Tony - there's one spidery growth plus a few other "spots" on the same element. Whether they came from the spidery growth, or whether they originated from the same source as the growth (and haven't had a chance to flourish) I don't know.

In any case, I'm isolating this £90 len from the other (much) more expensive lenses Better safe than sorry! But I'll bear your comment in mind!

Matt

Weeeell,

The SMC-DA 50-200 caught me. Chris from SRS is winging one to me for tomorrow, so I'll have something else to review

The SMC-FA 80-320 I will try the "sunshine" treatment... if we ever get any And I'll isolate it and save it for the odd occasion when I need super telephoto.

Matt

Kim,
I'm aware of the probably price premium of the stars...
Yes, the 50-200 looks a good bet - can't find it for £100 though SRS seem the best price I can find.

However, are there any possible options for my 80-320? Would slow baking at a lowish temp kill the spores (and hopefully not the lens)? If not, can anyone recommend a repair centre that's worth ringing for this kind of job?

Matt

Just took out my SMC-FA 80-320 for a go with the SMC-F 1.7x AF adapter on the K10D...

Managed 540mm handheld at 1/50s using SR - amazing!

But... I've got a spidery bloom growing behind one of the front elements, and several spores that have landed on the element around it. Thankfully the lens was isolated from the rest (and probably where it grew the mold).

Hoping that it was behind the front element, I used a steel vernier guage as a lens spanner to unscrew the front element... and the contamination is behind the second element and it looks like the whole thing needs disassembling

The lens was second hand (about £90) and may even have had the spores there from the beginning, so I don't want to spend a great deal having it fixed (and of course, there's no guarantee as it could resurface). Does anyone have any suggestions?

Failing that the SMC-DA 50-200mm is looking very attractive as a replacement until the 60-250mm arrives But I did sooo like the 8-blade bokeh of this lens, and its very long range!


Matt

Michael - that link was a great tongue-in-cheek article

You'll have fun with the K10D, that's for sure
Matt

Thanks ImpotentSpider
I was trying to explain why and how I use the mode

As you say, you can customise the e-dials, and as I like to think of shifting the aperture primarily, I set the e-dials to do the ISO on the front wheel, and Program shift on the rear (that way it's consistent in my mind with Hyperprogram).

It takes a little getting used to, but once you've done it then it's incredibly quick and intuitive

Matt

Yes, the Sv mode works like this on the K10D:

You effectively have a "three way" control of exposure. The ISO is available on your finger wheel, and is displayed in the viewfinder. You can use it like other cameras where you just set the ISO and forget, or train your brain to think not just in terms of Av/Tv, but Av/Tv/ISO...

So, I work like this - for a given environment I guess the lowest ISO I can use before I start work; then use the thumb wheel to adjust the Av/Tv (my mind thinks of adjusting the Av, and the camera sorts the Tv - you can work the other way around too, which is the default); if I find I can't get acceptable Av/Tv combination then I adjust the ISO.

It's actually more complex to explain than use

Before, I would often use the "P" mode with Auto ISO adjustment on the *ist-D - and I'd never know what ISO it was using. You see, I would rather go for a slightly lower Tv and brace myself, than have a higher ISO and lose quality.

It's definitely not like other cameras

Matt

I love the new "Sv" mode, with the e-dials set for ISO at the front and Program shift at the rear (which in my mind I equate with aperture shift).

Brilliant! Plus the amazing speed of it!

The other thing, which was top of my list when it was rumoured ages ago, is the wide and clean dynamic range. Shooting RAW I am simply stunned - just need some serious landscapes to check it out for real

Matt

I do know that enabling red-eye reduction will increase the pre-flash to main flash time to about 1 second. But that's not much help with studio type shots.

I'll give the AE-L a go - you never know

Yes, I agree it's a real shame about the popup not being a controller at least. I can understand not providing full high speed flash etc (some rumour said there were issues when using the flash and SR together). I would happily go with a "controller only" for the pop-up flash so it can trigger my AF360 & AF540 in manual.

Controlling P-TTL was extremely useful for ad-hoc shots where I could just pull off the AF360 and hold it in the left hand and shoot one-handed with the *ist-D. Gave a great light.

I'm still hoping there's hope in the firmware yet....

Matt

Yes, you can use Slave 2 and put the flashes in M mode.
However, there are a couple of things to bear in mind:

* The K10D preflash and main flash are very close together. I've not had much success when using 1/2 power. 1/4 power and below seems fine though.

* The K10D flash can only be set to -2 EV, so it may be a bit bright in comparison.

(I used the 50MZ5 pointing at the ceiling at 1/128 power).

Hope that helps!
Matt