PS has had this for years.

Select any adjustment layer Curves, Levels etc and then set the blend mode to Luminosity, whatever the setting in the adjustment layer it will only be applied to the Luminosity i.e. the B&W part of the image data. Don't forget that there will be some black or white in the colours unless they're pure (unlikely) so even a Hue/Saturation Layer will have some effect on colour.

This works well when sharpening too (even when using Matt's excellent Sharpen O Matic action) Copy the layer Ctrl J, then set the blend to Luminosity you'll find you can drive USM a lot more before halo's start to appear.

Chris

Not a problem if you fit the BPM adapter to the camera first then attach the bellows. And I only went to a Secondary Modern School!

Another wrinkle is to use a Takumar 55mm lens (not reversed) with the slide attachment you can just get a full frame with no cropping when copying slides.

Chris

Hi Tyr

Thats because you're looking at a 32 bit image on an 8 bit monitor, it's the equivalent to looking at a beautiful picture through the bottom of a milk bottle!. Not until the pic has been re-mapped will the 8 bit monitor be able to make sense of the mass of data that's overwhelming it.

Chris

You can take this a lot further by opening up two (or more) layers in Photoshop (or similar) one with the exposure adjusted for the highlights (usu the sky) another adjusted for the shadows and blend the two layers together, so you end up with a pic with a greater tonal range, but even the 12 bit depth of a RAW file has limits.

This can be taken even further with HDR (high dynamic range) photography where you take a number of shots with different exposures to cover the wide range of tones in your subject, then blend these in Photoshop or another good program is Photomatix.

The reason I am posting this in this Forum is that the new Firmware for the K10D (maybe the K100 too, I don't know) has been expanded to up to 5 frames with up to 2 stops between frames, which means the camera will record a massive 10 stop range over the 5 frames, to make use of this technique.

Here is a link, if the moderators don't mind, to Stuart Little's forum where the members are currently experimenting with this method.

http://www.littlephotoshopforum.com/forum35/1586.html

If you see any pics posted by ChrisJ on this forum, thats me and were all taken with either a *ist DS or a K10D.

Flickr also has a HDR group, some of which show what you shouldn't do with HDR. or just do a Google search for 'HDR'

Cheers Chris

Taken at Edensor on the Chatsworth Estate in the Peak District.

Taken with a *istDS and 18 - 55mm kit lens using the built in flash.

Cheers Chris

I'm surprised by the variation in the number of pics people are getting. I have 5 2Gb cards 2XSanDisc 3 X Kingston they all show 122 when the camera is set for shooting RAW (PEF format), but as others have said that's only an estimate (PEF being a lossless compressed format) the least I have ever got is 146 and the most is 186.

I always format in the camera to clear the card when I've finished downloading them, maybe it's workflow that accounts for the difference people are getting.

If you look at the EXIF file in PS or whatever the file sizes range from less than 8Mb to just over 10Mb depending, I presume, on content.

Bemused, Chris

Before you make a claim Brian check out what they will charge as premiums next year! Insurance companies take the long view and will always get their money back.

I never insure what I can afford to replace, I'm with G on this one.

Chris

Hi SmG

There is a registration for the newsletter which asks for model, serial number etc.. for some reason it's under News & Offers. Here's the link:-

http://www.pentax-community.com/pentax_community/index.php?lang=en

it may be useful if your camera is ever lost or stolen as you could prove ownership, doesn't mention warranty as such, but the site gives the addresses of all service centres and apparently you can send it to any depending where you are in the World when your camera needs attention.

Enjoy your camera, all my friends who own Canon are really impressed - and I mean ALL, what I keep hearing from them is 'that's a good idea' or 'why didn't Canon think of that'.

Cheers Chris

I have just bought mine from the link you posted.

Looks like it's the USA model as it had a 120 volt USA style plug on the charger, but they included an adapter. Delivery took 5 days even though it was dispatched from Nottingham! The warranty is an international warranty, not sure how good that is - never had to use it, maybe somebody on this forum could comment. I think they are American with depots all over Europe. At first they stated that it would be dispatched via City Link, but the eventually gave me a tracking number from DHL who delivered it the day the tracking number report changed to 'out for delivery'

In short, it is as advertised and is the cheapest way, at the moment, to get your hands on a K10D with the one proviso of the guarantee.

This really is a great camera for ANY use, works great with my 500mm Paragon fully manual lens of doubtful quality (£22.00 from eBay)

One the most useful features when using this lens is the digital depth of field preview where the camera takes a temporary pic at the settings selected, getting around the problem of the viewfinder dimming when f16 or similar is selected.

I would prefer a Sigma 70 - 300mm lens to the Tamron you suggested preferably the APO Macro version. better yet a Pentax goes without saying as the 10Mp sensor is more demanding on lens quality than my 6Mp *istDS is.

Hope this helps Chris

I had a Tokina 20 -200mm and got rid of it pretty quick, not very good. The problem with these wide range zooms is the compromises they have to have in their design so they end up being neither a good wide angle or a good telephoto.

I currently us a Sigma 17 - 70mm f2.8 - f4, very good if a little heavy, but it matches my Sigma 70 - 300 APO Macro perfectly so I'm covered for a wide range with just 2 lenses.

Chris