I paid £350 a couple of years ago for mine with kit lens & battery grip from well known UK dealer . same dealer now selling K10D with kit lens for £350 , so I'd guess *istD probably worth around £200 - £250 ??

I think Ffordes have one in their used list just now at £350 or thereabouts - this is just for the body if I remember correctly .

I paid about the same amount for mine (from them) a year or more back , and £100 or so for the grip when one became available later .

While it is true that most other Pentax film SLRs do not command high prices these days , the two models that continue to sell for reasonable money are the MZ-S and the LX ( although the impression I get is that the prices for used LX bodies in poor to average condition are starting to soften with only excellent examples going for good money now ? ) .

Most other bodies can be picked up for buttons these days , in fact I was GIVEN an ME Super complete with 50mm f1.7 lens and an AF200S flash for nothing the other night all in nice condition : the owner was throwing it out and asked if I wanted it !!! I now have a nice collection of manual cameras , none of which is worth much but nice to look at just the same , and all still in excellent condition and working order .

I do still find the MZ-S useful as I still shoot film at times so would not regard it as obsolete , likewise I keep the more battered of my two LX bodies in my kit and use it in conditions I would not wish to subject my newer cameras to ; it is also good to have one camera which will still work without batteries in freezing conditions when everything else has given up . The LX , with up to 125S metered exposure capability also has its uses in low light conditions and there are probably quite a few other things it can do with its extensive range of accessories that other cameras cannot .

Hmmm ,

I'd guess it probably has more to do with the '58 than the camera , but I'm by no means certain .

However , I do have a fair amount of experience taking photographs in complete darkness , due to my job as a photographer with the fire service which often entails going along to fire investigations during the hours of darkness and photographing both exteriors and interiors of burnt-out buildings .

The kit provided by my employer is all Nikon gear ( F-100 , D 200 ) or I am just as likely to use my own *ist D , MZ-S or LX . The LX , of course , does not have AF so we'll leave that one aside for now .

Flash units used include the Metz 45 CL-4 Digital ( work equipment ) and my own Metz 54 MZ-4 and 70 MZ-5 with the appropriate SCA adaptors .

Firstly , these Metz guns will not trigger remotely from my Pentax cameras using the pop-up flash as controller , nor would I expect them to : the pop-up flash AFAIK will only trigger a Pentax flash ( perhaps the new 58 now allows this but I have never tried one ) .

However , I can mount my Metz 54 onto my 'D' or my MZ-S and running it in TTL ( NOT P-TTL ) , I can use the 70 as a slave : this works pretty well . It is easy to force TTL as opposed to P-TTL mode by using a lens with manual aperture or , on an auto lens , using an aperture setting other than 'A' .

With the three Metz flashes I have , a half-press on the shutter release will activate the red illuminator using any of the AF cameras mentioned above . This tends to be effective in pretty much any indoor situation ( bear in mind that in fire-damaged houses pretty much EVERYTHING is black ) up to , say , 5m distance . If the subject is further away it will sometimes work , sometimes won't . If I can't get AF lock , then I just use a torch and focus manually : shine the torch onto the subject , focus , then move the torch away before firing .

Unless there is something at close range ( less than 2-3m ) you can't really overexpose , TTL works pretty much all the time , but even with full power manual flash you won't go far wrong .

If you are trying to illuminate a large area , then 'painting with flash' is a useful technique : with the camera mounted on a tripod , you can select 'B' and with a locking cable release , lock the shutter open . You can then run around firing off the flash in different areas before closing the shutter . You need to experiment with different apertures , but a medium-ish setting of f5.6 - f8 will often work . I haven't done much of this with digital , but I used to do it a lot with film . Using a digital camera , I realise you don't have a mechanical cable release socket , but I think you can dial up a manual shutter speed of up to 30 seconds or so ( certainly with my *ist D you can ) - this should still be time enough to try this out .

Two other hints are - 1) use a diffuser : most flashes output a 'beam' and some will 'zoom' to suit your lens focal length , however even taking this into consideration there is often noticeable fall off with one area being illuminated and the periphery of your shot being in darkness - the diffuser will help . 2) Use the most powerful flashgun you can acquire - this is why I like my Metz 70 : even with a diffuser there is enough output to illuminate a good distance away .

At the other end of the scale : trying to do macro work in poor lighting - either dismount the flash and remove it to a distance where it will not overexpose , or use a 'proper' ringflash designed for this sort of work - I use a Pentax AF 080 C ringflash which has a low guide number and will not overexpose at close range .

Maybe I've missed something , but hopefully this will be of help .

I'll see if I can find some non-contentious pictures to post , but please understand most of the stuff I shoot tends to be used as evidence as thus cannot be posted on the web .

kind regards

Derek .

If memory serves correctly , we have Benny Hill to thank for that one

Since you have not had any joy from Jessops , dealing with them at a local level , nor from your contact in their 'online' or 'service' department - or whoever you have dealt with , I would be inclined to go all the way to the top and write (not email) to their managing director / CEO stating your disappointment with their service and asking that the matter be promptly resolved ( repair completed within 7 days or item replaced within same timeframe ) . Be sure to tell the 'big boss' the full story as related here - include a link to this forum so he can see for himself what is being said about his company - and tell him exactly who within his organisation has said what to you and when .

I would also copy the same letter to the MD / CEO of Pentax UK , making it clear to each of them that this letter is being copied to both of them . Both letters should be sent recorded delivery ( Royal Mail Signed For ) so they cannot deny receipt .

I'm sure trading standards law does require that goods should be of 'merchantable quality' and 'fit for the purpose' also that they should last a 'reasonable period of time' - usually interpreted 6 years for consumer appliances like cameras or washing machines .

I'm also fairly sure that repairs have to be completed in a 'reasonable' time frame - this may be open to interpretation , but once you have been without something for more than 6 weeks most people would consider this 'unreasonable' and a replacement should be in order .

I have to agree with the 'keep the MZ-S , change the lens' opinions above .

I have been using Pentax MF cameras for about 30 years (started out with a KM , then an ME , followed by a couple of MX's and finally my LX's which I still use regularly) . I got an *ist D a while back and sent back the Pentax kit lens which came with it (because it had no aperture ring) and exchanged it for a Sigma 15-30 EX lens which did have a manual aperture ring , allowing me to use it as a super-wide angle lens on my LX

Like others before me , I can't see me ever buying a lens with no aperture ring .

I don't own any other AF lenses , but happily use the *ist D with my collection of SMC-M lenses I have built up over the years ( recently my 20 year old daughter has 'stolen' 3 or 4 of my primes along with one of my MX bodies to learn photography - not a bad place to start) .

I have just this morning bought an MZ-S which I saw on Ffordes used equipment list , and thought I'd snap it up as this is only the second time I have seen a used one for sale . As long as the build quality approaches my older cameras or at least equals my *istD then I'll most likely be happy with it .

I tend to use the 'D' most of the time for run of the mill stuff , and the LX when I want to be creative - time will tell if I'm going to let the MZ-S take over from it .