Hi Don,

I'm really impressed with your results from that setup. It's a great idea. I'll be scouring my local supermarket for a light tent, & if I'm lucky perhaps they'll be stocking tripods & lighting stands cleverly disguised as kitchenware...

Jonathan

On the subject of good manual focus lenses, I own the underrated Tamron SP 70 - 210 f/3.5, which is an excellent performer, if a bit hefty. The 70 - 150 f/3.5 is also pretty good, & much easier to handhold. Coupled with a PKA Adaptall mount these give good results on digital, & are massively useful for low light work, at a fraction of the cost of what you'd have to pay to get those specs on a current lens.

Jonathan

There's also a good review of the K10D in Feb's issue of Professional Photographer. It gets 5 out of 5 in all the categories, except (strangely) features, but I guess this reflects the fact that it's being compared with high end cameras, rather than entry level models. It gets an overall score of 5 out of 5, and they conclude by saying that it's a camera that's "suitable for many forms of professional photography".

Jonathan

Regarding the issue of the flashgun used in the review, it reflects badly on either (a) AP for not getting hold of a current flash in order to do a thorough review (strangely I'm sure I remember them using a 360 FGZ when they tested the DL2 - maybe they've lost it), or (b) Pentax/Intro for not ensuring that reviewers get a range of current lenses & flash units. It's not surprising that they think Pentax doesn't have good system back up. One of the photos in the review is taken with a Sigma 10-20mm as Damien Demolder "couldn't get hold of a suitable Pentax lens".

Jonathan

Yes, I prefer the second crop too - great picture!

Jonathan

This isn't the case if you set the focus to the OK button (on the K100D at least) - I regularly use manual focus lenses & keep it set to AF, plus having it set up this way means it's easy to change between AF & MF when using an autofocus lens.

Jonathan

I found this a bit tricky with my K100D as with AF lenses I use the central focus point, but often like to focus manually (so if the point of focus is off centre the shutter won't fire unless I switch to MF on the camera). The best way round this on the K100D is switching the autofocus to the OK button rather than the usual half press of the shutter. I don't know whether the K10D has a similar way of getting round the problem - ideally it would have a custom function (like the Z-1p, I think) where you can choose whether the shutter will fire whether or not the image is in focus.

Jonathan

Hi Rodger,

Thanks for the reply - I guess this question is just clarifying what I asked previously, but if you link the metering to the focus point & then select the central focus point, does the camera meter differently to normal centre-weighted metering, or is it in effect doing the same thing?

Jonathan

If linking the metering to the focus point, does anyone know what bias this gives (i.e. does it give the same bias to the focus point as centre-weighted metering would, or is it somewhere nearer spot metering)?

Jonathan

I've done a lot of scanning on a Canon flatbed (8400f) & have had pretty good results - obviously the quality's not up there with a dedicated film scanner, but you can do several at a time (2 strips of 6 negs or, I think, 4 mounted slides). The Canon method of dust removal is very good - set to medium it gets rid of most dust spots & doesn't noticeably affect sharpness, and it doesn't add much time at all to each scan (I haven't had experience of Digital ICE personally, but have heard from different sources that it adds a lot of time to a scan).

Obviously it depends on the ultimate print or file size you're after, but I've printed up to A4 from a 35mm negative & have been happy with the results. I've mainly scanned negs, with only a few transparencies (Velvia & Sensia) - I find that negatives are easier to scan.

The 8400f is now discontinued, but I presume the newer 8600f does the same job, though I've not seen any reviews of this yet. Nevertheless, however streamlined you get your scanning, it always takes much much longer than you think it will - you just have to prepare yourself & ideally use a scanner that will batch scan, allowing you to get on with something else.

Jonathan