I posted a similar question earlier in the year about an old Miranda 450CD flashgun that I've had for 50 years !

You need to check the trigger voltage and MORE IMPORTANTLY the POLARITY !

I was given the followinh link, which is very helpful. If your Flash is not listed just click on the link about measuring the trigger voltage yourself (it is very easy)

http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html

I found that whilst the trigger voltage on my flash was OK it was REVERSE POLARITY !

I have therefore not used mine !

Good luck

Peter

Well done, Charlotte - perseverence pays off !

Hopefully you will soon have a shiny 'good as new' K-r back in business.

This will give me confidence that I don't have to rush out for one of those 'bargain' K30's as a back up for MY K-r !

Best wishes

Peter

Now you have ME confused !
(And don't be embarrassed - you're amongst friends here !)

I cannot think why your LR3 doesn't recognise the .dng files ? .dng is an Adobe RAW format that just about any RAW editor program will recognise !

I'm too mean to buy LightRoom and since we have the FREE PDCU4 which came with our camera I'm happy to stick with THAT. However, the user interface is NOT the most friendly, which is why Nigel has been helping me.

PANIC NOT !

It sounds as if you have already loaded PDCU4 so THAT is all you need to do ALL the RAW development before saving the result as a .tiff or a .jpg file. (Do this using 'Save as' in the 'File' drop-down at top left)

I'm finding that I don't need to do any more work after that (except perhaps for a bit of trimming or artisitic effects) and that can be done in any suitable photo editor.

NB - you CANNOT save the file developed in PDCU4 in RAW format - that is only the ORIGINAL data saved by the camera.

If, like me, you find using PDCU4 a bit tricky just 'play around' with the slider controls on the righthand side and keep watching this Forum for when Nigel publishes his 'Easy Guide to PDCU4' !

If this is not quite right I'm sure Nigel will add a few words !

Peter

I too was very worried when I first experimented with developing dng files in PDCU4 so I always 'closed' out without making any changes.

However, now, after some help from Nigel (McGregNi) I'm enjoying the results of just playing around to see what changes I can make before saving the changed image as a .tiff or .jpg file.

As Nigel said - 'don't panic' the original dng file is still there. However, if you want to make sure (as I do) it is best to change the file name. I normally just add the letter 't' or 'j' to the filename to distinguish it from the original. Sometimes I make several versions adding 1, 2, etc to the filename so I know.

Have fun.

Peter

Many thanks, John.

In regards to your other posting I DID do a Google search before posting the question here but was surprised to find nothing ? Whilst YouTube has lots of tutorials videos on a range of photographic topics no one appears to have done anything on PDCU ? Even Pentax themselves don't offer any help - not even with a User Manual, which is why I had to resort to making one myself !

What I DID find on Google was that people like the Silkypix software and pointed me towards the full version of theirs. However, that also costs a similar amount to PhotoShop (full version) !

In desparation I therefore turned to this dedicated Pentax forum but have been surprised that only Nigel appears to use it as choice ?

Meanwhile, I'm resorting to the 'prod & poke' self-teach method (and having fun !)

But then again, as you have often said here, it's often best to just stick with the jpegs straight out of the K-r as these often don't need more than a small bit of 'tweaking' !
(And I can do all that in the excellent and simple to use free software that came with my ***** S90 !)

Thanks again

Peter

Fascinating as all the above discussion may be I should like to remind people of the TITLE of this thread and WHY I posted it in the first place !

I asked for HELP using PDCU4......ONLY PDCU4... I did NOT post it as a discussion between the merits of PDCU vs other software.

However, if people wish to make comparisons with various Adobe software I should like to point out that PDCU4 has one ENORMOUS advantage....
it comes FREE with your Pentax DSLR.

There must be many people like me who do not wish to spend 'loads o money' on software, however wonderful they may be? All we want is something that 'does the job' efficiently with results that WE are happy with.

Professional photographers will want, and NEED, to get the very best results and expenditure on the 'tools of the trade' are a neccessity. However, for 'enthusiastic amateurs' like myself there are limits. 'Horses for courses' as they say !

As far as I can see, PDCU4 is a very powerful program and when you know how to use it can probably do most of what I, and many others, need ? If I would wish to go further with various 'Art' effects then there are many other low cost programs that will do that with the jpeg files.

So can I please make the plea to 'get back on track' and answer the question that I posted ?

Thanks

Peter

Just had another 'play' with PDCU4 and posted the result on the Gallery.

My wife (ex schoolteacher) was correct when she said "You hear with your ears, you see with your eyes but you LEARN with your FINGERS !"

I'll keep on just 'playing around' with all those controls, even though most of the results will probably be unfit for posting.
But, as they say, "The man who never made a mistake, never made anything !"

Peter

I can't quote the differences as I don't have Lightroom etc so can only list what PDCU4 'Help' says are available :-

Folders
Favorite
Image Processing Queue List
Preview
Histogram
Cropping
Checked Image View
Image Data
Custom Image
White Balance
Exposure/ Tone
Rotate/ Shift
Noise Reduction
Lens aberration correction
Map
Highlight Adjustment
Color Fine Tune

Each of these has a wide range of adjustments which, as a beginner to RAW processing, I find extremely confusing.
That is why I posted the original question "Does anyone know of a good Tutorial ?"

I'm sure Nigel will be able to expand better on the above list but for now I'm just 'prodding around' to see what happens !!!

Peter

Since posting this thread I've now thrown caution to the wind and had a 'play' with PDCU4 !

I just tried clicking different buttons to see what they did - some gave hints as I hovered but others didn't.

The result was a fairly disjointed affair but apeared to give something approaching what I was looking for so I saved it as a jpeg which I then enhanced a bit in a different bit of software that came free with a *an** camera ! I've posted the final result on the gallery.

Meanwhile, I have now done what Pentax should have done in the first place - created a pdf 'User Manual' by 'printing' all the sections of the html 'Help' file to pdf files and then combining them all into a single file. It runs to 111 pages and 9MB but at least it is easier to study than hopping around the on-screen html file.

Give me a few months and I'll be back !!!

Peter

In some small way I feel partly responsible for this thread since a couple of weeks ago I posted the question "Does anyone know of a tutorial for PCU4 ?"

Nigel was kind enough to respond that he likes it and would help by posting some advice on its use. The rest, as they say, is history !

However, having just got back from a week away I am amazed at the discussion that has been generated and which makes fascinating reading.

If I may be as bold as to say there are two old sayings that spring to mind -
1) "I don't know much about art, but I know what I like !"
This would seem to apply to the many differing opinions seen on this thread ? One thing is for certain is that we all look at things through different eyes ("One man's meat is another man's poisson !")

2) "The more you know, the more you know you don't know !"
You are never too old to learn and I'm truly grateful for the 'pearls of wisdom' that drop out of Pentax User Forum threads.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter WHICH PP software you use as long as you are satisfied with the end product.
However, other people's comments on your work are extremely welcome as they can help you develop your skills and modify your own expectations.

Long live discussion !

Peter