I would definitely go with the Wacom ones Driver support is excellent, and the modern drivers still support every Wacom tablet ever made

I have a serial Graphire 1, a USB Graphire 1, and a Graphire 2 - all superb devices. Use the Volito on the kid's PC, and use Wacom technology in the Tosh tablet PC. Cannot recommend Wacom highly enough

I have also used the pro stuff - really nice with heavier stylus that has angle sense too (so you can change the angle of the brush in Photoshop). But, for day to day stuff, you can't beat the Graphire and Bamboo series

Matt

Bought an *ist-DS from SRS refurbished - excellent
Matt

As mentioned... this is my setup:

* Upgrade to firmware 1.30 (if you haven't already done so)
* Enter the custom settings menu and reassign the wheels for Av (I have rear = Aperture, front = ISO)
* Using the Fn menu, setup Auto ISO and the range.

Now it works like this:
- Auto ISO is in use normally
- Use the front wheel to force the ISO
- Press the Green button to switch back to auto ISO
- Hold down the OK button to see the number of exposures.

The nice thing is that all info is displayed in the viewfinder - Shutter Speed, Aperture, and ISO.

Couldn't live without this feature now
Matt

I use NAS all the time

At work we have two "Snap Appliance" Snap servers running RAID 5. Very nice systems, but a couple of grand each.
I just bought a Freecom Network Drive Pro:
http://www.freecom.com/ecproduct_detail.asp?ID=3705&CatID=8020&sCatID=11...

Runs on a Linux kernel. Not RAID, but excellent as a general storage area with shed loads of space. Couldn't argue with the price either (bought it from Dabs who had an offer in December).

HTH!
Matt

This is one for Don...

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08011402eyefimac.asp
http://www.eye.fi/a-wireless-memory-card/

A 2Gb SD card with built in WiFi... that'll be good for the K10D
Matt

Gordon,
I'm not sure Pentax were there last year... or the year before. IIRC, ePhotozine hosted the main Pentax distributor.
Matt

I doubt it very, very much.
Normally, to bring down costs, manufacturers will use a flash chip that can just hold the firmware. Providing a dual-firmware boot option is expensive to develop and requires at least twice as much flash storage space (I've developed "bomb-proof" boot loaders for the telecoms products we design at work).
The likelihood is that a "toasted" camera will require back-to-base reprogramming - which more than likely will need a special jig to connect up to the flash chip and program the firmware in again (just the way it did during manufacture when the chip was completely blank).

You'll note that there are very strong and bold warnings about doing a firmware upgrade - i.e. make sure the batteries are fully charged, and DON'T turn off the power....

But... as has been stated, the Samsung upgrades have the same features exactly (except for the RAW PEF option).
Matt

Michael,
It's not as bad as that

As I indicated, you have to take into account the changed angle of view. So, let's assume you are trying to get the same image in 35mm and K10D:
* Subject at 2m
* K10D with 50mm lens
* 35mm with 75mm lens (to provide the same AoV)

K10D DoF = 0.25m
35mm DoF = 0.16m

So, it's actually not the square, but approximately the AoV multiplier.
(If you used the same lens, from the same distance, then it would be the square... but the image would be wider on 35mm and therefore not a good comparison).

Confusion, confusion, confusion....
Matt

It's not quite as simple as you've made out

You need to read up on "The Circle of Confusion" - which is, alas, a little vague and subjective. There's a very nice online DoF calculator (make sure you enter the actual focal length, not your 1.5x - because the focal length never actually changes... it's the angle of view that changes )

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

The bottom line is: it is different to 35mm, and you can do nothing about it.

Of course, to actually compare like for like is difficult - to get the same image on the sensor means you have to be further away with digital, or use a wider lens on digital - both of which change the calculations.

I never give it a second thought - just click away and work harder with digital to get what I want
Matt

http://www.photomalaysia.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40022

The above link implies it's a Samsung designed sensor, and therefore that Samsung had a big input on the development.
Fair enough. We use enough Samsung parts - NAND flash particularly.

I don't actually care who designed it - just that it works
Matt