OK, so my new *1stDS kit has made it from New York yesterday (Willoughby's) as far as some Podunk town I never heard of in Illinois today. Tomorrow it ought to end up somewhere in western Missouri. Delivery is scheduled for Tuesday, November 15th to my home at 84 Neptune Avenue in Bisbee, Arizona..

I bought the SD 1GB card and four new rechargeable AA batteries, which I am charging even as I write.

So, when the camra arrives, I insert the batteries, then the card, then turn on the camera....then what? Does the camera automatically say "Hello" to the 1GB card and "format" it, or whatever it is supposed to do?

Advice appreciated. Also, how long should I leave the NiMh batteries in the charger to ensure that they are fully charged?

(God, I feel like a jerk asking all of these kindergarten questions, but after 30 years with Pentax Spotmatics I feel as if I'm suddenly enrolled in Sanskrit 101).

Ted

(OT, but I lived on Cato Street off Edgeware Road for six months in the early seventies and roamed the streets daily with my trusty spotties. I mention this as a show I was in closed last week, during which I sold two 11X14's taken then).

Thank you so much for the information. I assume by "format it in the camera" you mean erase the card's contents so it'll once again be a tabula rasa?

Ted

Ammonyte:

I see you have the istDS. Mine is just ordered from Willoughby's and should be here early next week.

I gather there is no direct plug in (i.e., a USB port in the camera) to the computer so you must remove the SD card and plug it in to something.

The something I've got, and have yet to use, is a ScanDisk ImageMate 6 in 1 with an attached USB cord. It takes MS, SD/MMC, CF I/II, and SM. I assume that if I plug the device to my computer and insert my 1GB SD card in the SD/MMC slot, that the images will automatically download to my computer (operating system is Microsoft XP) - AND - if I have previously downloaded the software that comes with the istDS, the images should magically appear?

Help here appreciated as I am older type (no excuse) and somewhat of a computer doofus. After I get this figured out I will probably shoot all non-photojournalism stuff in RAW.

Ted

Don't know quite how I morphed into a guest in the above post.

Ted

Very interesting. Question, somewhat hypothetical: What if you bought the istDS with the 18-55 (or, preferrably, with the 16-45) and never removed the lens. Would the sensor ever need cleaning?

Ted

George: I "solved" the problem by buying a cv25/4 and the Bessa L body. And why not? The Bessa L body from Cameraquest is a mere $69USD, and the meter works well. I'll buy next a 15, probably. These lenses come with a clip-on viewfinder as the camera body has none. The L body with the cv/25/4 is a tiny kit and easy to carry about. Then I scan the negs with a film scanner.

Ted

Why would they do that? I mean, it's not like they are not selling any cameras in the UK. I would assume their DSLR series are doing well over there. But then, I'm over here...

Ted

Advice well taken, John. Thank you. And yes, the opinion is pretty much a "down at the internet pub" sort of thing.

Don't even know where this person lives (one of the nicer touches to this site is that you know where most people actually live, whereas on Yahoo's Spotmatic forum you don't, unless a member mentions it. For example, Phil Barton likes to let people know he lives in Hollywood).

As for the Sigma lens, I see that you gain nothing in speed - both are f:3.5, and there's little sense making a purchase based on hearsay, so I'm ordering the istDS kit next week. Must wait 'til then as I've spent this week's money on a Plustek Optifilm 7200 35mm film/slide scanner. Which is still on its FED-X way.

I can see we're facing a brutal winter down here on the Mexican border. Temperature last night plummeted to 60 degrees fahrenheit.

Ted

Now a poster on the Yahoo Groups Pentax Spotmatic site says the Sigma 18-50 f:3.5 is actually better than the 18-55 Pentax kit lens.

I looked it up. It is aspherical, focuses to 9.8 inches and has macro 1:3.5. Cost is $119 USD. Anyone have one of these?

Ted

My dilemma is that I'm on the point of ordering the istDS kit which includes the 18-55, but then I hear that the 16-45 is much better.

But the price is much higher. For example, the kit in the US from sellers such as Adorama is about $750 USD. Buying the body separately ($639) and the 16-45 ($409) runs the price up to $1048.

I guess the question is obvious: Is the 16-45 worth the extra $300?

Ted