First, many thanks to the multitude who responded to my original post. What a wealth of solid information! Even though a few days of reflection tells me -- somewhat embarrassingly -- that I pressed the freak-out button 'way too soon, you have provided a lot of stuff I'll keep in my mental camera bag. (BTW, I think it says a lot about the positive spirit of collegiality in this group -- especially in contrast to places on Usenet I could name, where there might be a few helpful follow-ups, but mostly paraphrases of "Go away, a--hole, get another hobby.") As to the concentration side of the game, the big lesson is that it's important to have a clearly defined sense of purpose for a session, and stick to it. What was intended as practice, just to get myself regrooved after a winter's layoff, somehow subconsciously morphed into a "gotta get some keepers" occasion. Even though I was shooting the morning practice sessions (when riders are well-spaced at less than racing speed and we workers are mostly standing around bored), it wasn't possible to escape the sense of "I'm supposed to be doing something else." And even though another worker was covering me for the few actual racing shots I tried, there was that sense of urgency that I'm sure helped muck things up. As to technique, I've discovered I still can't pan the LX (with winder) nearly as well as I could the lighter K1000. I thought a year of just handling the camera might have improved matters, but I guess not. I tend not to follow through as well and sort of drop towards the end, possibly because of the weight and possibly because I might be stabbing the shutter release instead of pressing it. Don't want to mess with taking the winder off in the field, so it's either lift weights and practice panning the neighbors as they drive by (they already think I'm nuts anyway), or continue to use the K1000 for the purpose. Some stuff happens with exposure, particularly the AE on the LX, that still perplexes me. My first racetrack outing with it -- I'd had it barely a week -- was on a weekend so gloomy and rainy that I was using Fuji Superia 800 and set the LX on automatic just for the heck of it. It did so well I was blown away. Late in August I borrowed a 400A*/2.8 ED IF and took it out for a test drive in midday sun, again with the LX on auto (no EV applied). This time the pictures looked overexposed, bikes in sorta-OK color but the track and foliage all flat, pale, and blasted out. I don't understand this. If the camera were reading the lighter-than-a-gray-card, top-lit asphalt as it would snow or sand, wouldn't it tend to *under* expose? Is the camera malfunctioning, or is it a case of "they all do that" and I should just dial in some negative EV and be done with it? Or could it be the printing at the lab? Again, thanks for all the help! Stephen Moore __________________________________________ "You got a Zarg in here? Are you *nuts*??? - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
