Hello Vidu!

All of the lenses will fit, and can work.

However, the *ist is meant to work only with lenses that have an green "A" mark on the aperture ring. If your lenses only have the numbered f-stop selections, they will not be too easy to use.
If you do use them, I believe you have to setup a custom setting (as you do on the digital *istD), but it is really not a comfortable way to use the camera At the very least, I think it can behave like the ME Super, but once you get used to the automatic settings, you will wonder how you managed before

Hope that answers your question,
Matt

There are a couple more snippets available:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/NEWS.HTM

Notably on August 12th - Pricing in the US at $1699.95, and FAT32 and Lexar Write-Acceleration technology support in the compact flash.

Also, here - http://www.steves-digicams.com/diginews_aug2003.html#istd confirms shipping date and US price.

(And the sample images are really nice )

Matt

Thanks for the link.

FYI, there are some nice samples from the *istD available:

http://www.digital.pentax.co.jp/ja/ist-d/ex.html

All three images taken at ISO200. It will be interesting to see it perform at 1600 and even 3200 for low light stuff.

For all you modem users: they are big - about 4Mb each. And the server is sloooooow even with my 1Mb ADSL line (It's probably got a whole pile of people looking at the images )

Now I really, really, really want one

Matt

DayDreamer200,

Well, Pentax glass is always very nice. However, I cannot comment on the 28-200mm - maybe someone else has used it.

For my Z-1 I do use a Tokina 24-200mm f3.5, which is a hefty beast with 72mm filters, and have to say it is superb. I use Fuji Provia, and scan with a Nikon Coolscan IV, as well as project on to a 6ft wide screen. It produces lovely results, though probably cooler than the Pentax. It is razor sharp, and only has a little barrel distortion at 24mm. Note that the 200mm end is only 200mm at infinity. When you focus in at 0.8m with the lens set to 200mm, it is only actually 150mm.

That said, an all-in-one lens is great for travelling, and when you have kids. No scrabbling about with lens changes. There are shots I have taken that I would not have had time for with seperate lenses

There are a couple of test images in the InBox of my Photon gallery - the yacht at 24mm and 200mm. It'll give you a little idea.

(Maybe someone else can tell you about the Pentax 28-200mm)

Hope that helps,
Matt

Sigal,

You can download the US manual here: http://www.pentax.com/docstore/index.cfm?show=6
(you'll need a PZ-10 - the US name)

Or Pentax UK sell them.

Matt

Hi,

No, I haven't got a grip (and unlikely to get the Pentax one at that price!). I have a neoprene shoulder strap. From the look of the third-party one it looks really flat - perhaps not what you want, and why the Pentax one is more?

Can't help you any more than that, sorry!
(Maybe Peter can help...?)

Matt[/i]

"Mad Miff",

The Fd (P) is listed at £69.99 in the Pentax User accessories:
https://www.pentaxuser.com/pages/pricelist/pl_afslracc.htm

However, a quick Google search on the term "grip strap" yielded this one at £29.95:
http://www.speedgraphic.co.uk/pdfiles/p21.pdf
(which, incidentally, looks like the same click-together system as the neoprene shoulder strap I bought from 7dayshop for £6.95 for my Z1 - http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=&products_id=2... - it really does make it feel lighter!)

Hope that helps,
Matt

Stuart,

I too have used digital for some time, and in fact have come to appreciate my Pentax SLRs all the more

Personally, I love Fuji Provia slide film. It produces beautiful smooth images, and you can buy them in packs of 3 direct from Fuji with processing: http://www.fujilab.co.uk And it scans nicely too ...but that's just personal preference.

Now, I haven't seen the *ist (waiting for the *istD ) but I have the MZ5, MZ10 and Z1 and all handle wonderfully. I am sure it will all come flooding back. The modern automatic cameras do usually perform well - so you could just shoot on full program automatic. If you are returning to the film SLR, just buy lots of film Film is light, and cheaper than your trip I am sure!

To improve my skills (if that is not a misnomer!), I bought a couple of books that I can recommend (though they'll be fairly weighty to carry) - "Learning To See Creatively" and "Understanding Exposure" both by Bryan Peterson. Both are available from Amazon in the UK. If you are really pressed for time, try some of these web sites: www.bfpphoto.com, www.nyip.com, www.webphotoschool.com, http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=2/3/38&pq-locale=en_US , and http://www.agfanet.com/en/cafe/photocourse/classiccourse/cont_index.php3

They should all point you in the right direction!!

Oh yes, and have a wonderful time in Prague. We were there last year, and were caught up in the floods (nearly didn't make it back :shock. We stayed about 100km East of Prague, and unfortunately only visited Prague for one day. Enchanting city. You'll need a lot of film! I have a few images on the PBase gallery...

Hope that helps,
Matt

(Thanks for clarifying that Peter )

According to Bojidar Dimitrov's page, found here http://www.bdimitrov.de/kmp/index.html , the P-50 and the P-5 are the same beast, and the Pentax USA site has the P-5 listed in it's manuals-for-download page.

(I should have checked my reply first... but I was in a hurry )

Matt

Kevin,

You can download a manual from here:
http://www.pentaxusa.com/docstore/index.cfm?show=6
(Though the P50 probably has a US style number - I think it's Z-50P)


Or you can buy a manual directly from Pentax UK for £4:
http://www.pentax.co.uk/cgi-bin/pentax.storefront/3f1d646c0177ee742740c2d886f007...

Might be worth ringing Pentax.
Hope that helps.

Matt