Well you can forget what I posted above, further experimentation has shown that the 'Grip' issue was co-incidental. Its not that at all.

Harumph.

Still a minuscule amount of contact cleaner on a cotton bud to clean the contacts on the body mount has appeared to have made a difference, maybe it was a contact problem all along ( as I believe the body has to ascertain what length the lens is to be able to use the IS feature)

Oh and by the way, is the DA40 ltd not capable of being used with IS? because the other lenses I have tried now allow the IS to be turned on-off, but with the DA40 it will not come on AT ALL ( and there is a contact space not used on this lens.....)

Hey all, been having an incredibly annoying intermittent issue with my gX20 recently.

Basically the image stabilisation would refuse to turn on. No matter how many times i tried it wouldnt respond to the switch. I at first thought i must have changed a setting in a menu somewhere that was prohibiting it, but no. So switched lenses thinking this may be the issue but again no joy.

Then for no apparent reason the issue would disappear and it would work fine. Now an intermittent fault can be even more annoying than one you can explain. I now started to think that the switch itself was starting to be the issue, and was faulty somehow, meaning a full strip to replace, not something I was overly happy about.

Today, while trying out a lens in my local camera shop again the IS wouldn't respond, very annoying when it was a large lens that could have done with it. At this point a little light bulb must have appeared above my head when I suddenly realised a common factor to the fault occurrences, I had the grip on the body.

I took the grip off the body and hey presto the switch suddenly came to life and worked fine. Now its a proper SBG-D1V grip, not an aftermarket one, but after some experimentation it definitely seems to be having the grip attached that causes the issue.

Im pleased i have worked it out, and the camera isnt actually bust, but it does mean i now have to remove the grip if I change lenses, if I want the IS to function, which could be a pain. I've checked the connections and everything looks hunk-dory, so has anyone else experienced this, or even heard of the issue before?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PENTAX-K-7-K7-INFRARED-IR-CCD-CONVERSION-SERVICE-/32048070...

this ^ US company does the conversion, they also sell brand new converted bodies too.

They state they also sell the parts for 'home' conversion, though id personally consider buying the parts then getting a pro over here to actually do the work...

think its a feature of the Vivitars, something to do with being built for ricoh's too.
I have a Viv 28-200 that also had this issue, but rather than machine the extending flange away, i just removed it totally ( only 3 small setscrews) doesnt seem to have made any difference to its useabilty

Looks like Canada / Alaska will do fairly well for observing it this time round if this nasa data is anything to go by (and you would hope it would be)
Nasa Aurora details


Oh and as to the earlier points raised (re-holes in ozone layers etc), its actually the planet's magnetic field that protects us from this sort of energy/radiation, hence the Aurora itself is created, as the energy is diverted down the mag field to the poles the interaction with elements in the atmosphere create the glow and lightshow.

Another vote for the 40 here, Its rapidly become my most used lense since getting one 2nd hand in the spring. Though I seem to have developed the habit of fitting the grip to my '20 every time the DA40 is fitted, its either me subconsiously trying to compensate for the lack of weight (the body feels as though it has no lense fitted) or the fact that the whole ensemble looks so damn cool with the grip and 40 on together!

Hi my local camera guy came by this the other day...




Seems a beaut too, prob not mint, but not far off. Has the internal rotating filters behind the front element, I believe its quite a rarity?

thought id post it on here in case anyone is especially looking for one. Im afraid I don't know what he wants for it (not sure he does either) but as he's owns a shop it is for sale!

(Phil on 01603 625261 should anyone be interested) Oh and that's Norwich

Recently it would appear to be somewhere between 12 and 24 ! its amazing how I manage to find a way to use a wideangle for just about everything recently.....I mean who'd of thought it was any good for birds of prey!!






Something to do with the fact that the IQ is so far above any of my other lenses I cant help but want to use it even when its totally unsuitable for the situation

I've just picked up a GX8R sunpak, though I have no manual for it, dont suppose yours covers that one too does it barrie? (probably not as the Gx8r is a bit long in the tooth now). Running mine from the pc port (as its voltage protected there) and seems to fire fine but i'm compensating manually in camera at the moment (or turning the flash output down.)


EDIT: forget the manual request Barrie, just looked up the Dx and its totally different from mine - very much more modern!

Hmmm that review may not help the decision that much hyram !