Have you considered the SMC Pentax-FA 80-320mm, a bit longer focal length at the wide end, massive (for a compact zoom) at the long end and a great lens. Lacks the additional coatings of the DA series though.

This last one looks about spot-on to me. The colours are much more natural looking. Bright, but not 'in yer face' like version 2.

I'm using a video7 17" flat panel and I had the opposite issue with Wiziwyg in that I couldn't see the grey squares within the white ones. I gave up in the end and bought a Spyder 2 to calibrate it.

I think this could take a while to get right. You have a shaded area in the right foreground caused by the trees. The detail that you had in that area in the first shot is now all but disappeared into the black. For instance, there is a plant growing in the wall in that area which you can hardly see now. That said, the pic is now more 'pleasing' to the eye overall.

Liam,

I have a monitor calibrated recently with a Spyder 2. Your pic looks a little washed out, lacking a little in contrast.

I have just run your pic through photshop cs2 and auto levels makes no significant improvement. What did improve the image for me was picking different black, grey, and white points.

The points I picked:

Black - Right foreground, where the water meets the stonework
Grey - Part of the lighter roof colouring
White - Main building, between 3rd and 4th window from right, low down close to the rooftop below, between the 2nd row of small panes. That is the nearest I can find to white.

Picking these points produces a more 'vivid' image for me.

I can't answer exactly, but I have a fair idea.

The longer prime lenses with wide apertures tend to be used by pro's more than amateurs, partly due to their enormous cost. Sadly, it seems that pro's prefer to have the C or N name on their gear because they think it makes them more credible photographers (mistakenly, I might add) and the chances are that Pentax didn't sell their magnificent lenses in sufficient quantities to warrant continuing production.

They are my thoughts.

Yes but . . . how does the camera know the film is upside down ?

Clever these Japanese . . .

Welcome to the forum Nico.

I'm sure that you have researched its replacement carefully and many factors may be involved but If you are considering replacing your deceased MZ-M with another model from the MZ range, you might consider the MZ-6 which I believe is perhaps the most fully featured camera body of the MZ range, excluding the exquisite MZ-S of course. Possibly the most useful feature of the MZ-6 that might be of interest to you is its complete compatibility with the AF360FGZ flash (and I guess the new AF540FGZ flash).

My own experience of the *ist film camera is that it is a very fine camera, let down only by its 'crippled' K mount which prevents the use of the older, pre 'A' lenses. It is also a little too small for me. Fitting the optional battery grip would definitely benefit handling. Pentax seem to have gone overboard with their quest for 'smallness' with the *ist, achieved mostly by reversing the film loading mechanism with the film spool being positioned on the right hand side of the camera as you look at the back.

I've been scanning a few slides lately. As part of my workflow (to use a modern phrase) I fill the carrier with 4 slides, brush both sides of all 4 slides, then blow the dust away with a Giottos Rocket blower before committing carrier to scanner. It seems to work well for me.

The K100D seems to be similar to the DL with in-camera shake reduction (SR). Still 6.1MP effective pixels and pentamirror design.

If the 10MP istD replacement has in-camera SR (and it works) it should knock the socks of the competiton.

The grip is important to me too. I think it unlikely that The D battery grip will fit the K100D/K110D as their bodies seem to be based on the DL body having a pentamirror.

I certainly hope Pentax continues their backwards compatibility with the D replacement to include the grip.

BTW, there is a third party vertical grip available for the DS etc. Have a look at ebay item 7621692634