Jayson?

A good film lens should normally be a good digital lens, but there is one practical consideration to bear in mind.

A lens with good centre resolution and poor edge resolution will work better on a digital camera (with an APS-sized sensor) because the edges will have been cropped off.

Generally speaking, a lens has to perform better with digital because the smaller "negative" size (ie: sensor size) requires a greater magnification. So, avoid bad lenses.

George

With screw lenses you have to stop down to the shooting aperture when using the green button. This isn't always very easy because the auto-manual switch on the lens can be obscured by the overhang of the pop-up flash.

I find I lose shots when using M42 lenses, unless the subject is static and easy to see.

The *ist D uses the following lenses with all the functionality of which the lens is capable:

A, F, FA, FAJ, DA.

It can also use earlier K mount lenses (M and the first K lenses which have no suffix after the word "Pentax"). The camera must be using the latest firmware and be set to Manual. To set the correct shutter speed for the pre-selected aperture, press the green button.

In practice it's pretty straightforward and quick.

To answer the poster's question, I believe adaptors exist for fitting 42mm lenses to most makes of camera. However, as with Pentax, you are likely to lose functionality.

Matt is probably right about the focussing problem. Personally, I set the focus to the central point, focus on the subject, then frame while keeping the shutter button pressed halfway. I can find no use at all for the multiple focus points, but no doubt they are useful for some people.

As for dullness, you almost always need to apply some post-processing, even if your exposure is correct. I find I usually need to increase the gamma and contrast, sometimes the saturation, then sharpen.

Before you invest in Photoshop, try using Irfanview, which allows you to make these adjustments both to single pictures and in batches.

Irfanview is quick, simple and cheap - three things that Photoshop can't claim to be, though it's enormously powerful.

There is obviously some delay, but it is very short. The object you describe is doing roughly 110mph. If the slave delay is enough to make a difference (which is possible), then make the slave your more powerful light source, and you will then get a second-curtain-sync effect, which will emphasise the speed that the object is travellng at.

Wireless flash and slave flash are different things.

Wireless refers to flash units that comunicate via infra-red or radio, and these have all the features of on-camera flash.

Slave simply means flashes that are triggered by a flash of light.

There is nothing typical about how long either will recharge. It depends on all sorts of factors.

Every camera has it's specified maximum flash sync speed, and this (for Pentax SLR cameras) falls in a range from 1/60 to 1/250. 1/1000 is out of the question unless you are using the AF360FGZ flash gun, which fires a short burst of separate flashes very rapidly. Not many bodies support this.

Normally, it is the flash that freezes the action, not the shutter speed, because the flash is typically of very short duration. To freeze action using flash, the light from the flash must be much greater than the ambient light. This can be difficult to achieve on a bright day.

This is a serious fault, and you should immediately have it looked at. If not, the next time it might catch fire; that's if it's not already ruined.

Bad luck!

Have you installed the Pentax software?

Many people find it easier to use a card reader, and dispense with the USB connection. See my earlier post about a simple way to download using a small batch file.