John, Let me comment on a few points that you made: 1. focus adjustment, 2. battery difference, and 3. SDM.
1. Sorry, but you apply the logic about the focus-adjustment functionality backwards. It is not the need to adjust the focus on the newer cameras, but rather a possibility. I don't think that K5/K7/.. are produced with more louse clearances than *ist D(S) cameras. Deviations from the "perfect" sizes exist in any [mass-]manufactured cameras and lenses. When those add up in a "negative" way, you have less than perfect focus. I haven't done any focus adjustment with any of my lenses as I moved from *ist DS to K-7. I don't see any difference between the two. It doesn't mean that they all focus perfectly. It's just that I am too lazy (or as I think, - busy) to play with that. I actually suspect that one of the lenses can benefit from the fine adjustment. 2. As for the batteries, - when I was switching from *istDS to K7, I also was not very happy at first that I had to use a proprietary battery. I was considering getting a grip just to be able to use AAs. However, having used it K7 with D-Li70, I see several big advantages beyond those experienced by the designers (Li-ion batteries provide more stable voltage/current values). First, Li-ion batteries tend to hold the charge better when they are not being used. Second, (while this is not a direct comparison), in my experience one charge of the D-Li90 lasts a bit longer in K-7, then fully charged set of 2000 mAh-2300 mAh rechargeable batteries in DS. That's despite the fact that the original Pentax D-Li90 is rated at 1860 mAh. The difference might be due to the higher efficiency of K-7, or due to the fact that AA's voltage falls off at an earlier point (i.e. the camera is not able to use the entire capacity of the batteries). Second, from the practical point of view of travel load. With K7, when I am flying, I also take 2 sets of spares: one D-Li90 spare and one set of freshly charged AAs. A spare D-Li90 is smaller in size, and probably slightly lighter than 4 AAs. The charger for D-Li90 is smaller and lighter than that for 4 AAs (I am using LaCrosse one for AAs). But, obviously, you'd carry two chargers instead of one. Let's see how this works for me in different scenarios. I assume the trips when I am flying, and hence the volume and weight is important. a) A trip where I don't need/take the flash. Those are rear, but when they happen, the advantage of D-Li90 is clear. b) A trip where I take both, and shoot a lot with both (such as a dance festival). On such trips, I sometimes take 500-1000 shots within one evening, and need to recharge both, camera and flash batteries overnight, to have them ready by the morning. With D-Li90 (K-5), I have no choice but taking two chargers. But that allows me to charge the batteries in parallel. With all AAs (DS), I had to either swap the batteries in the middle of the night, or take extra battery sets that I can be using next morning, while the last night batteries are still charging. In this case, D-Li90 (K-5) also has obvious advantage. c) A trip where I take both, and shoot moderate number of photographs at a relatively slow pace. Here is where one charger for all batteries has an advantage. However, if such a trip is short, I don't take the full set (spares and chargers), but only a part that I might need. As for the higher cost of spare batteries. I actually didn't by a spare for D-Li90 until almost two years later. As described above, I never had a shoot where I fully exhausted it. When I bought it, - it was $14.50 from a 3rd party, - you can read about that here: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg635940.html That battery is fine, except that a small piece of plastic (one that looks like a small strip) broke off at the end, - so, now I need to be a bit more careful when inserting that battery. The bottom line is that in my typical usage scenarios, D-Li90 has considerable advantage for most scenarios (despite my original reservations that are similar to yours). YMMV. 3. If it is of interest to you: SDM focusing provides speed advantage. And, except for a failing chip in my 17-70 that was replaced under warranty, I did not have problems with SDM (I have 50-135 and 17-70 on my K-7), knock-on-the-wood. Having said all of that, - I agree with the main point of yours, - if your camera does all you need/want, there is no reason to upgrade it. Igor Wed Sep 19 01:13:14 EDT 2012 John Coyle wrote: > One advantage of not having moved on from the *ist-D is that I can use simple > old widely > available AA batteries in both camera and flash (AF330FTZ)! > Normally carrying two sets of spare recently-recharged batteries means I have > seldom run > out of juice. > There seem to be other advantages too, from what I read here: > no problems with fancy-shmancy SDM focussing. > no need to calibrate my lenses - they all seem to focus pretty well. > I don't attempt to shoot in available light where I need more than 800ASA. > I'm sure there are more.. > > Although I probably will go to a K30 or K5 when the *ist-D finally gives up > the ghost. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
