That last post was from me. For some strange reason I wasn't logged in automatically.

George

I think you do need to keep yourself informed in these days of firmware upgrades. This particular upgrade was the talk of Pentax message boards for months.

George

Nimdur

This works on the *ist D too. A nice feature.


Owdsnapper

Did you manage to get your non-A lenses to work? I can't offer any suggestions as to what you are doing wrong, as I have a D, not a DS, but it does work, so persevere.

George

I'm glad that's cleared up. The manual is the culprit; Pentax probably copied large chunks of it from the D manual, and the D manual does not reflect how the camera works with the firmware upgrade.

Whilst it is unfortunate that the two DSLRs do not offer the flexibility offered by some earlier bodies when using non-A lenses, I can see Pentax's point.

It must be more expensive to manufacture lenses with an aperture ring, and it must also be more expensive to manufacture bodies with two ways in which to stop the lens down to the required aperture, as well as two ways to do metering. Therefore modern bodies don't have the facility to do this, and nor do the cheaper modern lenses.

However, Pentax misread the market when it first issued the *ist D with no ability to use M and K lenses. There was an outcry, and that is what led to the vital firmware update. The DS came with manual lens capability from the outset.

George

I think it answers the question, but let's see what JR has to say.

Thanks

George

Owdsnapper,

This discussion about using manual lenses on the DS doesn't mean they won't work properly. They will, if the camera is set up correctly.

John Riley and I are discussing whether setting the camera to allow the use of M and K lenses impinges on its functionality when using A lenses, so that you have to keep going into the menu to change settings everytime you change from an A lens to an M lens.

I know from my experience with the D that there is no problem. All you have to do is to go into Manual exposure mode. There is no need to change settings in the menu.

I am still waiting for a DS user to set his camera to allow the use of manual aperture lenses, and then to try using an A lens set to A. It works properly on the D. Does it work properly on the DS? If it does, there is no problem.

George

Obviously, I am talking about the D here, not the DS.

I disagree that it "seems logical" for the camera not to function properly when set to fire "off-A", because the A function is not being disabled in any way. With the lens set to A, the camera functions exactly the same way in all modes however the switch is set.

I am surprised that the DS should behave differently, given the outcry over the lack of this functionality when the D came out, and given the fact that DS publicity says that it works with all lenses.

When you did your test, was the A lens set on A? If it was, then I agree that the camera is less functional. However, if it was not set at A, then there is no reduction in functionality because it wouldn't have fired anyway with the switch set to prevent use of the aperture ring.

This is the crucial point. Will the camera work properly with an A lens at the A setting irrespective of how the aperture ring switch is set?

There is no point in testing M lenses, or A lenses set off-A, because they wouldn't work anyway with switch off.

What do other DS users find?

George
Come on other DS owners. What is your experience?

On the *ist D, any K lens can be used at any aperture with correct metering, provided that updated firmware is used. What is stated in the *ist D manual is out of date, and should be ignored.

I believe that the same applies to the *ist DS, but John Riley thinks otherwise, based on what that camera's manual says. He is checking his camera and will report back shortly. See the thread titled "Photo Browser Problems".

I should stress that I am a D owner, and have never used a DS.

George

I don't know these lenses, but in principle they should work fine.

You simply have to change a menu setting to tell the camera to use non-A lenses. You do this once, and never again.

The lenses need to be used in manual mode, or in program mode at full aperture only. This is quite fun if you have a lens like the f1.2 50mm.

Good luck

George

I didn't foresee it, you didn't foresee it, and no doubt she didn't foresee it.

Ergo, it wasn't forseeable.

So, see you in the queue.

G