1. The compact flash memory slot
Yep, some people have problems to get the card out there. It ain't so much room to get a hold on the card, and especially CF II like microdrive give some people problems.
I myself got no issues with the cf slot. I only got CF I, my fingers are nimble: No worries in opening and changing cf at all here.
2. Lack of histogram. I have read nothing on the web that indicates that a firmware upgrade fixed this problem, so I presume it's still an issue?
It got a histogram quite ok. Just press 'review' and 'info' and voila, you got a histogram. Always been there.
What most people complain about is the missing option to get a histogram shown *automatically* after you made a shot, that's a feature available in the *istDs, though.
Another thing connected to this: the *istD got nothing showing blowed highlights. Other DSLR got blownout highlights flashing red or something, so you can see where they are blown. *that* feature really is missing on the *istD (but should be in the *istDs).
(and a third, not so important it seems) 3. some odd ergonomic/interface quirks...
Got no issues with neither ergonomics nor the interface. Some find the *istD too small, but thats just a matter of personal taste.
How well does the istD work with manual focus lenses?
I only do manual focus, even with my AF lenses (da-14 and fa-77) and it does work very well. I'm eagerly waiting for my split screen viewfinder to see if it improves MF even more, but I found it handling nice already.
I got the same feelings about AF/MF, somehow I dislike using AF. Got no real reasons, I just rather focus myself.
or should I consider getting a "proper" DA lens?
The only DA lens I own is the DA-14, all the others are full frame lenses, and the only reason I bought the DA-14 is there are no comparable full frame lenses.
Also, I have an older Chinon 135mm F 1:2.8 telephoto. It's a K mount (not KA), so I presume it will not work perfectly with the istD, but exactly what do I lose. I get a bit confused reading the reviews about these lenses...
Metering the aperture/exposure is a tad bit more work (manual, one buttonpress needed to meter), thats all.
P.S. oh, and if anybody is interested, I have some photography up all over the web. But maybe I should post those links in another email? I noticed the PAW and PESO images, so I get the impression that displaying too many photos is not considered a good idea, so I want to know how much is too much before I start throwing links out. :-)
Depends on the reader I'd say - I for example would look at the first image, and if thats a good one maybe at the second, too. But the first image thats a duplicate or does not impress me will probably chase me away from your page.
There had been one or two photo pages where I spent a lot of time (Dan Heller for example), but these are exceptions that had a lot of interesting images for me.
Sam
