20 Most Recent Pentax *ist D Digital Camera - Page 2 Questions & Answers

I've had similar problems with my Pentax Super-A on an intermittent basis. If you haven't replaced the batteries I suggest you try that first. Not sure why, but that has sorted my problem out quite a few times (even when the existing batteries still have a fair amount of juice left in them).

The lens you are talking about has either:
1)a faulty diaphragm mechanism ( lens stays closed at f 22 or f 16 when you attach it to the camera instead of opening fully as it should ) . or
2) the lens is fine but the diaphragm coupling mechanism inside mirror box ( on the left hand side if viewed from the front ) is not engaging the lens properly so that your lens stays fully closed ( F 22 /16 ) : because diaphragm stays fully closed image in viewfinder appears v. dark.
Solution ? have a camera technician take a look but my guess is that the diaphragm needs cleaning and it should not cost you more than $ 80 bucks.

Have you try using different data cable..??

If you have a low light setting or night setting or a speed priority setting there is the possibility one or the other has been inadvertently activated and you are getting long time exposures check out all your setting with the manual.

How old is it? If you purchased it through a credit card this is proof of purchase. Wat ever the answer to the above contact the Pentax Tech Support line - this may be a recall issue.

There is a small re-chargeble battery inside the camera that charges of the main battery. Chances are that battery had just drained when the date/time reset occured, but should be fine after you recharge.

MTF stands for "Modulation Transfer Function" ... It's a somewhat arcane name for one type of testing methodology used in modern lens analysis. The *ist D's MTF priority program mode sets the "best" aperture to use for a given ISO setting and meter reading based upon lens information encoded in the latest FA series lenses. Earlier series lenses do not include MTF information in their communication with the camera so I suspect it defaults to Normal program mode when non-FA lenses are used.

I would dig around in http://www.usbman.com to see if any patches for Win ME. Used that OS for about 6 months before dumping it. Not my favorite to say the least. Then again that was a long time ago. Would help to know who's USB chip is in your box. Actually cannot recommend any Win products but XP. Have used Win 3.1,95,98,98se,me,xp home.

I had exactly that problem with my first *ist D. Replace the AA batteries and the time was always lost. A new 'button' battery didn't fix the problem. The camera was replaced. The second camera had to be returned too. While I was with the dealer he told me my first camera wasn't really faulty as Pentax UK had been able to tell him how to fix it by some routine. I must admit I didn't listen hard to what he said, I was more interested in getting my hands on the third camera - and then the fourth when that didn't work either.

i have yet to recieve the b-grip for my *ist so i can't tell you if i have the same problem. i do have a thought on the matter and an interest in the fix as i have a grip on order. have either or both of you upgraded to firmware 1.1? that is not listed as something the firmware update remedies. however, i understand that manufacturers often include fixes for less conspicious problems without listing them. if you haven't upgraded it's worth a shot, you have nothing to loose as long as you use FRESH batteries. hope i helped. have fun shooting.

The only thing I've run into with the grip is that my av dial doesn't work with the grip turned on. Its as if its taken over that function. I haven't checked the manual to see if this is normal.

I'm afraid the best(?) tip means you put a piece of tape on the MD before you put it in the camera. That way you have something bigger (well...) to hold on to to pull out the MD. If I were you, I'd place something soft on a table (to catch the MD falling), find a pen, tilt the camera with the CF compartment facing down and try to push the eject button with the pen (being out of the way for the MD). Hopefully this will be enough. I really don't have any other ideas and I haven't any problems with getting my CF cards or my MD out of the camera (yet?).

Chances are that this is real problem of electronics... not unusual with these devices...However, what is missing from your story is what preceded the appearnace of the problem. Was the camera exposed to high humidity? was it dropped on the floor from 20 feet? anything?

i used to have the same problem with my Sanyo 2100mAh. i switched to the Uniross 2300mAh and problem solved. that was using my Ridata 512MB 40X solid state CF. switched to Hitachi 4GB MD (from Muvo2) and now the problem is back. i have learned to live with that though, as it causes no other problem for me except for the faulty battery indication.

Battery charge indicators don't measure actual charge but voltage because there is no cost-efficient method to measure battey charge directly. Instead, batteries are designed so that voltage goes down with charge. Now, the difficult thing is that not all batteries behave in the same manner. It is actually very hard to predict how a battery menufactured by xyz behaves. I would guess that Pentax engineers did not have Energizer AA's in their mind when they defined the voltage alert level. I would suspect that the battery status indicator is calibrated for the CR-V3 batteries that were included with the camera body, or something else. Only wild guesses above... And yes, I have encountered weird inidicator behavior with AA batteries, too. But not with CR-V3. I bet your mobile phone battery indicator plays tricks, too.

Not sure if you try fresh Alkaline battery. Try it if you havn't already. Fully charged batteries, how do you know it fully charged? The "charger said so"? Your batteries or charger might give you a fault peak reading. Try fresh battery or AC adepter and go from there.

Resolution on the LCD is rather "rough," but I think all these tiny screens are that way. Considering the "roughness" of the photos in playback, and their sharpness when viewed full on on a computer, the text is about up to as good as this screen can produce. Or, in other words, I'm see'in what your see'in as for text. I think it's just normal.

Even moving your eye away from the viewfinder can potentially change the amount of light entering the exposure meter, so even if the camera is on a tripod, if AE lock isn't on or manual mode selected, the exposure setting may change.

I've had this problem... it was, of course, the quality setting which was reduced to lowest by whoever was doing the repair. I have never used this setting almost always using the *** setting or RAW. When I set these I get the kind of numbers I was used to in my remaining images counter. I am so glad I came on this forum and now the only fly in my ointment is the embarassment I feel for not having spotted the problem and the realisation that this may have been the problem before and I need not have sent my camera off on the second occasion.

I have the same flash and I have only used it with my FAJ 18-35 and FA 24-90. Exposure seems to be darker with the FAJ 18-35 than with the FA 24-90 which is fairly good. When compared to the RTF, the exposure is also darker for both lenses but I would say the RTF overexposes than is correct. Regarding the coverage warning lamp, my 240 did lit up correctly with the 1.5X multiplying factor already taken into account by the camera, i.e., the 24-90 don't have the warning and with the 18-35, the warning lamp lit up when I zoomed near the 18mm. So, everything seems normal for my setup. Anyway, I shall try your mentioned lenses F 35-70 and DA 16-45 later on and see if these lenses exhibit the problems you described and will keep you informed.