A lens without an aperture ring, * or not, would be severly limited (if not unusable) on say, an MZ-S, which is an AF body but has no means of setting the aperture other than by the lens ring. There is another, not so old, model which has the same aperture ring requirement. MZ-7 I think but not certain. Neither of these bodies could really be described as old . . . can they?

AFAIK, those two contacts, as in the MZ-S, only provide power to whatever they are connected to inside the lens. There is no reason, other than excessive battery drain, that the two contacts can't serve both AF and PZ functions at the same time.

I don't believe they serve any other purpose . . . but . . . I could be wrong.

I have had good IR results from the *istD which is why I asked the question.

You do need to compose and focus the shot before fitting the IR filter because the human eye (and the cameras focussing mechanism) can see nothing through it. You'll just about see the sun (but you may have to wait until June for that in UK ) through it, but not much else.

Has any of you lucky K10D owners tried any Infrared pics yet, and is it at least as good as the *istD?

Cheers,

I've no experience of Pentax P&S cameras. I have a Fujifilm Finepix F810, it's in auto all the time except when I want to get close and then I turn on the 'macro' function. I have never been disappointed with the results. It is my camera of choice when I'm out and about walking, shopping, cycling. Too much harm can come to my 'proper' cameras in these environments.

I have put a link on another thread regarding EU directive 1999/44/EC. In a nutshell, if you believe the camera was faulty at the time of purchase (after some time in March 2003 and not fit for intended purpose), you can claim a repair or replacement for up to 6 years from the date of purchase in UK. If you've had the camera more than 6 months its your responsibility to prove (with sample images I guess) that this was the case.

Good luck,

Shoot 'em first . . . ask 'em to pose later. That's how Clint Eastwood would have done it . . . had he been a photographer, that is.

Personally I think you should just make a few test shots with the camera and flash set to manual everything, including focus. CHoose a willing subject other than yourself, use a low ISO setting, fix the shutter speed at say 1/125th, then start with an aperture of f11 and take it from there. Increasing the f number will reduce the size of the aperture and give a greater depth of field. You should be able to take pics at f22 or even f32 with the AF140C. If not, increase the ISO until you can. If the 100mm lens doesn't give satisfactory results, you may have to try the 50mm but you'll be working closer to your patient.

Your subject matter is going to be pretty consistent, even with different patients of different ages (having different sized mouths, number of teeth etc).

A ring flash is going to be essential to get the light where you want it, as you've already identified.

I'm already getting toothache just writing this

The jist of all this is to help you get it right first time . . . when it matters . . . when you have a victim (sorry, patient) in the chair. You might need to practice a bit first though.

When you have worked out all of the settings you need, write it all on a sticky note and fix it to the flash head, it'll always be there when you (or a colleague) needs it.

Ultimately, if you rely on AFE (Auto Flipping Everything), occasionally the camera/flash will get it wrong and if you haven't a manual setup to rely on, you'll be stumped.

Once you have settled on a manual setup you can repeat the exercise ad infinitum and the results will be more or less the same every time. Also, if you shoot RAW, you have the option to tweak the exposure by about +3 to -3 stops, so no problem really.

Experimenting with digital is fast and best of all, free.

EDIT: Whilst I alluded to a forthcoming Pentax P-TTL Ring flash in a previous post, I have been unable to find my source of that info. so please disregard it for now and don't factor it into your decision. You could end up waiting a very long time

Neil,

I think you misunderstood Georges signature to be levelled at you. It isn't. It's Georges commentary of himself and as a signature, it appears at the bottom of all his posts.

George may have been accused of 'caustic' comments in the past but that's not the case on this occasion. I think a retraction is in order before you find out what George is really capable of

I'll certainly let you know my findings and I'll try to find the bit I read about a new P-TTL ring flash. I could have dreamed it of course. Shiny new Pentax gear plays havoc with the mind.

Cheers,

1: Correct - but only until the P-TTL ring flash is released.
2: Incorrect - The new P-TTL ring flash will be fully compatible with the K10D and the camera does the calculation of flash duration to achieve correct exposure. That's what the P in P-TTL is all about and I'm sure it'll be worth waiting for.
3: Correct (as far as I know) - Pentax have already released digitally optimised (D-FA) versions of their 50 & 100mm Macro lenses.

I have the SMC-FA 100mm Macro lens & the AF140C ring flash. I'm just waiting for the K10D to arrive, hopefully this coming week, then I can test it all together. This combination of lens and flash certainly produces stunning results on my *istD.

See the full lineup of lenses, and the future development 'roadmap' here

Cheers,

Neil,

Welcome to the forum.

You don't mention which of the two Pentax ring flashes you propose to use. In my opinion (I've used both) the AF140C is a far better ring flash solution than the AF080C.

To answer your question, any Pentax flash can be used with any Pentax camera in manual flash mode (where you do the calculations). Whilst both of these (and other flashes) have TTL capability, this is not an option when used with the K10D. Only the *istD and DS (I think) Pentax digitals can accomodate TLL flash (where a sensor in the mirror box determines the flash duration). This system was always a bit hit and miss on digitals because the reflectance of the filter fitted in front of the CCD sensor is nowhere near as consistent as film.

I believe Pentax will release a P-TTL ring flash during 2007. P-TTL (Pre-flash TTL) and manual flash, or a flashes auto mode, are the only modes supported by the K10D I think.

Both Pentax ring flashes currently available are compatible with, and can be fitted to a SMC 100mm macro lens of any vintage (A, F, FA, DA).