David,

Well, I know that my local opticians can create a prescription eyepiece. The only problem was the price! Whether they create a replacement optic for an existing correction lens, or whether they can do a Pentax one, I don't know.

For me, with nearly -7 dioptre (including astigmatism) I find I can't see anything when I take my glasses off, so I just put up with specs and try and mentally correct for parallax errors in the viewfinder.

Best thing is to phone them up and ask your opticians
I wouldn't be surprised to find it costing £30 or more...

Matt

Welcome aboard!

Just in case it hasn't been said already... make sure you've got a couple of sets of high capacity NiMH batteries, a big CF card or Microdrive, plenty of hard disk space on the PC and/or a CD burner, and then just take lots and lots of photos

I'm rapidly approaching 800 images in the few weeks I've had the *istD (It's driving the family a bit mad!!)

Enjoy the *istD!
Matt

Anna,

You can get a pretty good idea by looking at the second hand stores on the 'net:

www.mxv.co.uk (they have an ME Super body at £79)

www.ffordes.co.uk (they list a body at £79, with 50mm between £89 and £110)

www.ebay.co.uk - do a search for something similar and click on the "Watch this item" (assuming you are registered with ebay). When the auction finishes you can review the final price in "My ebay".

Hope that helps
Matt

Chris,

Well there's a question
The *istD has both the Pentax hot shoe and a built in PC connector. So, at the very worst you can sync to the PC connector using readily available leads and use the Cobra in auto mode.

From the documentation, Pentax always take the line that connecting other units could be damaging to the camera. But then they probably said that in the Z50P manual too.

Technically though, there's no reason why a flash designed for Pentax cameras in general won't work.

However, what I will say is that after owning a Cobra gun for a while, then buying the AF360FGZ for my Z1 I was astounded at the difference in quality - both in terms of build and results. Not that I have anything against Cobra - they were a very helpful company to deal with. Now with the *istD the AF360 is fantastic (especially the wireless flash and P-TTL mode).

You might want to give Cobra a call:
To sum up, your Cobra will almost certainly work with the *istD, but at the end of the day it's your risk

Hope that helps,
Matt

January 6th 2004,

If anyone is looking for an LX (or two), there are some here: www.srsmicrosystems.co.uk (under the Watford Used Equipment)
There are also some accessories, like the winder.

Plus, they have some good prices on new Tokina lenses (under "Digital and Other Equipment"). The whopping great 24-200 ATX is £199 (dang - I paid £250!) Works a treat on the Z1 and *istD

Enjoy!

Dear All,

I've put together a quick document outlining this whole business of the *istD's focal length multiplier. It seems some are still confused...

http://www.photon.me.uk/matt/cameras/pentax/istd_focal.htm

Please do let me know what you think (it was very written in a hurry )

Matt

Just found these links. May be of interest.

http://www.geocities.co.jp/Hollywood-Studio/6838/list.html - collection of image samples for various lenses. (Japanese)

http://www.digital.idv.tw/dc-test/P%7Fentax/istD/compare/index-istD-compare.htm - comparison of Nikon D100 and *istD noise reduction (Taiwan site)

Matt

...oops...
I meant "You could call AsahiPhoto..."

Hi!

I have had an ME-Super and an ME-F which both suffered from the same problem. It turned out to be the ISO/exposure dial on the left. Electronically it is like a volume control and when dirt and grime gets in there the connection becomes intermittent.

Try touching the ISO dial while looking through the viewfinder and seeing if the LEDs go wild.

I found that changing the ISO setting might clear it for a good while, but eventually it needs replacing by a service centre (you call www.asahiphoto.net if you're in the UK).

Matt

Since many of the same questions have been asked, I thought I would post a general compatibility and FAQ thread.

Lenses
First of all, the 18-35mm FAJ lens is a real 18mm. If you put it onto the film version *ist you will get 18mm
The focal length of digital and film is the same. The difference is that digital has a smaller sensor area than the 35mm film. Imagine taking a central crop of a 35mm frame and that's the result. Of course, you don't see this when you look through the viewfinder of the *istD - it appears full (ie no black edges), but the angle of view is reduced. This is what the "effective focal length of 1.5x" is all about. When you put an 18mm lense on the *istD you will get the same angle of view as a 27mm lens (18x1.5) put on a 35mm film camera.
Additionally, the FAJ lens has no aperture ring - so you can't use it on older cameras. The Z1, Z1p, MZ-S, *ist, and *istD will handle it well (anything that has the aperture selection available on the camera).

Flash
As with most things Pentax (excepting the FAJ type lens mount), backward compatibility rules the day The *istD manual specifies that the AF360FGZ, AF500FTZ, AF330FTZ, AT400FTZ, and AF240T all function. In addition, the Pentax Japan website says that the AF400T and AF280T can also be used with the *istD.
You may not have noticed, but the *istD has a PC connector on the left front side of the pentaprism - so you can use it immediately with studio lighting
Obviously, the features you get with each flash varies (see the manual page 93 for the table - now downloadable from Pentax USA).
To briefly outline the details:

• * Redeye reduction on 360, 500, 330
  * P-TTL flash (preflash for accurate exposure) only AF360FGZ
  * Contrast Control on 360, 500, 330
  * Slave flash on 360, 500, 330
  * Multiple flash only AF500FTZ/AF330FTZ
  * High speed wireless flash only AF360FGZ
  * Wireless flash on AF360FGZ and AF500FTZ
  

The *istD with the AF360FGZ is a fantastic pair - the P-TTL mode is almost unbreakable - close shots, macro, wireless, bounce, diffused all work brilliantly.

Image quality
Image quality is superb. It is digital, so you will not get the fine-detail resolution you get out of film, or medium-format. Still, the "grain" of the *istD at ISO200 is far less than Fuji Provia. Even ISO3200 is usable (when compared with Fuji 1600ASA negative). If you have NeatImage, then that will slice away almost all of the image noise (profiles I produced are available on the NeatImage site).
If you print out at home or place on the web then the quality is truly stunning. Even 35mm film with the Nikon Coolscan IV has a job to keep up
As for large format prints... I'll have to keep you posted on that, but if anyone wants to try with one of my images I'm sure we can arrange something
Being a bit of a nit-picker with image quality, I am well pleased with the *istD.

Fun factor
Huge, huge amount of fun. Just being able to rattle through two dozen images to get an idea right is fantastic. In addition, the auto senstivity option allows the camera to clock up or down the ISO rating to minimise camera shake.
Focussing is fast and precise, and the camera seems to be always ready to take another shot (It might be as fast as you'd like for sports or high speed activity - that's not my field)

I'll add to this post if any more general questions arise...
Keep taking those "precious moments"!

Matt