FeedbACK on Pentax *ist D

[kohweeloon]

Hi fellow clubsnaper,

Me think of buying Pentax *ist D. Anyone using this DSLR. Please give comment. Thank you

[CY_OH]

Are you a Pentax SLR user? If not did you have a look at the Canon 10D and 300D and nikon D70?

I don't own the *ist D but have read reviews on it. It is praised for the small and light body, big viewfinder, good performance at high ISOs. The major complains are soft images straight from camera, incompatibility with older lenses, small directional pad, difficult to take CF card out, inconsistent flash metering. If you can wait, Pentax is likely to announce another DSLR at Photokina.

[whoelse]

*ist D suppose to use the same CCD sensor as D100 "but it develops the new raw CCD data using proprietary image processing algorithns that supposedly deliver superior image quality".

Base on the report by Popular Photography magazine Jan 04 issue:

Hot:
>Smallest and lightest 6MP DSLR available.
>Large, bright viewfinder
>Excellent image quality up to ISO 400, and low noise levels at ISO 800
>Up to fie JPEG, RAW, or TIFF frames at 2.6 fps in burst mode
>Up to 12X digital zoom in playback mode

NOT:
>AF slow down in low light
>Does't ship with rechargeable batteries
>1.5X 35mm lens factor eliminates ultrawide-angle field of view
>Priced above competitors

[kelvinang]

Originally Posted by CY_OH Are you a Pentax SLR user? If not did you have a look at the Canon 10D and 300D and nikon D70? I don't own the *ist D but have read reviews on it. It is praised for the small and light body, big viewfinder, good performance at high ISOs. The major complains are soft images straight from camera, incompatibility with older lenses, small directional pad, difficult to take CF card out, inconsistent flash metering. If you can wait, Pentax is likely to announce another DSLR at Photokina.

The initial firmware of the *ist D doesn't allow metering when pre-A series lens (older manual focus ones) is mounted on the camera. An update has been released to allow auto-exposure when a button is pressed, much like Pentax's HyperManual mode if you're familiar with the Pentax Z-1/p.

The soft images produced by straight-from-camera outputs is not a disadvantage, in my opinion. Many DSLRs suffer from a case of oversharpening. With a softer straight-from-camera output, at least there's a choice of re-sharpening it again or leave it as it is.

[Spyer2]

Originally Posted by kohweeloon Hi fellow clubsnaper, Me think of buying Pentax *ist D. Anyone using this DSLR. Please give comment. Thank you

I am currently using it.
If you are Pentax SLR user with lot of lenses, you will like it. otherwise I will advice you to consider other brands. PM me if you want to know more..