My question is not strictly anything to do with Pentax but as Adobe Photoshop and its various 'tools' are quite widely used amongst us Pentax users I thought it relevant to pose these questions here.

I use Photoshop CS and would rather not upgrade to CS2 at the moment because I find the CS version to be perfectly adequate for my purposes.

I have just been testing the benefits of the DNG Converter & Camera RAW 2.4 version with .PEF files from my istD and it seems to offer great savings on disk space for long term storage of digital negatives. After a lossless conversion and choosing not to embed the original .PEF file, the resulting .DNG file is about half the size of the original .PEF

My main question is, if in the future one decides to upgrade our current Pentax DSLR models to newer ones like istD2 (or whatever it will be called) or the 645D for instance, will the present DNG/RAW converter work with the RAW output from these cameras since each successive Pentax offering so far seems to produce slightly different .PEF formats as to 'break' existing software for which we then have to await updates.

I also use Pixmantec's RawShooterPremium which supports DNG and all Pentax PEF's that I use at the moment. My worry is that in the future I may be forced to update Photoshop to a newer version just to keep up to date with its DNG/RAW converters. I'm assuming here that the DNG converter requires the camera raw plug-in to pre-process a .PEF file before producing a .dng file.

If one looks at the downloads available for Photoshop, the DNG/RAW update for CS stops at version 2.4. Version 3.x is in the CS2 section. Does anybody know if the CS2 versions of these work with CS?

Does anyone else on here use DNG for storage?

EDIT:

I've just checked the Adobe download site and the DNG Camera RAW 3.3 version will only work with CS2, not CS. Pentax cameras istDL & istDS2 were added in version 3.3 which means anybody with these models who wants to only use Adobe's solution must use CS2.

EDIT 2:

I guess I should have checked myself first. The DNG converter in version 3.3 seems to work OK with the CaneraRAW plugin version 2.4 for CS. It also seems to work with RawShooterPremium. Thje CameraRAW 3.3 plugin however does not work with PS CS, only CS2.

Pentax possibly has an opportunity here, natively produce DNG files in-camera. Samsung already do in one of their models. . . now there's a thought.

Thanks Brian. I ordered a couple of 200mm goosenecks and vases from a different supplier today. I though the short ones might support the weight better and I think 200mm + the ball head + the cold shoe + the flash would be long enough. They seem to be cheap as chips anyway so I don't mind wasting a couple if they don't work out.

Brian,

are these goosenecks stiff enough to support an AF240FT flashgun weighing a tad under 300grams.

I want to make a high powered dual flash macro rig and I have everything I need except the means to fix them.

So far I have 2 each AF240FT + cable + hot shoe adapter, cold shoe to tripod adapter, small ball head (Hama). The ball head holds the cold shoe with flash and the other end has a normal female tripod mount.

If you think these are stiff enough to hold the gun in just about any fixed position, do you think it is simple enough to fit a male tripod mount into one end?

I started this project because I want a system that is useable in the field but powerful enough to use very small apertures to get max DOF. I realise this has probably all been done before . . . but I haven't done it yet, and I'd like to have a go. I did see the ideal solution on Ebay a while ago, a unit made by Novoflex but it sold for stupid money.

The last one almost looks as if he's smiling, I wonder why?

Cats, don't you just love em ?

I see you have all four bulbs now, any other interesting results yet?

You could try http://www.warehouseexpress.co.uk/ Click on the Photographic link on the left where you will find lighting guides from Steve Aves.

Hope that helps.

George,

The AF360FGZ certainly compliments the istD very well. I have a AF500FTZ too. The new AF540FGZ combines all of the best attributes of both in one unit. Awesome. I have to admit to not having much time to enjoy using my Pentax collection of late as I'm trying to hand over my IT business to my son, releasing me to take my photo gear to Spain and get some serious recreational use out of it. Not only that, it's b****y raining all the time here. Water shortage . . . ! ! ! my rear end ! ! !

I've spent about the last year picking up a bargain here and there, buying and selling on ebay to fund the purchase of the digital kit and some new lenses. I have 3 istD's now and really don't need all of them. I will keep my latest aquisition as it's hardly been used and one other. I'm going back to Spain soon and I'll have all of my gear together for the first time. I'll decide in the week or two after that which one to sell and let you know via a PM.

I'm really looking forward to spending some 'quality time' with my wife , her mother , and my Pentax gear in the next few weeks. I'll maybe post a link to some of my (better) results.

It's finally arrived ! ! ! The 12-24mm DA lens I ordered, what seems like eons ago, was delivered today from TechnikDirekt. Actually, delivery was attempted yesterday but I was out.

It seems all my Christmas's have arrived at once today. The *istD + FA100mm 1:2.8 Macro were delivered by hand in person by the ebay seller. Sweet, but very sad lady. What a traumatic experience having to sell off her deceased husbands gear. She didn't trust the postal service and decided to drop it off on here way to visiting a nearby friend. The D has only been used for 162 shots and 2 X 2Gb Lexar 80X Pro CF cards included. The 100mm Macro lens is as new too. I was only after the lens but I haven't the heart to sell the camera now. I'll be putting one of my others up for sale instead, especially as this one hasn't had much use.

To cap it all, the grip and AF360FGZ I bought on ebay arrived today too. I can't believe my luck . . . except its been peeing with rain all day and I haven't been able to use it much.

Anyway, back to the SMC Pentax-DA 12-24mm ED AL (IF) lens . . . wow ! ! ! Even with just a few indoor shots it seems to be the dogz dangly bits.

One criticism, of the hood, not the lens. It lacks the removeable panel found on the 16-45mm hood to facilitate the rotation of a polarising filter. A bit of an oversight in my opinion.

For those among us who might claim Pentax is dead, and to demonstrate that bargains are still available if you look. I managed to get a 6MP Pentax *istD camera, 100mm macro lens, 12-24mm lens, battery grip, 2 X 2Gb CF cards and top notch flash (albeit from several suppliers in UK, Germany, & Hong Kong) for about the same money as some might pay for their 8MP body. I know which I prefer.

As Maxwell Trotter Ward might say, "Happy days", or as Derek Trotter might say - "Cushti".

Thanks Matt.

It looks to me like TeKaDe might have one or more in stock and they are cheaper than TechnikDirekt by 20 euro.

FYI: 'Lieferfrist (Arbeitstage): 1' literally translates to 'Time of delivery (working days): 1'

And

'sofort ab Lager' = 'immediately ex store' (nothing to do with beer )

No sign of the 12-24mm DA arriving in the near future

I ordered it on 28th April 2006 from www.technikdirekt.de with a two week expected delivery date. Those two weeks have come and gone and in reply to my email enquiry about delivery, Technikdirekt say it is still out of stock and they don't know when the next batch are due.

I might just have to pay the extra £100'ish and get it from Park Cameras unless any of you knows of another european source at a reasonable price.

Matt,

Before I order the 10-17mm as well, can you let me have your full home addess, work address, any telephone numbers that you might answer, and names and addresses of 3 of your best friends that will know where to find you when you go into hiding. My wife will demand all of that information from me.

Cheers to all for your comments/observations etc.