Apologies Kim for not recommending your excellent site

My mistake - it's not a self timer on the front, but the depth of field preview. Haven't seen a P30 in a while

Matt

As a start, the manual can be downloaded from here:

http://www.pentaximaging.com/customer_care/manuals_literature/show_manual

It's going to be manual film loading - none of this automatic stuff Best thing is to read the manual first and go from there.
The thing on the front is the self timer

Hope that helps a little
Matt

Erm, I do
But it's a very big subject. Here's a quick outline:
1) Use colour managed software (like Photoshop)
2) Calibrate your monitor. If you can't afford a "Spyder", then download "WiziWYG" from www.praxisoft.com - it's free and you can get a pretty good calibration of the screen in about 15 minutes.
3) Calibrate your printer. If you can't do this, then ensure you use the correct profiles/settings for the paper you use. Stick to genuine ink cartridges too.

It's a minefield, and there will always be occassions when things just don't work out as you expect.
If you want to read up about it, then www.aim-dtp.net is a very good place to start. But you'll end up with a headache

Matt

Yes, the AF360 does have a test. There's a button on the back marked "Test"

If you put the mode into "A" then pressing the test button will fire, and the "A" should blink if you've got a good exposure. (Check the manual - I haven't had a chance to look it up.)

When using TTL or P-TTL the test must rely on the body. The *ist-D will allow you to fire a test and indicate whether you have the power needed. Such a function isn't always available on the body though, so you'll have to resort to the "A" mode test (which is what the third-party flash guns will do).

Hope that helps a bit,
Matt

Terry,
No problem.
Have fun with your new toy
Matt

Terry,
Yes, when on a P-TTL body the scroll wheel just doesn't even show the other options

One thing I forgot - you only get flash exposure compensation in P-TTL mode, not in TTL. Originally I bought the AF360 to work with a Z1 I had at the time, thinking that I'd get exposure compensation. Of course, I couldn't get the P-TTL mode, but only TTL (without compensation). Compensation is -3/+1 stops (I think, from memory).

The delay is very small, but probably in the order of 100ms (0.1s). When taking portraits (i.e regular "snap" mug shots) people blink on the preflash so the real flash captures them with their eyes closed. When you use the Red Eye Reduction flash mode (set on the body) there is about a one second delay between the two.

In fact, the timings are the same as for your pop-up flash. The pop-up is P-TTL only too

Hope that helps
Matt

The AF360 has a dial/enter control which allows you to choose the mode. The flash has five modes: "P-TTL", "TTL", "A", "M", and "SB" (focus assist lamp only).
The modes available depend on the body and the currently set camera mode.
If you use an older 4pin extension cable you lose the autofocus but gain the "TTL" mode in auto camera modes, but other than that you have to use either PTTL or A.
...though I haven't checked how the modes fair in the latest 1.12 firmware, and cannot confirm the modes available are identical in the *ist-DS
Matt

Terry,
Very tough question
I have the AF360FGZ and a Metz 50MZ-5. Both are excellent guns, with different strengths.

Here are some thoughts:
* The AF360 has wireless flash.
* It's difficult to turn off P-TTL on the AF360. Putting the camera in Manual mode will allow TTL only (at least on the *ist-D) Surprisingly good results from this.
* The AF360 has high speed sync, which the Metz doesn't have.
* The AF360 is small, but still powerful enough for most situations, the Metz weighs a ton Consequently, I can choose to shove the AF360 in the gadget bag and not worry if I don't use it. The Metz is another matter!
* The Metz can throttle down the output power (to 1/256) which is amazing for macro work.

In my own experience, there were issues with the AF360 and P-TTL, but since upgrading the *ist-D to the latest firmware I don't seem to have any problems at all, and the AF360 gets most of the use.

Hope that helps, and if you want any more info, feel free to ask
Matt

What about Capture One LE?
It's $99, and now allows unlimited batching.
Here are some things that make C1LE best for me:
1. Film response curves (extra shadow, normal, extra contrast) are very helpful
2. Curves within the RAW process gives excellent quality
3. Automatic hot spot removal - a life saver for high ISO images
4. Astonishing noise reduction. I processed a batch of ISO 1600 and ISO 3200 that nothing else could touch
5. You can queue an image up while working on the next
6. Output to multiple colour spaces easily.

(and it supports a whole range of RAW formats. www.phaseone.com)

Images like: http://www.ephotozine.com/gallery/showlargepic.cfm?photoid=213557 and http://www.ephotozine.com/gallery/showlargepic.cfm?photoid=213097 and
http://www.ephotozine.com/gallery/largephoto.cfm?f=16488_1118037999.jpg

were a five minute job in C1LE. Even in Photoshop CS RAW I couldn't even get close - I struggled with colour, dynamic range etc.

If I could warrant the Pro version, I'd get it because then it adds 4x upsampling and a whole host of other features.

Matt

Not being too rude about Pentax's RAW plugin, I'd suggest you try something different. Personally, I use Phase One's Capture One LE ($99) - absolutely amazing all round.
There is also the Pixmantec RAWshooter, which is free and pretty good!
(I've used pretty much all the RAW convertors: dcRAW, Pentax's, Photoshop CS, and they are all just "ok". Not all RAW convertors are the same )

Matt