Very pleased to hear that you are as happy with your *istDS as Sue and I are with ours.

Have fun and shoot lots of great pictures!

I'm sure you will be delighted with your new camera - it is beautifully designed and made and capable of superb results.

Do let us know how you get on!

This is a good reason for using slide (transparency) film for experimentation. What you take is what you get and it is easier to judge what has been happening.

The reduced exposure latitude of slide film is also a good discipline.

The 50mm Pentax lens is an A series lens and is perfect for using on the DSLRs.

The same will apply to the Soligor if it has an "A" setting on the aperture ring. If not, then it will be useable with some restrictions.

I'm not sure about the converter, so I'll let someone else take that one up...

If you have A series lenses there will be no other limitations, and all the metering functions will work.

If you have M series, K series or screw mount lenses (via the adapter) then you will need to activate a custom function to allow use of the aperture ring, and you will have limited exposure options. The lenses will be useable, however.

That is just a dreadful thing to happen.

My first idea really would to claim on my insurance for a repair/replacement as necessary. If you are suitably insured either on special photographic insurance or the household policy all risks section, then all may be well.

If you are not insured, I think I would send it to Pentax or one of the other pentax repair houses for a quotation.

What else can you do?

We all have our different ways to arrive at the correct exposure, and I have never found it necessary to use a hand held meter. It's true to say I tend to amaze my friends with 36 correctly exposed slides every time (virtually).

My preferred method is to meter off something predictable and then adjust the setting. Sunlit grass and clear blue sky are about 18% grey reflectance, so are zone 5. Typical skin tone is one stop lighter, as is tarmac on the road, say zone 6. White walls are zone 8 if you want a hint of detail. So for a white wall to remain white, meter it and then increase exposure by three stops....Simple! This all applies well to negative film.

CCDs and slide film do not want any over-exposure at all, to avoid washed out areas. Just make sure that you meter the actual subject and not masses of dark or light areas and there should be no problem in taking a general centre-weighted reading. A little tweak one way or the other will come naturally in time.

CCDs are actually the one time I use matrix metering, and I really haven't found a problem. With slides I use aperture priority centre-weighted metering. For black and white film I use manual exposure and spot or centre-weighted metering so I can ensure good shadow detail.

The Tamron is an excellent lens, but very big and heavy.

The SMC Pentax-M 100mm f4 is compact and superb. Flare is virtually non-existent. Flatness of field is excellent. Corner to corner sharpness exemplary.

I think they are a world apart in terms of design and performance. I'm sure you will be delighted with the pentax lens if that is what you go for.

By far the most efficient way to transfer images to the PC is to buy a card reader. You can then remove the card from the camera, insert it into the card reader and you will be able to access the images easily. Card readers are very inexpensive and well worth buying.

Not quite the answer to your question, but certainly a way around the problem!

You need a RAW converter, a bit of software that will enable you to utilise the RAW files. This should be provided on a CD with the camera, as it will be specific to the particular maker.

Sue and I use the best quality JPEG setting, as this can be directly used in Photoshop and any other application.