----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, October 06, 2003 8:09 AM Subject: Re: Old lenses and *ist D
> We should not be so dependent on built-in meters to take pictures. Use a > separate light meter or a backup body, or take a light meter reading with an A, > FA, lens on the istD and then pop on the equivalent K or M lens and shoot away.. > Maybe if photographers learned to use their equipment or their brains we > would not be so dependent on our in-camera light meter. There was a time not long > ago when photographers used external meters, many still do. > So go out and buy some new "OLD" KA lenses or an external light meter and > take pictures... and stop complaining. Find a way around the problem instead of > dwelling on it... That what GOOD photographers do.... I think the point is, and it is one I certainly agree with, is that when one buys a brand new peice of technology, one has a right to expect to be able to take advantage of that technology. I know I was pretty vocal about the cripled mount. I recall calling the *ist D a crippled whore, or some such. But, the problem here is that the new technology doesn't mesh so well with 20 year old technology. There may well be valid technical reasons for the loss of K mount compatability with the new generation of cameras, or there may not be. I'm not a camera technician, so I don't know. I don't trust the opinions of people who are not camera technicians on the subject, as they are, at best, hypothesizing from ignorance. However, no other Japanese 35mm camera maker is offering full compatability with 20 year old lenses either. Nikon lenses must be AI modified, or they won't work right on the very top end models that do offer some backwards compatability. Canon forgot about completely when they introduced the EOS mount. Minolta forgot about with the Maxxum line, thought apparently, they still have the X-700 in the lineup. I suppose Kyocera has managed some level of compatability, but they did it by staying moribund in the marketplace. Olympus doesn't even make an interchangeable lens SLR anymore. I find it amusing that the people who are now complaining are not Pentax customers anyway. Sure there are lots of EOS lenses on eBay, but that doesn't make you a Canon customer. You want to get burned? Get mixed up on your compatability charts with Nikon and buy the wrong lens. What I do know is that the digital *ist is a hell of a nice little camera. William Robb
