Pentax *ist DSLR for $367AR

[GameManK]

Originally posted by: Mac
I did a little informal testing with the camera and discovered that I had under-rated its performance for shooting RAW. It will shoot 3 pictures in rapid succession (2-3FPS) but then takes 15-20 seconds to empty and refresh the buffer so that you can begin shooting again. As mentioned previously, RAW images are approximately 11MB each. This was using a 33X card. I just rec'd a 150X card today (good deal - Outpost - Transcend 2GB $43 shipped) and haven't tested that yet. I don't expect a lot of improvement due to the shallow buffer but will post an update if it shows any major improvements.

Saying that, it is still significantly faster than any of my digicams.

Just tested that too. 3 pictures in rapid succession on RAW, takes about 10 seconds to write to the 150x PQI card. For JPEG, it's 4-6 pictures (~3 FPS) and back in action in a couple of seconds.

 

[Devistater]

I think the original guys raised the price, but these guys are similar:
http://www.willoughbys.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=1000PENISTDLBNL

$389 AR

Resellerratings dont seem to be too bad either.

 

[Preyhunter]

I ordered from Willoughbys. They shipped fast and the goods were in great shape. I give them a :thumbsup:

 

[9ball]

Originally posted by: Preyhunter
I ordered from Willoughbys. They shipped fast and the goods were in great shape. I give them a :thumbsup:

agree, bought this from them last week and arrived yesterday. nice camera, even the wife say that it looks like a real camera, unlike the Sony T7 that I give her.

 

[Mac]

Even at the $389 AR, this is an exceptional value. I have had mine for about a week now and can say, without reservation, it has exceeded my expectations. The only caveat I might have is that once the delta between the body only and kit starts to exceed $60-70, you may want to consider buying the body only and pick up a separate lens. The kit lens is 18-55 zoom and is decent but you may want to invest a little more and get something nicer at that price point. However, the main draw of the kit lens is that offers an 18mm working wide angle range which translates to an equivalent 27-82mm lens in the dslr world. It is not easy find an inexpensive quality zoom below 28mm. Sigma sells a 18-125mm that is considered to be a quality lens but will cost you more.

Quite frankly, what I am looking for is quality prime lenses. I used a 25 year old Pentax-M SMC F1.4 over the week-end and was blown away with the pictures. Great detail and color. Very smooth images.

You might try checking out Cameta Auctions on ebay. They have been selling Sigma 24-135mm f2.8-4 for around $114 delivered. That is a working range of 36-200 which is very attractive. I couldn't resist and ordered one, should arrive in a couple of days. Some people love it others are luke warm. I will find out.

 

[sat4fun]

I got in on this deal from Beach and love this camera. Can anybody direct me to a decent camera case for this thing? I need one that will accomodate a larger AF lens.

 

[kalster]

can someone please recommend a good lens for outdoor shooting, (around 100$)

 

[pdo]

Originally posted by: kalster
can someone please recommend a good lens for outdoor shooting, (around 100$)

auto or manual focuus lense? Primes or zooms?

I was shooting a funeral this weekend and the 135mm Jupiter 37A which cost me $20+shipping from Russia performed flawlessly but it is a manual focusing lense. Here's a sample from that funeral.

 

[you2]

For $20 that's not a bad lens but it seemed a little soft and washed out to me. Was it stopped down ?

 

[kalster]

Originally posted by: .paldo

Originally posted by: kalster
can someone please recommend a good lens for outdoor shooting, (around 100$)

auto or manual focuus lense? Primes or zooms?

I was shooting a funeral this weekend and the 135mm Jupiter 37A which cost me $20+shipping from Russia performed flawlessly but it is a manual focusing lense. Here's a sample from that funeral.

auto and zoom

 

[JimKiler]

I bit the bullet and bought this camera from Circuit City online with their 12% off deal for $528 and drop that another $100 for the rebate. I was thinking of getting the replacement with anti shake but that is listing for $699 on amazon and this is too good a deal to pass up for the price. I would have preferred a camera with more focus points but I will live with this.

A local camera store thinks all digital cameras will only last 8-10 years is this true, i want something to last a lot longer. They also said somthing about non DSLR lenses get magnified if used on a DSLR.

 

[Preyhunter]

Originally posted by: JimKiler
They also said somthing about non DSLR lenses get magnified if used on a DSLR.

This camera has a 1.5x factor with non-DSLR lenses, so a prime 35mm non-DSLR lens at 200mm would be the equivalent of a 300mm on this camera.

edit: changed numbers in the example. Original numbers could have confused further.

 

[MeanMeosh]

Originally posted by: Preyhunter

Originally posted by: JimKiler
They also said somthing about non DSLR lenses get magnified if used on a DSLR.

