Pentax Ds owners, Ver 2.0 firmware out.

http://www.digital.pentax.co.jp/ja/info/20050415e.html


The selectable continuous AF is a nice addition. Auto ISO, not sure about
that one but you can just set what you want of course.


This the full list.
1.. Continuous AF" mode has been added to the AF settings in the Record
Mode menu and AF.S /AF.C can be selected in the Menu
2.. Auto Sensitivity has been added in the sensitivity mode
3.. AE-L button on M has been added in the Custom menu.
4.. The effect of Digital soft filters can be selected from weak, middle
or strong
5.. Dutch and Swedish languages has been added to the language
6.. The sample picture will be displayed in the LCD monitor when select
picture modes
7.. For prevent the confusion, the item that was not able to be set by the
menu, made a gray character.

Pete D wrote:

http://www.digital.pentax.co.jp/ja/info/20050415e.html


The selectable continuous AF is a nice addition. Auto ISO, not sure about
that one but you can just set what you want of course.


This the full list.
1.. Continuous AF" mode has been added to the AF settings in the Record
Mode menu and AF.S /AF.C can be selected in the Menu
2.. Auto Sensitivity has been added in the sensitivity mode
3.. AE-L button on M has been added in the Custom menu.
4.. The effect of Digital soft filters can be selected from weak, middle
or strong
5.. Dutch and Swedish languages has been added to the language
6.. The sample picture will be displayed in the LCD monitor when select
picture modes
7.. For prevent the confusion, the item that was not able to be set by the
menu, made a gray character.

If you go to http://www.pentaxslr.com/, you find out about the new
*ist DS2, some new lenses, including slightly faster Limiteds, and a new
flash unit.

Maybe you knew already. I sure didn't. :-)

Now to rob a bank...

Hi Paul,

I already own a Ds, same as a Ds2 except for the screen.

Even better now.

I assume you are talking about the 540FGZ, very nice but very spendy. :-(

Cheers.

Pete

"Paul Mitchum" wrote in message
...
Pete D wrote:

http://www.digital.pentax.co.jp/ja/info/20050415e.html


The selectable continuous AF is a nice addition. Auto ISO, not sure about
that one but you can just set what you want of course.


This the full list.
1.. Continuous AF" mode has been added to the AF settings in the Record
Mode menu and AF.S /AF.C can be selected in the Menu
2.. Auto Sensitivity has been added in the sensitivity mode
3.. AE-L button on M has been added in the Custom menu.
4.. The effect of Digital soft filters can be selected from weak,
middle
or strong
5.. Dutch and Swedish languages has been added to the language
6.. The sample picture will be displayed in the LCD monitor when select
picture modes
7.. For prevent the confusion, the item that was not able to be set by
the
menu, made a gray character.

If you go to http://www.pentaxslr.com/, you find out about the new
*ist DS2, some new lenses, including slightly faster Limiteds, and a new
flash unit.

Maybe you knew already. I sure didn't. :-)

Now to rob a bank...

The selectable continuous AF is a nice addition. Auto ISO, not sure
about that one but you can just set what you want of course.

As usual, lots of discussion over inthe Pentax DSLR forum on
dpreview.com. Generally rave reviews - the availability of continuous
AF in all modes (not just Sports mode, as was previously the case) of
course being the biggie for most people. This eliminates one of the
single biggest complaints many have had about the DS. There are also
reports in dpreview form folks saying focus seems faster and other
miscellaneous subjective improvements, but I wouldn't put too much stock
in those.

The Auto ISO is getting mixed reviews - applying any EV compensation
disables the auto ISO and forces ISO to 200. I don't know about anyone
else, but when I'm shooting in low light situations where I might
otherwise find value in having auto ISO kick in, I'm almost always
applying negative EV compensation - otherwise, the pictures don't come
out *looking* like they were shot in low light. So it seems I'm going
to have to increase ISO manually just as I always have. Another drag
about the implementation of auto ISO is that there is no feedback in the
viewfinder display as to what IS is being chosen. It does show you the
shutter speed / aperture you're going to end up with, but not the ISO
that is making this possible. This can be a rather disconcerting as you
point at different subjects with vastly different light and see similar
exposures being chosen. I suspect I won't be using this much. But it
might be fun to play with for a while in situations where the stakes are
low, so I'll probably leave it on for now.

Oh yeah, I did download and install the update. It went painlessly. I
used a set of freshly charged AA's, no problems.

---------------
Marc Sabatella


Music, art, & educational materials
Featuring "A Jazz Improvisation Primer"
http://www.outsideshore.com/

Marc Sabatella wrote:

Oh yeah, I did download and install the update. It went painlessly. I
used a set of freshly charged AA's, no problems.

Worked for me, too. No problem installing.

I have been wishing that pressing AE-L in M mode could work in an
aperture priority mode, and now it can. This alone makes the upgrade
worth it for me.

"Marc Sabatella" wrote in message
news
The selectable continuous AF is a nice addition. Auto ISO, not sure about
that one but you can just set what you want of course.

As usual, lots of discussion over inthe Pentax DSLR forum on dpreview.com.
Generally rave reviews - the availability of continuous AF in all modes
(not just Sports mode, as was previously the case) of course being the
biggie for most people. This eliminates one of the single biggest
complaints many have had about the DS. There are also reports in dpreview
form folks saying focus seems faster and other miscellaneous subjective
improvements, but I wouldn't put too much stock in those.

The Auto ISO is getting mixed reviews - applying any EV compensation
disables the auto ISO and forces ISO to 200. I don't know about anyone
else, but when I'm shooting in low light situations where I might
otherwise find value in having auto ISO kick in, I'm almost always
applying negative EV compensation - otherwise, the pictures don't come out
*looking* like they were shot in low light. So it seems I'm going to have
to increase ISO manually just as I always have. Another drag about the
implementation of auto ISO is that there is no feedback in the viewfinder
display as to what IS is being chosen. It does show you the shutter speed
/ aperture you're going to end up with, but not the ISO that is making
this possible. This can be a rather disconcerting as you point at
different subjects with vastly different light and see similar exposures
being chosen. I suspect I won't be using this much. But it might be fun
to play with for a while in situations where the stakes are low, so I'll
probably leave it on for now.

You can set auto ISO to 200-400, 200-800, 200-1600 or 200-3200 so keeping it
to say 200-800 should work a fair bit of the time, gives you an extra 2
stops knowing that it will have minimal effect on the shot.


Oh yeah, I did download and install the update. It went painlessly. I
used a set of freshly charged AA's, no problems.

---------------
Marc Sabatella


Music, art, & educational materials
Featuring "A Jazz Improvisation Primer"
http://www.outsideshore.com/