It really is a personal choice depending on your requirements, but I can tell you that we generally take landscapes/studio portraits but not fast action sports shots so the standard cards have been no problem. We shoot in highest quality JPEG.

If we started shotting in RAW then the requirements might change, but I have no experience of that as yet.

Matt has beaten me to it, and said it all...

Sue and I use Jessops SD cards, and in terms of performance there has been no problem. What is worth noting is that the cards provided by suppliers like jessops who own-brand can end up being from different sources. As a consequence, we had several of a particular type that did not actually physically fit the camera - they were marginally too thick, causing difficulties inserting the cards and removing them.

As regards quality, as Matt says, the images are digital and data is data so there will be no difference.

I can only speak for myself, being in the Uk I find prices pretty low anyway from readily available sources.

I wouldn't buy from overseas because there would probably be import duty and VAT to pay anyway, which would make it less of a bargain, and if anything happened to be wrong with the product it could be a real hassle getting it sorted out.

Personally, I would pay a higher price (within reason) for the security of dealing with a reliable local seller.

According to page 24 of the manual, a 64MB card will provide 5 min 32 sec of movie at a resolution of 320 x 240.

I think you may have a problem with this.

The point of fill-in flash is to put a little light into the darker areas of the picture (the shadows) so, for example, the lighting on a face is evened up. Typically wedding photographers use fill-in flash all the time. It should be subtle and not so bright that it becomes the main light. I used to aim to have the fill-in two stops darker than the main lighting.

What you are trying to do is to add light to what will prbably be the brightest part of the picture - the water - so you will almost certainly end up with over exposure, or the rest of the picture may be too dark.

If you want to freeze the water into tiny droplets, then the faster shutter speeds on your camera will be more than adequate. I don't think you need flash for this at all. Try shutter speeds all the way from 1/125 sec upwards, see the different effects and choose the one that suits.

I've had a quick glance at the manual, and I don't think you can as there is no manual mode. The nearest you can achieve is to set a mode that will give you the effect you want. So, if you want the highest shutter speed applicable then set sport mode. If you want a small aperture set landscape mode. If you want a large aperture set portrait mode, and so on.

There are lots of modes, some downright bizarre - would you believe food mode (lets you take appetising pictures of prepared food!)

There still seems to be a perception that an "advanced" photographer needs more functions in a camera, but in reality a good experienced photographer could survive very happily with a fully manual camera.

On that basis, the *istDS has more than anyone could possibly need (as opposed to want!) for any normal applications that I can think of.

In fact, I use aperture priority auto exposure 90% of the time, and manual exposure the other 10%. So modern cameras could be much simpler for me and still offer everything required. OK, sometimes things need working around but even a Pentax ME with no manual speeds at all can be made to do almost any task....

To use manual white balance:
1 Set the mode dial to P, Tv, Av, M or B
2 Press the Fn button - the Fn menu appears
3 Press the four way controller < The white balance screen appears
4 Use the four way controller downwards to select Manual
5 Press the four way controller > The message screen appears
6 Fully fill the viewfinder with a white or grey sheet of paper using the same light as you will use for your subject
7 Press the shutter release button fully [OK] appears if the process has been successful [NG] appears if it has not.
8 If successful, press the OK button.

No picture is taken when you press the shutter release as part of this process.

See pages 112-114 of the camera manual.

If the measurements made in tests of the 43mm are anything to judge by, then it is likely to be a rare example of accuracy and honesty. The 43mm is almost exactly that, bar the decimal points. The 31mm and 77mm are no doubt close to those figures as well.

I did read some years ago that most 24mm lenses were in fact closer to 25mm, but not many manufacturers label their lenses 25mm....

I think we could safely assume that many 28-80mm lenses could be 29-78mm ones, or something similar!

Hi Kim

It may be that not all the screens will fit - I think I have the info somewhere, I'll check.