Sounds a bit crazy to me

However, Microdrives take more current when they spin the disk up. I had a few odd moments with NiMH batteries and the *istD, but it may have been down to a single dodgy battery that couldn't take the strain.

All that said, I've now switched to a Lexar 40x WA 1Gb card and it rocks Definitely faster, especially on startup. And it's a lot more rugged.

That said, the Microdrives (at least the genuine IBM/Hitachi article) are great devices and very cost effective.

Matt

Christine,

Ooops - I forgot for a moment the internet is global
Yes, Park Cameras in the UK it is. Maybe that's a little too far to travel However, they have the Sigma 18-50mm listed and in stock

Hope you track one down!
Have a great trip too.
Matt

Hi Christine,

Well, Pentax have a 16-45mm - but about £320 it might dent your pocket!
There is also a digital Sigma 18-50mm for £90. That should give you a reasonable range. If you have money to burn there's the Sigma 12-24mm which is seriously wide angle, for £520!

Personally, I use a Tokina 24-200mm generally, and a 20-35mm for wider angle on the *istD. Yes, it's a pain about the angle of view

The Sigma might be worth looking at - it'll give you 27mm-75mm which is quite useable. And of course, if you can get down to Park Cameras, you can always try the lenses out

Unfortunately you can't easily get a wide range zoom that goes much below 28mm (my Tokina is a really hefty lense with 72mm filters - quality is very good). It's all something of a compromise. I think Pentax are bringing out a wider range zoom, and I'm sure that Sigma will do the same, given time

For static panoramas you could take several shots and glue them together later in Photoshop (or other shareware tools that specifically do panoramas).

Oh yes, and make sure you've got enough card storage space, or get something like the Apacer Steno CP100, or Addonics Multi Function Recorder/MFR - both burn your card to a CD so you can take a pile of CD-Rs and burn away on holiday

Hope that helps!
Matt

Here are a couple of suggestions I found on ePhotozine:

http://www.ephotozine.com/gallery/showlargepic.cfm?photoid=66938
http://www.ephotozine.com/gallery/showlargepic.cfm?photoid=67676

Regards,
Matt

Vita,

The *ist is a film camera too (It is the *istD that is the digital.)
The FAJ lenses are designed for both film and digital (it is only the newer "DA" lenses that are for digital only and would produce serious vignetting on a 35mm body.) As has been mentioned, the FAJ lenses have no aperture ring, so you can only work in Program, or Tv modes (unless the body has an electronic aperture selector dial, like the Z1, Z1p, MZ-S, and *ist.)

Hope that clarifies things!
Matt

Microflying & Kim,

The FAJ doesn't have an aperture ring so you have to:

a) work in shutter priority (ie select the shutter speed, let camera choose aperture)
b) Use one the cameras that allows electronic selection (Z1, Z1p, *ist, MZS, *istD etc)

Kim - didn't you mean that it doesn't work with the cameras that only do aperture priority? (Or conversely, those that can't do shutter priority?)

Matt

General_Mayhem,

You can definitely get the quality at home. As I said, the HiTi performs as well as lab prints. And given the right premium paper you can get lab quality output from an inkjet (maybe not yours, but definitely from inkjets).

Regarding price, yes it's true that Jessops (and other internet companies) can beat home printing. I find that 35p is pretty good for the odd 10 or 20 shots I output each month at home. But then, if I were to buy media in the quantities Jessops buy it at then I could probably match their price too!

Regarding digital costs overall - well yes, the investment is more, much more. But then you have more flexibility. I have taken something like 7000 images in a year on digital (Canon S30 and *istD), and can print "on demand" - when others want 'hard' copies. A majority of my images are web-based (through www.pbase.com ). I find it useful being able to process a whole run of shots, then waiting before deciding what really needs printing. Just the raw equivalent film costs for my *istD would have been about £500 in four months That's a saving in my book

Swings and roundabouts
Perhaps you should shoot more and print less

Matt

Greengrass,

Thanks for the correction My experience with HP goes a long way back - I haven't tried any of their newer printers. I should have stated that.

Still, the other points regarding ink, paper, and driver settings still stand. Which reminds me of another point: if you have problems, try downloading the newest driver from the manufacturer's website - that can make a big difference, especially if you have an older printer

Matt

Laser printer quality seems to vary greatly. Some produce very shiny and unnatural colours - really only suitable for presentation graphics.

I've seen the output of the Epson AcuLaser C1900, and that's really nice. The quality is good, but not up to a lab print. It's more like a magazine or high quality newspaper output. The colours are very rich, but the detail doesn't approach a good quality inkjet print. Different technology, different result. I would definitely use one, but inkjets, dye-subs, and internet 'real prints' will all still have their place.

One thing I forgot to mention, is that 'real prints' are often much more resistant to fading. So if you want to show something off it might be worth using such services.

I'd definitely agree with George - experiment with the settings of your current inkjet first It is worth spending some time (a few hours) with a small test photo, rather than a large A4 image, and just playing with the settings. Write down what you do (or mark on each output image) then compare. It might save you a lot of bother.

Matt

General_Mayhem

The standard printing resolution on-the-street is around 300dpi. That's true 300dpi with each pixel being able to represent all the possible colours. Inkjet, on the other hand, has only 4 (or 6 for most photo printers) colours to mix with, giving 16 colours. They give the appearance of continuous tone by dithering, or producing a tiny pattern of dots. This is why inkjets need loads more resolution.

Dye-sublimation printers work by vapourising the dye off a ribbon so the dyes mix together before landing on the target paper. (Please correct me if I am wrong.) They use temperature to control the amount of each dye. General the dyes are Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow (no black). Hence, the blacks are not necessarily as dense as you might get from inkjet, but the colours are more natural, and you cannot see any dots at all.

I have an (aging) Epson Photo 870 printer which produces stunning results every time. It has 6 inks. However, it does take a while to print, and the overall print cost is quite high.

I recently invested in a HiTi Photoshuttle, which is 310dpi dye-sublimation. It only prints 6x4 size photos (or stickers), but prints in a total time of about 60seconds off my 2.4GHz machine. The results are stunning, and look just like a Jessops' print Cost is a mere 35pence per print.

In my experience, I've found HP printers a real pain to get right, in terms of colour. Every Epson I've used works really well out of the box. All printers can be calibrated - which improves things no end - but the process is time consuming and not for the feint hearted I still use the Epson for 8x10 & A4, plus "normal" printing, and the HiTi for photo outputs. For serious large format outputs (8x10 for other people etc), I use the Internet (try Jessops online, or www.photobox.co.uk )

However, that said, here are some general things:

1. Always use the original ink cartridges. Colour profiles depend on specific inks, and compatible cartridges can waste you loads of time.
2. Use good media. An Epson on plain paper looks yuck Put in some premium semi-gloss paper and Wow!
3. Set the driver settings according to the paper type (very important).

So, here's a quick guide:
* Dye-subs produce really nice photo output, but are fixed to one size
* Inkjets can produce good output, but you need to choose ink and media carefully. Also, keep using it so the nozzles don't dry up!

HiTi available from: www.hitishop.co.uk (very helpful company)

Hope that helps
Matt