Having had a look at the manual, I get the impression that this is a non-standard cable release becasue they say the CR30 won't work, and it plugs into the side of the camera, not the shutter button.

If it's just for a one-off occasion, I have in the past been able to do wonderful (well, workable) things with a standard release, a pencil (to act as a splint) and some selotape. Necessity is the mother of invention.

I THINK this is a standard mechanical shutter release cable, which will work on all cameras with a suitable screw hole in the shutter button. If your shutter button is threaded, then virtually any cable release you buy anywhere will work. You can often find them in the cheap bits bin in the local camera shop.

If the button is not threaded, then you will most likely need an electrical cable release from Pentax.

Whatever, your local shop will tell you if you take the camera in. If it's a mechanical release, don't pay more than £5.00.

It's a massive saving, but I think that prices are bound to come down here, as you say, although they'll probably come down in America too.

If they don't, I might fly to NY for the day and buy one there, having checked it very carefully first. The saving on shipping will go towards the air fare.

The other alternative is to buy the body here and the other bits there. The UK price on the battery pack is outrageous.

Slime101,

In the end I decided not to buy from the USA, mainly because of the problems reported on this board concerning dead pixels.
Most kit one buys these days is so well made that problems are rare, but the thought of perhaps having to send three cameras back to the States with all the attendant customs hassle made me pause.

In the past I have used Marine Park, and they were extremely efficient. They now call themselves http://www.MPsuperstore.com but their website doesn't list a very wide range and they don't seem to be very good at answering the phone. However, if you do get through you might find they sell rather more than what is on their site.

If you go into DPReview you'll find links to a few recommended suppliers. You should also be able to find a link to a site which evaluates the service provided by different online camera stores.

There are a number of photostores in and around New York and the East Coast, like Abe's of Main, which do not enjoy a very high reputation.

Basically, they advertise low prices, but when you phone up there is a great palaver about why the item you want isn't in stock, and then they try to sell you something more expensive.

I found this to be the case eight or nine years ago when I bought my Z1-P from Marine Park. They were fine, but some of the others were such obvious crooks that I am surprised they ever sold anything.

So, beware. Americans are usually reasonably honest, but these camera firms are Campbellian in their deviousness. Lord Hutton would probably say they are all fine fellows, though, and who can argue with Hutton?

My advice, if selling on Ebay, and especially on here, is to list the camera with 50mm lens (if it has one) as one item, and all the other lenses and important bits and pieces as separate items.

If you have some interesting lenses, you will maximise your prices by selling individually. Nobody wants to have to buy a whole kit just in order to get one lens that he is interested in.

Bad decision moving to Canon! Ebay is the new market place for cameras and lenses. As JR says, those AP advertisers don't actually sell anything. The same items are there month after month after month. They'll all go bust soon, and that'll be the end of AP. The Internet rules (for better or worse).

The manufacturer's official line is always: "Don't use any other make of flash/whatever, as it may damage the camera and will invalidate the warranty". So don't be surprised if that is the answer you get.

The independent flash makers would very quickly go out of business if they "fried" cameras. Personally, I have never heard of it happening, and I have used a variety of flash guns (including very old studio flash units - connected directly to the camera) with a variety of Pentax and other cameras.

Apparently some old flash units used a very high trigger voltage, so if buying an old unit it is probably best to stick to well-known names to names like Vivitar.

If a flash unit is capable of using some or all of the more advanced features on a modern camera, then it will certainly behave properly. If it can't use the features, then it won't connect to the "extra" contacts on the hotshoe.

My only advice would be that you don't mix and match. Don't try to use a
Canon-dedicated flash with a Pentax body.

I am sure Malcolm is right.
As technology improves, chip densities will increase, and there will be no need for 35mm-sized chips in order to get very high resolutions. Sony already has an 8MP camera which has a smaller chip than the *ist D.
Just to add to the above, the FAJ lenses were surely designed for the MZ30, 50 and 60.
In fact, the best advice on which lenses to buy is to avoid K and M lenses if you have one of these cameras, or the *ist. The *ist D, however, now works reasonably well with these older lenses, and the Ms are so cheap compared with a new (and less well-made) lens, that it is madness to avoid them.

I always used to think that medium format lenses must be "better" than 35mm, given their prices and the "pro" nature of medium format.

But not so, it seems. Many MF lenses do not fare very well when compared with 35mm for sharpness. The reason is that the much bigger negative means that sharpness isn't quite such an issue as it is with a 35mm negative, which needs to be enlarged much more to give the same size of final print.

So don't think that putting your MF lenses on a 35mm camera will give you an increase in sharpness - it probably won't.

I'm sure it's worth standardising on one 35mm system, though!

I agree with all these points. The trouble is that doing a really good test would involve sampling several lenses and doing a great many things that would cost a great deal of money.

A good alternative to formal tests is Stan's site, which distills the opinions of many knowledgeable users, based on real-life experience.

G