Boohoo. I use my old *ist DS as a backup body to my K-5; or at least, I did until yesterday morning. Now, when I turn the DS on, the LCD display is normal, but it won't do anything except make a rapid soft clicking noise somewhere inside the body whenever the shutter is depressed; doesn't matter what the mode dial is set at. No meter activation, no autofocus, no shutter release. The solenoid-operated flash popup button works, but is accompanied by the clicking. The menu and playback buttons operate normally.

I've made sure it has fresh batteries, and that the firmware is the latest version (2.02), but I can't think of anything else that I can do. The downside of course is that even if it is repairable, it would probably cost more than the body is worth to get it fixed.

Does anyone have any ideas, or is the dear old DS dead?

Cheers,
Martyn

I completely agree with everything people have said. I have the DA version, and is a stunning lens on my K-5 Classic. Shot many go-karting pictures recently and there was no issue with focussing. One real benefit of the DA/Quick Shift focus is that you can 'pre-focus' manually to the right range before letting the AF take over. I run a two-zoom kit along with the 16-45 for hiking and walk-around (plus the SMC-A 50/1.7 when I'm in the mood), and this covers all situations that I've come across so far.

Indeed.

Certainly check that back-focus. The 18-55 kit needs a different setting to the 16-45 on my K-5, but when set up properly, there's a step change in resolution with the 16-45 over the kit.

Fascinating thread. Go back two generations to the K10D and it was bigger and heavier than the K-5/K-7; go back three to the *istD series and they were smaller and lighter than the K-5/K-7!

I have a K-5 and a *istDS and use both (mainly the K-5) and have no trouble with the small bodies even though I have hands like bunches of bananas. They both just feel so good in the hands - the famed Pentax ergonomics. But then in my film days, I used (and still occasionally do use) a MX which is absolutely titchy - and yet still felt great in my bananas, er hands.

Nigel,

Many thanks for your hard work on this. I have a K-5, and my outline work flow is to use PDCU with the capture sharpening set, and then to use the unsharp mask in Photoshop. You've mentioned some more recent and more advanced sharpening tools; what would you recommend?

Cheers,
Martyn

I think that this is a fascinating idea, and am interested in seeing what comes out. Nigel did a great overview of the Pentax Digital Camera Utility, which now serves as my main RAW processor for shots taken with my 'classic' K-5 (which is a marvellous machine that you would have to prise from my cold, dead fingers). I routinely additionally use the unsharp mask in Photoshop on my 'keepers' and had thought that this was a method of restoring some of the sharpness that the AA filter takes out. This might be a bit simplistic(!) so I look forward to seeing Nigel's output.

Maybe it's obvious (it hasn't been referred to so far), but comparisons can only really be valid if the same lens is used for pictures taken with and without an AA filter? Doesn't matter if it's the kit lens or a Limited prime, you can only compare the results if taken through the same glass. Apples and oranges otherwise.

Go Nigel!

Geordie01 beat me to it; I'm thinking that there should have been a copy of PDCU(4?) in the box; it's what I use with my K-5. It's very good as a RAW processor - the output quality is marvellous - and if you need more tools than PDCU offers (curves, levels, clone/heal) then just export as TIFF 16-bit and do the rest in Photoshop. RAW's the option if you want processing headroom, as the K-r's 12-bit RAW files will give much better flexibility than the 8-bit JPEGs.

Vairy intereth-ting! PDCU4, supplied with my K-5, will also happily open RAWs from my *ist DS!

Thanks for the clarification, John. I still have the dear old MX, but the manual went the way of such things, a long time ago. I'm actually surprised that after 35 years, I still managed to remember about the short tripod socket at all, and where the ring goes - even if the piece about what it's supposed to be used for had slipped through the memory cracks!