I second JR's advice. A seller who won't communicate doesn't inspire confidence. Having said that, this particular one is a very frequent seller of Pentax items.

Pentax UK may not be entirely wrong.

Many of us have had problems with various TTL flash units in conjunction with the *ist D.

One theory is that the camera was only tested at 400 ISO, and doesn't work properly at other ISO settings. Other people say that the AF360FGZ works well, but other guns don't. Others say that the camera only operates well with Pentax AF lenses (which have a chip inside).

Apparently this is a problem that affects digital SLRs from other manufacturers, too.

Boz wrong? Heresy. Sorry to have misled you. Though my suggestion would have worked, yours is simpler and cheaper.

What you are saying I think is that the connectors that go to the flash are the same for both the 4p and the 5p cables. One pin is redundant on the 4p cable because it has nothing to connect to at the camera end.

I don't have any 4p stuff and was relying on what Boz said. He's usually accurate, so this has dented my confidence a little.

I don't believe you will have a problem using your AF400T with the *ist D. You will need to buy three things: the hotshoe adapter Fg, a sync cord F 5P, and the off-camera adapter F, on which you can mount your 4P sync cord B.

A simpler and cheaper solution would be to fire the flash using a slave.

And if you can do without autofocus, the Super A, preferably with the SMC Pentax-A f1.7 lens. (The f1.4 is very good too, but rather more expensive).

The bowing in the television shot is because you are using a cheap zoom lens on a wide-angle setting. All consumer point and shoot cameras will behave in a similar fashion. Note how the effect is more pronounced when the straight edge is close to the edge of the picture, and also when it fills the frame (which suggests you are using a smaller focal length).

If you want some advice on your other problems, why not take the same picture with both the Canon and the Pentax on the same settings, as far as you can, and put both side by side on a web page where people can view them. Don't do anything to the images except resize them. If you don't still have the Canon, just post the Pentax pics. But take them outdoors in good light, preferably in the morning or late afternoon. Most problems with indoor pics are down to bad lighting.

Don't let the web software do anything to the images. In the ones you have shown, there is no EXIF detail, so it is impossible to know what settings you were using.

This may surprise you, but Pentax UK will supply parts for most current and recent cameras. I have found them very helpful and efficient. For spare parts they tend to email you an exploded diagram so that you can identify what you want.

If you do the repair yourself, you will of course void the warranty.

[email protected]

Good luck.

The solution to your problem is to buy a flash bracket on which to mount the 500FTX, and a hotshoe adapter Fg. (The adapter F will also interfere with the pop-up flash; you must get the Fg.)

Finally you need sync cord F 5p to connect the adapter to the flashgun. This is a short lead; you can alternatively mount the flash gun some distance away if you use the longer sync cord F 5p (L).

These items are often available on Ebay, but secondhand ones are usually obtainable here: http://www.rcomputers.co.uk/mxv/home.html (assuming you're in the UK).

Ffordes also sell them: https://secure.ffordes.com/index.htm

Regards

George

Just buy a USB card reader. It's far easier, and doesn't require this pointless software.

George

It may be a stereo cable, but it won't be pumping out 500 watts unless you connect it to an amp by mistake.