Aaahh! Don't tell me that - it makes me weep that I missed it!!
Matt

You mean this one:
http://tinyurl.com/b86dh

The seller also has an A* 200/f2.8 going.
What was that rule about never selling a Star lens??

Matt

George,
You're trying to be too clever and write HTML code
Use the following:

"[" img "]" full-url "[" /img "]"

Hope that helps.
Matt

Good for spbatt

I have the F50/1.7 and the A50/1.4
The 1.4 is stunning The 8 aperture blades (compared to 6 on the 1.7) creates such a lovely bokeh. In fact, I've not had much else on the *ist-D since I bought it.

Still tempted by the A50/1.2, but can't justify the cost, especially as the 1.4 is so good.

Matt

Thanks Fernando!
Very good piece of news

Hmmmm.

I would strongly advise against disassembling the lens
(I am an electronics engineer with some experience and wouldn't try it!)

However, you should see a small black worm-drive type screw. From what I can remember it is near the bottom of the camera, at the front. It provides the focus control.
On the end is a screw-driver slot - turn it very carefully and it should put the focus mechanism "within bounds". Just power up and it might just work.

If you can't see what I mean, I'll try and get a photo for you.

Matt

I quite agree Don.

I've used Elements for many years. In addition, the book "Hidden Elements" (also on www.hiddenelements.com) was extremely useful in pushing the bounds of PSE, and in fact laid the groundwork for much of my Photoshop CS2 skills

Interesing image by the way

Matt

Ammonyte: the *ist-D could do auto ISO from the first firmware release. I think you're referring to your *ist-DS? The current *ist-D firmware is 1.12.

Bundybabe - that's another good point, make sure you are using 1.12 firmware. It helps a lot with exposure issues.

Matt

(LOL @ George's comments )

Bundybabe,

In general you need two things - a fast enough shutter speed, and a good focus.

Here are a few pointers about the *ist-D that I've found useful:

1. Switch to centre focus. On the back, around the OK button, switch it to the far right - the dot in the rectangle. That's centre focus point only.

2. If you are taking shots of fast moving objects (like for sports), then you can use the custom settings to use high shutter speeds by default. It's the "Program Line" option in the custom menu. Set it to "Hi speed" for sports.

3. As with (2), but if you want the sharpest image, then set the Program Line to MTF. This mode will use the aperture that best suits the lens, kind of a "sweet spot" for the lens.

4. If you are having trouble in low light situations, and want general "snap" shots, then I find it useful to enable "Sensitivity Correction" in the custom menu. This lets the camera boost the ISO setting when it can't get a fast enough shutter speed. So, indoors, rather than using ISO200 (which may require a slow shutter speed), the camera can boost up to ISO400, 800, or 1600. You can choose to enable ISO3200 too - but this gets very noisy. Personally, I'd say this is one of the most useful features.

5. My personal preference for focussing is to disable the focus-on-half-press in the custom menu: "AF with press halfway - off" (it's quite a way down the custom menu). When I want to focus, I press the big AF button on the back. Now when I press the shutter, the camera doesn't "hunt" for a focus point. It takes a little getting used to, but is second nature now.

If that doesn't help, you can email a sample image and I'll let you know what I think is going wrong

Matt