitors are the 500 and the 360, which are both very expensive.

The 400 alone is worth what you paid for the whole shebang.

George

There seems to be a never-ending supply of 50mm lenses on Ebay, and at very low prices.

I am amazed that more people aren't snapping these up. The quality, as JR says, is superb, and will be an eye-opener to people who have only ever owned consumer zooms.

At around £20 per lens, or less, you can't go wrong.

George

The principles of photography are the same, whether you are using digital or film. Just think of digital as a different sort of film, but with greater control over processing. Up 'til and including the point where you press the shutter these isn't really any difference most of the time.

However, two exceptions are the problem of light balance, and the fact that with film you don't get instant (and free) feedback on whether what you've done has worked.

Light balance can be a problem with film if you aren't using either daylight or flash. For that reason, lighting with daylight or conventional electronic flash is by far the best idea.

If that's not possible, you can use halogen and hope that the balance can be corrected in printing, or special tungsten-balanced film (for ordinary light-bulbs), or a dark blue filter (which will remove about two stops), or blue photo-floods.

With a K1000 (and lacking the funds for ringflash) I would buy two cheap manual flash guns, and experiment using reflectors and diffusers (make your own from aluminium foil, handkerchiefs, etc).

Good luck

G

Extension tubes are cheap, but lighting the subject can be tricky. As mentioned above, you generally need to use the smallest possible aperture.

The best lighting is a ringflash, which encircles the lens. However it is not cheap. Without one, you will need to resort to various techniques to throw an even light all over a very small object which is already in the shadow of a lens and photographer.

Just remember this before you plunge in!

George

Whatever the merits of the lenses you mention, they are all short.

I have the 28-105 power zoom and the 24-90.

Both are excellent, and which to choose depends on:

1 Cash (the 24-90 is a lot more expensive)

2 Whether you want to go wider or longer.

Regards

George

I'm not sure these points amount to a great deal.

The better screen is a slight benefit, certainly.

USB 2 is irrelevant if you use a card reader, which every sensible person does.

Smaller SD cards are of doubtful benefit. Compact Flash cards are already very small, and little is gained by having something smaller. Far more important is whether you have an existing investment in one or the other.

Updated firmware? They both have updated firmware. The DS has a different RAW format, and it remains to be seen whether it is any better.

The DS has also fixed a couple of niggles with the D, like the awkward card slot, and quicker access to the histogram.

Against these, however, is the fact that the D is aimed more at the serious photographer. It doesn't have those irritating "idiot modes", and instead provides greater control of the camera. Continuous AF, for instance, is available at all times, not just in "sport" mode.

When there was a large price differential, I would have gone for the much cheaper option, and bought a DS. Now that they are the same price, I think most serious photographers would choose the D. But there is not a lot in it.

By "serious", I mean any photographer who likes to control what the camera does, rather than let the camera take the decisions.

I recently bought a second D body, but if my first body had been a DS, I would have got a second DS for the sake of compatibility. These cameras are so darn complicated nowadays that I wouldn't want to have to learn the ins and outs of two different ones!

George

If the pictures are blurred, either you are not focussing properly, or the shutter speed is too low and you are getting camera shake.

If focussing is to blame, either you are too close, or the camera is unable to find something to focus on. If the latter, try to put something with strongly contrasting tones in the centre of the picture.

If you are suffering from camera shake, either use more light, or get a tripod, or stand the camera on something firm when you press the shutter.

Experiment until you find out what works.

George

Here's the place to get a manual, courtesy of a member of this forum:

http://www.pentax-manuals.com/manuals/mf/mfmanuals.htm

Put a new battery in the battery compartment, and check that the meter is working. The simplest way is to compare it with the meter readings of another camera, or with a light meter. If it is defunct or inaccurate you will need a separate meter which can be obtained very cheaply on Ebay. Any working meter will do; a light meter is a light meter is a light meter. They simply measure light.

There is a lot of useful information here:

http://www.bdimitrov.de/kmp/

If you have a duff meter, and can't wait to get going, most films give a guide to exposure on the leaflet that comes in the box.

Good luck

George

Although the D manual says much the same, this "problem" is what was fixed by the firmware update.

Once updated, the camera operates in exactly the same way, as far as I can see, whichever mode is set (except for not working if the the lens is NOT set to A when the custom function is off).

I have tried this with two D bodies, with all other settings the same, and a normal program line. One has an SMCP-F f1.7, the other an SMCP-F f1.4, so apart from the max aperture they are effectively the same.

Have you tried to see what happens with the DS and an A lens when the function is set to On? It may just be that the manual is out of date.

G

John,

Are you sure you are right about this:

"I know you can activate the use of the aperture ring, but then you lose some functionality in more modern lenses unless you switch it back, and that is a tedious business!"

I don't have a DS, but on the D there is no loss of functionality that I am aware of when using the camera in "non-A" mode.

The only reason for this switch is to prevent you inadvertently using an A lens off the A setting. That's not a loss of functionality.

Of course it may be different on the DS, but I haven't heard this point made by anybody other than you.

You might want to double-check.

Regards

George