No, no external bits at all. Just put up the pop-up flash, choose the option in the custom menu (pop up is master or controller only) and set the AF360 to Slave 1 (hold the LIGHT button down for three seconds, until "SL 1" or "SL 2" shows, and press the "S" button to toggle).

Yes, there are advantages. The zoom information is transferred through the cabling and allows HS flash. This is most useful for outdoor portraiture (e.g. weddings) where you mount the flash on a bracket.

But, for 90% of flash work, wireless flash is a real plus - especially as you can mount the flash on a tripod with a brolley or other diffuser
Matt

Oooh, oooh
They've fixed a bug or two and added some really nice features

* Wireless - beautiful! That makes me one happy man I also noticed that the top LCD shows "W" and the flash symbol - they obviously had that one planned from the beginning

* The bug in Hyper-program with Auto ISO where you could shift the Tv slower, but then not faster (to up the ISO) has been fixed. Works exactly as the *ist-D now.

* The new e-dial modes for Av and Tv are fabulous! They're a bit like Hyper-program but with ISO. I've got the ISO on the thumb and Tv on the finger - Press the green button and it shows "Auto". You're on auto ISO, but the ISO is shown. Flick the ISO wheel and you override the auto-ISO. Brilliant (It's like the power of Sv mode but with a no-brainer mode too!)

- My only niggle is with the Manual WB - you can't see the colour temperature when you set it. It'd be much better if I could grab the K setting and plug it into one of the three memories. Still, that's a small niggle

Now all I've gotta do is find some time to go and put it to use
Matt

Both files are identical

(Did a byte-for-byte file comparison)

Just off to upgrade....
Matt

Rodger,
Most packages refer to it as "dpi" - because that's how it has been historically (the context made it clear). Photoshop has now either dropped the "dpi" (as in Image Info), or changed to "pixels/inch".

The resampling options are only applicable if you actually change the image pixel dimensions (not the ppi setting).

In general, if you are downsizing then use "Bicubic Sharper", and if you are upsizing then use "Bicubic Smoother". The other options are useful, but not necessarily for photography

HTH!
Matt

John,
I was referring to the EXIF designated "dpi" setting

Although what you say is correct about the variance between inkjet dots and pixels, it gets even more complex when dealing with postscript screening for litho and you start dealing with lpi (lines per inch) Still, the DTP packages generally deal with the EXIF dpi setting and default to "size = pixels / dpi" setting for the frame size. That's all I meant

Matt

Just to add another twist to this:
If you do your own printing etc then the dpi setting is completely irrelavent. You're concerned only, and 100% about pixels.

If, however, you give a JPG or TIFF to a publisher and they import it into Quark (or some other DTP) and you've got it set to 72dpi with 3008x2008 pixels then they'll curse you because they'll have to fiddle around and shrink your image to fit. Setting the right dpi helps the DTP software to sort its sizing out. If it's one or two images then that's not too bad, but if you're doing a product catalogue - you'd better set the dpi correctly

Matt

Richard,

The *ist-DL has only 3 focus points, so your only options are "Spot" and "Wide" (page 121 of the DL manual). Selecting a focus point would be a little silly.

The *ist-DS has multi-point, and yes the four way controller can choose the focus point. See page 123 of the *ist-DS manual - it's the "Select" option that allows the four-way controller to choose.

On the *ist-D and K10D there is a physical selector around the 4-way buttons that chooses "Spot", "Select" and "Auto" - when on "Select" the 4-way buttons choose the exact spot.

Hope that helps!
Matt

Richard,
It's in the custom menu:
Then, when you half-press the shutter it does not focus. You have to press the "OK" button to trigger the AF mechanism.
The four way buttons do NOT control the focusing
Matt

Back on track...

For the *ist-DS (similar functions to the DL2), my favourite custom function is "OK btn when shooting" to 3 - Enable AF.

This way the shutter release does NOT focus, but the OK button does the focus. I find this especially helpful for kids, fast moving items, and where focus is critical.

(The same function is available on all Pentax DSLRs and this is one of the first changes I make )

Matt

Regarding exposure - I don't think there's any exact equivalent when tracking the focus point. The Pentax metering is a segmented meter device and it can't move the segments around! (Unlike some other makes that use a small CCD-like device for metering with small square pixels.)

I suspect they "approximate" or slightly reweight the metering when tracking the AF point.

To be honest, there aren't many subjects that really require this level of automation - it's often easier to use the required metering, use centre focus point to focus, meter and reframe - at least you know what's happening!

Still, if you shoot RAW and don't blow out the highlights then you'll get some extra latitude when developing on the PC to cope with most of exposure issues.

...And then there's HDRI... more on that later
Matt