George,
A really simple WB metering can be done with a white sheet of paper. Just take a RAW image of a sheet lit by your flash. Bring it into C1 and use the WB tool and click on the paper. Then you can just save the WB settings for use later

If you have mixed flash/natural/tungsten then things can get interesting But the white-paper WB isn't normally far off.

Check out the "Show Colour Management" option in C1 (think that's what it's called - doing it from memory!). Once you've highlighted a PEF file you can choose the camera profile from the drop down list - try some of the others (even non Pentax ones give interesting results!).

C1 is one of the only RAW convertors to manage colour in this way, and the guy behind it really, really knows colour theory (RSP had it with the "ColorEngine", done by the same person as C1, but as you know I don't rate the RSP output very highly.)

I had another quick look at SilkyPix, and couldn't find anything regarding colour profiling except for the monitor - that's bad in my book

C1 isn't perfect, but what it does it does extraordinarily well
Matt

Hi George!
You've raised two separate points here, and at the risk of thread contamination () I'll answer both:

1) Colour balance in Capture One - if you're having problems then you've missed something somewhere. I can't beat the colour from Capture One. I'd suggest reviewing my C1 points, and this very helpful tutorial:
http://www.northscape.co.uk/news467.html

Colour isn't just WB though. I use a custom camera profile, and am hoping that I'll have some very nice news for C1 Pentax users in the next few weeks. With the "Pentax istD generic v2" profile things can be a bit "flat". Have a go using the Nikon D100 profiles - they're a bit oversaturated but might give you the "lift" you might be looking for.

In addition, I get very good results using an Expodisc for WB metering. If you want I could post the WB settings for the AF360 and AF540 which you could punch straight into C1. In addition, I have the QPcard - which is much cheaper - that might help get you a decent grey point for WB setting (perhaps better for mixed flash/daylight situations).

2) Silkypix. Yes, I've tried it and the results are good. However, again it was so slow in comparison to C1 that I've decided not to switch. That's slow in terms of workflow, not necessarily in terms of individual processing. (Though I now have a dual Xeon machine made everything surprisingly fast ).

I'll reconsider Silkypix when the next version comes out, but I reckon I'll probably still be on C1

Let me know if I've missed anything
Matt

It might have been Amnesia... but I'm not sure if my memory serves me correctly

I haven't had much success getting the mask over their faces to administer the anaesthetic!

LOL! Very funny Dan

Not on holiday... just working too hard

Matt

Dan,
Page 93 of the *ist-D manual says that the AF330 will work just fine: TTL (not P-TTL which may be a good thing sometimes ), AF assist, Autozoom (that's the Z of AF330FTZ), etc etc.

Only things listed that don't work:
* Wireless
* High speed sync
* Multiple flash (only the AF500FTZ can do that)

Hope that helps!
Matt

Not only the cheap glass. I've been using Hoya Pro-1 filters which have a very good coating, and are lovely and thin... but also fragile.

Duffed in my SMC-FA 24-90 at the weekend - camera and lens slipped round off my shoulder while kneeling down to help my toddler, landed lens down. Nasty crunch. Flicked the shattered filter glass out into the bin. Front element seems ok, but now have a very wobbly filter thread... and I think a couple of flaky aperture blades

Having been using the SMC-DA 12-24 mostly without a filter, I reckon I'll be minus filters from now (especially given the unbelievable SMC coating). It'd be a different story if it were a C lens (which I've heard are not that hard).

Matt

The Pentax 1.7x AF Converter is a good option. I've used it with the Pentax SMC-FA 80-320 with good results. You do lose some contrast as well as a couple of f-stops, but nothing that can't be rectified in Photoshop with the *ist-D

It also has the unique advantage of having internal focus - so the AF adapter does the focus and not the lens! This means that telephoto lenses focus quicker because there's no weight to move. In addition you can use manual lenses and have focussing.

Worth checking out if you can find one
Matt

...and if you get away without paying the VAT on the import, then Customs and Excise can get you to cough up the VAT at any time in the future

So, legally it's 8-9% plus 17.5% plus handling fee.
But not necessarily in that order (ie it might be handling before VAT!)

Buying from the EU is usually a lot cheaper, and I had zero problems buying from Germany

Matt

Liam,
Yes, I've known about it for a little while
I've tried to use it... and it was achingly slow (on a reasonble P4 notebook with 1Gb RAM). I might try on my Xeon machine and see what happens.
It has some interesting features, but even with C1 is still faster and more useable (IMHO) even with its cludgy interface!

I find the curves interface of C1 quicker and more intuitive, plus I have some very nice colour profiles that only work in C1. It'll take a lot to shift me...

Haven't much time to try it out more.
Matt