[Muse]

muse, go to ebay and type "pentax remote" then hit search.
When the results load, select the box that says "search in titles and descriptions", AND on the upper right select "priced; lowest first". Hit search again. It was one of the first to load.

I got my remote from eBay Asian seller (yespainting), $2.98 shipped. Tried it and it works with my K-x. Nice and small.

[tjk911]

Someone mentioned earlier an IPS panel monitor. If you're on a budget I think the Dell 2209wa is a very good buy. I might be biased however since that's the one I have for myself.

I got it with a deal for about $225 with free shipping if I remember correctly.

Also, have you bought the 55-300mm already? I faintly remember choosing not to purchase it because of reports about its barrel distortion, but that was sometime ago and I was on a budget anyway.

[Skullsroad]

I fired up the camera for the first time this afternoon (with the 18-55 kit lens), taking its first shots ever. The shots looked OK, well, some of them (a few were quite blurry!) using totally default settings, which produced ~5.5MB JPGs. I recorded 3 videos, short, around 1 minute each and viewing them on this laptop using Windows Media Player, they were somewhat choppy. The weird thing is the video and the sound are very out of synch!

Did you ever figure this out? I'm assuming by "default settings" you mean you shot in Green mode? That mode defaults to a slow shutter speed under dim conditions. Try shooting in some of the other modes where you have control over at least one option. Put it in Sv and bump up the ISO until the shutter speed is satisfactory. The K-X takes good pictures until 1600 or so (I believe, I have a K-7). The video issue sounds like a slow card. For video it you need at least a class 6.

[Muse]

Did you ever figure this out? I'm assuming by "default settings" you mean you shot in Green mode? That mode defaults to a slow shutter speed under dim conditions. Try shooting in some of the other modes where you have control over at least one option. Put it in Sv and bump up the ISO until the shutter speed is satisfactory. The K-X takes good pictures until 1600 or so (I believe, I have a K-7). The video issue sounds like a slow card. For video it you need at least a class 6.

Sorry, I missed this post.

By "Green mode" you mean Auto Pict? I'm color blind (green blind, actually) so I don't know if that's the color on the round indicating wheel for Auto Pict. Yes, I am almost sure it was on Auto Pict. I don't believe it was dim conditions, though. However I do believe it was indoors. It was decent lighting, however. It was suggested that the problems with he videos might have to do with codecs on my PCs, but I haven't investigated this yet.

My card is Class 10, but it's a cheap card, a PQI 150X 8GB that cost me less than $20.

[Muse]

For ME a must have accessory is a fine brush to brush dust off lens surfaces, e.g. camel's hair. What blowers can't dislodge, a fine brush generally will. I don't believe there's any danger of damage to a lens or its coating using such a brush gently and if clean, they will leave nothing on the lens surface. I have a couple that I found somewhere, probably intended for makeup applications. I don't use makeup, but have a lot of lenses.

[Pablom]

I don't believe it was dim conditions, though. However I do believe it was indoors. It was decent lighting, however.

indoors usually there is lack of lighting, even if it doesn't seem so to your eyes.

It was suggested that the problems with he videos might have to do with codecs on my PCs, but I haven't investigated this yet.

sounds to me like that's exactly it