If 500 shots is whats expected then why have they taken away one of the great things about pentax DSLR cameras and thats the ability to use 'normal' batteries ie AA. I have on many occasions fired over 1000 shots on freshly charged Ni-Mh 2000 mAh uniross AA batteries. I don't use the LCD a huge amount but I do use it and have tended to use external flash rather than built in but AA's seem so capable I was so disappointed when I saw the K10 battery spec.
I loved the idea of always having battery availbilty in pretty much all situations countries and times of day or night, cos if you can't find four AA batteries for sale then you are either unlucky or not looking hard enough.

Rob

I don't know what temperatures its been down to but I have used my *istD while skiing in Andorra. I carry it in a fabric case and get it out to shoot when needed. I have also had it out of the case and round my neck down a few runs and taken shots along the way - sometimes I stop . Never had a problem and have carried spare batteries (Ni-Mh) in the case and not had any trouble when I have swapped these despite them being mighty cold to the touch.
Rob

While I'm here its worth mentioning my recent purchase - yep you guessed it an AF360. I know its been said here before but this is a bloody fantastic piece of kit. I have been planning to buy since autumn last year and now I have it I wish I had taken the plunge sooner. If you are thinking about one just buy it!
I love the wireless mode, the hi speed sync, the modeling test flash and... well its all just brilliant!! I can't fault it and ive been 'playing' with it heavily in the last week to learn how it works and what to expect out of it and its still on the first set of 2000mAh ni-mh batteries.
Its a real compliment to my *istD (ok I know it should be) but my expectations have well been exceeded.

Just thought I would share...

Rob

I have a very old (circa 199 kodak dc220 which has a time lapse feature built in. You tell it the interval and the number of images you want and tell it to go. Its a great feature that I have used extensively - it just amazes me that more 'modern' digitals do not have this feature built in. It would be so easy to write it into the firmware. Instead lots seem to have useless gimmicks that may get used once for the 'fun' factor, though fortunately DSLR's don't tend to get burdened with such tat.
The PC based control is great if you are a usb leads length away from your PC, but I find the more interesting subjects are not in my office!
Therefore I plan - when I get the time (hahaha) to build a little electronic timer that I can attach to the cable release jack, it will have a programmable interval timer for time lapse and a timer for bulb. I have already experimented with electronic triggering of the shutter so I can make the camera fire when a loud noise or bright light event occur.

Watch this space....but dont hold ya breath

Rob

Of course you need to ask the camera to check the focus for you....
ie if you operate as I do with the af with shutter halfway press disabled, then you need to hit the af button otherwise the camera does not bother to check.
strange I find using the af button in normal (AF) operation a joy to use but in man focus just having a play to 'check' the focus it seems a little awkward - maybe just me...
Rob

Hi Guys,
A pal of mine is looking at buying a DSLR and as he has seen my *istD that is what he is interested in. As I'm sure you all know there only seems availability of Ds or Dl now but I thought I would ask the question does anyone know of anywhere that still has stock of the *istD.
Thanks in advance
Rob

Ps we think we already know what the answer will be!

It is a KA mount (all my manual lenses are - that sounds like i have loads!!!) I havent tried the other lenses as I dont tend to use them on the istD but will try and see.
FYI the oter two lenses are Sigma 70-210 F4-5.6 and the standard SMC 50mm F2. All I will say is I have never noticed a problem when the viv was used on my MX.
HMMMM its just a bit weird

Rob

Can anyone answer this question for me?
I have a Vivitar 28mm 1:2.8 manual lens that I use in my istD but it always over exposes so I have to remember to nip the EV to -0.5 to use it. Sometimes I forget but this is now getting less often. I can't understand why it should need this compensation in the first place - anyone got any clues?
Incidentally my Pentax FA 28-200 exposes spot on.

Ta

Rob

Cheers Matt
So the speed will not matter and the WA is just a little icing on the cake if you have the lexar cards and a compatible camera.
Now I understand why i had heard Lexar are the only cards with WA but then didnt understand why I see loadsa makes with different speed cards which i thought was the same as WA.
I think it will be the Lexar for me then
Rob

Does anyone know what spped write acceleration the *istD supports. Specs and reviews just seem to say its supported but not what the upper limit is. I dont want to buy an x80 Lexar card to find out it will only write at x40!
anyone know the gen?
Rob