OK folks, it's been long enough... The answer nobody dared to risk (and the most obvious) is:
Camera: Pentax *ist D ISO: 400 Lighting: Studio bank (not flash) Lens: Sigma 70-200/2.8 Focal length: 180mm Aperture: 2.8 Shutter speed 1/125s (hand held, with elbow against something for extra support) JPEG file, straight from the camera. I understand that focal length and shutter speed were not so obvious. The funny thing is that apparently nobody among those who usually say the *istD to be tack sharp (most *istD users out there) thought it to be capable of such result ;-) It is also funny that somebody who usually criticize its "softness" (me) has to prove it can be sharp ;-) So, what did I learn from all this? 1) If you don't agree with mainstream opinion, don't debate first and show pictures then to support your idea. If so, all those already engaged in disagreeing with you won't truly see your pictures and will never admit your opinion can make some sense. It is much better you show a meaningful picture, let people comment it as you could do, and then feel free to agree with them. E.g. Isn't this picture detail better than just claiming bullshit such statements supposing digital quality to be far from that delivered by comparable film cameras? 2) With proper lighting, proper lens, proper focusing and steady support, the *ist D can give excellent results, even better than expected (by me and by most, apparently). I can almost hear the crowd rejoicing there: "At last, he has understood that!" However, don't forget that I've fallen in love with the *istD long time ago, and I never denied it can deliver excellent results. I only wrote that a lighter anti-alias filter and/or a better software could allow higher resolution and higher sharpness. Given such sharpness, think what you could get with a better calibrated filter in front of the sensor:-) And now another old question by me: Is it really necessary shooting RAW all the time as most of you guys keep doing and advicing? I fully agree that with a proper conversion software (thanks Pentax for introducing PhotoLab 2.0 asap :-) you can squeeze something extra out of your CCD, but I think that choosing the right lens and using it carefully about shake can mean a lot more. If your camera (or subject) is not still, I'm afraid RAW is of little help. Dario
