LOL! Not yet. Let me explain: It's going to take some serious time to finish the whole book. By the time the words are done, there'll be enough information to benefit the majority. At that time I'll set up a PayPal payment mechanism to buy the PDF e-book. Anyone who buys the "words-only" version will get automatically upgraded once the images are done (so you won't have to pay twice).

I've been rather ill over this week, and have only been able to think about writing more, rather than actually write anything! Hopefully I'll get back on track next week

Matt

Oops! Crossed in the ether

Glad I helped out
Matt

EDIT: It's likely I'll make the book available on a "beta" with no images - and then update it when the images are available to all those that have paid already

Don, it's a bit odd about the AF200Sa & AF200S. As far as I can tell, the "S" should be the same as the "Sa", but with the addition of a low power A mode, and M mode.

Mind you, as I mentioned, there may be other information that's passed across, and the two flashes may behave differently.

That said, you should be able to use any "A" or "M" mode flash on the Pentax. I even have a little AF160 that works just fine

Matt

It's a shame, with the current price of the 18-55, that some enterprising person doesn't try and hack it into a tilt-n-shift... (but then it may be much more complex than that I suppose!)
Matt

Mac,
The only dSLRs that support TTL are the *ist-D and *ist-DS. No other.

However, you can use them all in "A" mode. I'm using a Metz 50MZ5 on "A" mode on the K10D and K20D with no problems.
Just a few things to keep in mind with "A" mode:
1) Fix the ISO of the camera. Auto ISO just won't work
2) Use Av mode on the camera, of course, and match it to that set on the little list on the back of the flash (but you knew that already).

My guess is you have Auto ISO enabled on the camera and, of course, the flash doesn't know about it
(It's also worth noting that the way the camera and flash tether in A mode seems to vary. The Metz will track your selected ISO and aperture all the time. Oddly the AF540 and AF360 don't track - it's all manual.)

Couple of advantages of using "A" mode:
a) you can work with dumb slaves (slave-flashes, not the servant type )
b) people who blink on the preflash don't have time to blink with a single flash in "A" mode (which is why the Metz is going into service for me!)

Hope that helps!

Matt

EDIT: Did I say I was writing a book It's turning into a monster!!

Chris,
Speculation... and experience with digital feedback designs.

There's always "jitter" involved in any digital feedback, and in the case of long exposures (typical of tripod usage), this is probably where it'll show itself.
You have the resolution of the vibration sensor(s), plus any rounding errors of the digital feedback algorithm, plus the stepping resolution of the magnetic actuators that move the CCD.

However, when it comes to scientific testing - who knows?! As you've observed, Pentax don't explain the reason in the manual. I've had a few odd situations - but haven't had the time to pin it down to SR or no SR.

Going back to the OP: there's definitely no physical harm done

(I'll stop waving my arms about now )
Matt

EDIT: Here's a real-world test:
Place camera on table (ie something really solid)
Set SR off, set Tv and 5" exposure. Listen - silence.
Set SR on, set Tv and 5" exposure. Listen - the SR mechanism is jittering all over the place and making that sound.
(Not just speculation )

Thanks for the link Terry!
There's also www.russellbrown.com - a great resource for Photoshop stuff
Matt

Have been using Thunderbird for a looong time

We switched when McAfee was randomly deleting the whole inbox of OE - a bug that was listed on the McAfee site but they hadn't/couldn't fix. We first switched to Thunderbird, then to Eset's Nod32 for AV.

Another advantage of Thunderbird is that your whole profile - emails, address book, everything - can be simply copied and migrated onto another machine. OE stuffs things all over the place (addressbook, emails, stuff in the registry etc, etc).

And, of course, if you switch to Mac or Linux then you can still run Thunderbird

Definitely an honourable mention

Matt

It's also down to rounding errors over long exposure times. There will come a point where the response to the small amount of vibration on a tripod will cause the sensor to move too far - because the feedback mechanism will have quantum steps.

Eventually the camera will "see" a movement and try to correct it - so you'll end up with the possibility of a slightly softer image.

But then as Chris says, you should be using a remote release or timed release anyway - both of which turn off SR automatically.

Matt

Jim,
Yes, I too use the 50-90mm range a lot
It roughly equates to 35-135mm angle of view on film. That's perfectly usable. There'll always be a place for the 50/1.4 though

My favourite set is: SMC-DA 12-24, SMC-FA 24-90, SMC-FA 50/1.4, and SMC-F 100/2.8 macro.

If I'm doing further stuff, then the SMC-FA 80-320 is great, but from experiences here the new SMC-DA 55-300 outperforms. It's likely that the 17-70 is rather excellent too - I considered switching, but the 24-90 just fits my needs too well

As Peter says, go for it
Matt