Greetings, I had a fine time at GFM (nice to have faces to put on at least some of you) and got to handle the *ist and *ist D. I know that other folks have already answered some questions, but I'll comment on what I saw, so forgive the repetition. Mark Roberts actually took it out shooting, so I'll defer to him on image quality. I did see at least one of these on a screen, but any quick look at properly exposed 6 MP image looks great on a screen.
The *ist D is SMALL! I was actually staring right at it and thought it was an MZ-S. It's actually smaller than an MZ-S (side by side comparison, no rulers) since the left side is shorter, i.e., the "no-film in here" look. As mentioned elsewhere, TvV brought a 10D with a IS zoom (70-200?). We sat it next to the *istD and the joke was that you attach the *istD to the strap as a "dingy". The viewfinder is brighter than the 10D, and the AF sensor toggle selector is very fast, with the chosen sensor flashing red as it gets picked. The sensor didn't stay illuminated, so I guess you just have remember which one is picked or go back to auto. (There might have been another way that I missed). The AF itself is very fast and locks on faster than my MZ-S probably because of the cross sensors. I deliberately tried to fool it with mostly vertical or horizontal line subjects (some of which my MZ-S needed "rotating" for) and it did fine. I wasn't used to the interface but learned quickly enough. The folks that had a PZ-1P said it was very familiar. I stuck my M 40 on it "appeared" to be metering fine at max. aperture, i.e., I got readings similar to that lens wide open on the MX I had brought along. I couldn't get the shutter to release because, I assume, the PF was set wrong and I didn't know which to reset. I know that Mark did a more detailed check on this with a M 15 and an A 15 so I'll let him describe it. It did stop down when I rotated the lens (some one in the room mentioned this so I tried it). It was still on pretty tight and was not sense it would fall off, but I might feel a little nervous walking around like this. Nonetheless, you do get stop down metering in this way. The power up was very fast, not even worth timing. I didn't play with the save to card times (the res it was set to for me saved almost instantly) but others did. Doug said you did get a pause (I heard someone say "an hourglass") for the very highest resolutions. However, the firmware was still not finalized so this will probably improve in the final version. I will admit my prejudice in preferring small cameras, but I just loved the feel and handling of this camera. It feels very solid and fits in my hands like a combination of the MX and MZ-S. I admit I have no pressing desire for IS/USM lenses if it means hauling around that great honkin' 10D and lens, so this camera is perfect for me. I will buy one as soon as I can. BTW, I also played with the film *ist. The *istD was the belle o'the ball, so the *ist was sitting alone and forlorn on the table. I took off the grip, what was left was even tinier than the *istD. Same AF, metering, sensor picker, etc, and the LCD screen in the back is nice and big and readable. It had the 43 limited on it, and it was an almost all silver combination. I played with this more than the *istD (Ok, every time I cam into the room. Debbie even thought this was the digital. She told me that I obviously like that little silver camera) Unless you are deeply attached to the feel and weight of a metal camera, this seems like a very nice low/mid-range camera (having never shot used it for actual shooting). With the 43, it was a very light package and would make a great and very capable "walking-around" camera (see personal disclaimer above, however;-). There's my debriefing. The most distinctive feature to notice this weekend was not seeing so many huge lenses as seeing so many people with tripods. This event could serve as a great ad for Bogen/Manfrotto. The abundance of rain made the trails on the Mountain a little muddy but beautifully verdant with many little stream and water falls. I shot 8 rolls of 35 and 2 of 120, even counting that time the MZ-S exposure button got set to "multiple". You can really make a roll last this way ;-) Steven Desjardins Department of Chemistry Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA 24450 (540) 458-8873 FAX: (540) 458-8878 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
