With all the speculation about what we might (or might not) have coming in the K10D I suddenly realized that no one has mentioned a couple of the things that I would most like to see improved over the ist cameras.
First of all I must admit that my top desire is the obvious one of more resolution! 10 megapixels should be very nice :) But another thing that I'd really like to see is faster flash sync. Has anyone got any information on that for the K10D? I was annoyed when the MZ-S came out with slower flash sync than the PZ-1p (1/180 vs 1/250). I was annoyed and *baffled* when the ist-D appeared with an even lower sync speed of 1/150: Shouldn't the smaller-than full-frame shutter have enabled a *faster* sync speed? Whatever the reason,it didn't. I want to be back at 1/250, please. Here's one genuine annoyance with the ist-D I'd like to see fixed: I really like how it's so easy to switch from normal shooting to 2-second mirror pre-fire with two touches of a top panel button. (Michael Reichmann has complained loudly about having to go into menus to do so on his Canons). I also like being able to use an infrared remote control to trip the shutter. But I can use *either* infrared remote *or* mirror pre-fire, not both! So when I want to keep the camera *really* steady when shooting with long lenses on a tripod I have to use pre-fire and a cable release... and I never seem to have a cable release when I need it. BTW: I have an MZ-S camera strap on my ist-D because it has the little pocket for the infrared remote: I *always* have my IR remote with me :) I realize the things I've complained about here don't have the glitzy appeal of whiz-bang technology like USM lenses, but they're unromantic but real issues which affect the quality of the images I produce, which quite frankly USM doesn't. Yes, I'm sure USM lenses are impressive an fun to work with, and if there's one that meets my needs (optical quality, aperture, useful focal length) I'll buy it and probably enjoy it. But I'm really more interested in things that affect image quality and make my work easier. Two other non-glamorous things I'd like to see: Getting ISO and White Balance settings out of menus and onto physical controls where they can be changed instantly. (I don't expect these things on the K10D but hope for them some time in the future.) -- Mark Roberts Photography & Multimedia www.robertstech.com 412-687-2835 -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
