"Light, camera, action" - by the bucket load
Wonderful capture.
Matt

Glad the guides have been useful

Reminds me of The Importance of Being Earnest:
I would say I know far less than half of what I would like to know
Matt

Have downloaded and installed. Very, very quick first impressions:

* User interface is nice and clean, intuitive and snappy. I like it

* Highlight and shadow control works effectively (seems to do some kind of curve compression at either end. Not sure if it does anything else - like Silkypix's dynamic range controls)

* I'm finding it tricky to get a good image with high ISO. Either the USM is making pock-marks in the image, or it's overly soft. Silkypix's noise reduction is amazing in comparison, IMHO

* Detail of output on low ISO images seems better than C1v3. However, Silkypix can match (and exceed) that detail at the expense of more processing time.

* Speed of conversion is very good, but not that much slower in SPDS

* The curves tool doesn't have the "hold-the-shift-key" option for very fine control. However, it does have a neat feature where it can adjust only the horizontal position (hold the mouse just under the control point and drag), or just the vertical position (hold mouse to the left or right of control point). Easier to use than explain

* Setting files (the .p1s files) are stored as XML. Good idea

It'll be interesting to see how it shapes up nearer release time - certainly worth getting if you already have a C1v3 license. Overall it looks good... but I still prefer SPDS for IQ and control of colour (which I just can't beat in anything else so far). SPDS is only let down by a few points (like no background processing, annoying flashing clip warnings, slow "chunked" display - but that doesn't litter your drive with "proxy" files, curves tool doesn't have the histogram overlayed, slightly confusing manual and UI).

It just makes me want to sit down and write a serious guide to SP (I know... one day, one day If anyone can lend me some spare time... )
Matt

Have been trying to download since I received the email... but things are a little clogged right now

As soon as I can download it I'll try it out (and maybe do a mini-review)
EDIT: Looks like the original bandwidth & server issue has been resolved...
Matt

Haven't quite plucked up the courage to do that. I like the zoom range, and the optical quality of the 24-90 far too much
It's the 50-135 that's tempting me....
Matt

Absoluuuuutely amazing!
Cannot begin to imagine the Photoshop time to do that
Matt

Ditto

With the D-BG1 on the *ist-D I would switch between liking and not liking it
With the K10D + D-BG2 the grip is on there permanently. It just feels so absolutely "right"

Got mine from SRS, of course Worth giving Chris a ring
Matt

Glad it helped Dan
Matt

Sharpening for print always looks too aggressive on screen.
In general you should view at 50% on screen and apply sharpening so you just see the halos appearing.
The 50% view size in Photoshop roughly approximates how it will print.

Have a look at the guides on www.thelightsrightstudio.com - the PDFs and lessons on "Putting a fine edge on your sharpening skills". I think it's covered in there.

Matt

They don't mention whether they were using SR enabled with a tripod when doing the tests - it's possible that had a bearing on the matter.

I have never had a problem with image quality on any of the Pentax cameras when using Capture One and Silkypix. Other converters have image quality problems IMO, and it may be down to that.

What I can say is that the *ist-D held its own when compared with a 20D and L-series lenses using Capture One Pro and Silkypix, and the K10D is visibly better than the *ist-D

To quote:
It's a case of favouring higher resolution. Even the Pentax supplied RAW convertor will produce excellent results (as will even the free Silkypix convertor from www.silkypix.com).

Bottom line - don't worry about it

EDIT: In my book, the K10D wins hands down when it comes to usability, especially when controlling ISO, Av, and Tv together.

Matt