This camera has a 1.5x factor with non-DSLR lenses, so a prime 35mm non-DSLR lens at 200mm would be the equivalent of a 300mm on this camera.

edit: changed numbers in the example. Original numbers could have confused further.

so this has a 23.33mm sensor?

 

[Preyhunter]

The effective sensor size is 23.5 x 15.7 mm with the same 3:2 aspect ratio of 35mm film. Because the imager is physically smaller than 35mm film the angle of view is 1.5x the normal lens focal length. This makes going ultra-wide a challenge but it yields longer telephoto focal lengths with no reduction of maximum aperture.


Link

 

[kalster]

What is the difference between manual focus and auto focus lens. If I get one of the older manual focus lense for the pentax *st dl, and use it , is the AF functionality in the camera pretty much useless?

 

[kalster]

Originally posted by: virtualgames0

Originally posted by: cmv

Originally posted by: MOCKBA1
Do you seriously consider this camera better than D50? What about RAW format? Does it support it? I'm interested in post processing images. Rebates stay until October, so there is time to think.

Um... Where did anyone say it was better than the D50? It's half the price at least so that is the attraction. With RAW you can get closer to the D50 perhaps but nobody in the thread so far has said it is better.

They're quite similar. *ist DL has many features that the D50 does not have, and the D50 has some that the *ist DL does not have.
*ist DL has a bigger and brighter viewfinder than the D50, DoF preview, mirror lockup. The D50 has faster AF(with lenses with the AF motor built into the lens), and an AF lamp for faster and more accurate nighttime AF.
The image quality is pretty much the same on the two cameras. Just make sure you set the Pentax from vivid mode to natural mode. Vivid mode applies a very strong sharpening algorithm that causes a loss of detail. Many reviewers do not turn off this mode while reviewing this camera, thus inaccurately reporting that this camera has poor image quality.

Hi, just got my camera, and am playing with it, where do you set or change the mode, i can see controls for saturation etc, but I didnt see a place to chance moes

 

[xinco]

Originally posted by: kalster
What is the difference between manual focus and auto focus lens. If I get one of the older manual focus lense for the pentax *st dl, and use it , is the AF functionality in the camera pretty much useless?

It beeps and displays a hexagon at the bottom of the viewfinder when it is in focus.

 

[Dnana]

I cannot find deals with prices given in the original post - seems everybody upped their prices when this caught on fire - where is a good/cheap place to get in on this deal for a body only camera?

 

[yhelothar]

Originally posted by: kalster

Originally posted by: virtualgames0

Originally posted by: cmv

Originally posted by: MOCKBA1
Do you seriously consider this camera better than D50? What about RAW format? Does it support it? I'm interested in post processing images. Rebates stay until October, so there is time to think.

Um... Where did anyone say it was better than the D50? It's half the price at least so that is the attraction. With RAW you can get closer to the D50 perhaps but nobody in the thread so far has said it is better.

They're quite similar. *ist DL has many features that the D50 does not have, and the D50 has some that the *ist DL does not have.
*ist DL has a bigger and brighter viewfinder than the D50, DoF preview, mirror lockup. The D50 has faster AF(with lenses with the AF motor built into the lens), and an AF lamp for faster and more accurate nighttime AF.
The image quality is pretty much the same on the two cameras. Just make sure you set the Pentax from vivid mode to natural mode. Vivid mode applies a very strong sharpening algorithm that causes a loss of detail. Many reviewers do not turn off this mode while reviewing this camera, thus inaccurately reporting that this camera has poor image quality.

Hi, just got my camera, and am playing with it, where do you set or change the mode, i can see controls for saturation etc, but I didnt see a place to chance moes

It's the very first setting in the menu. You'll see a curved graph with a color spectrum on it. Switch it to the linear graph without the colors.

 

[JimKiler]

Originally posted by: virtualgames0

Originally posted by: kalster

Originally posted by: virtualgames0

Originally posted by: cmv

Originally posted by: MOCKBA1
Do you seriously consider this camera better than D50? What about RAW format? Does it support it? I'm interested in post processing images. Rebates stay until October, so there is time to think.

Um... Where did anyone say it was better than the D50? It's half the price at least so that is the attraction. With RAW you can get closer to the D50 perhaps but nobody in the thread so far has said it is better.

They're quite similar. *ist DL has many features that the D50 does not have, and the D50 has some that the *ist DL does not have.
*ist DL has a bigger and brighter viewfinder than the D50, DoF preview, mirror lockup. The D50 has faster AF(with lenses with the AF motor built into the lens), and an AF lamp for faster and more accurate nighttime AF.
The image quality is pretty much the same on the two cameras. Just make sure you set the Pentax from vivid mode to natural mode. Vivid mode applies a very strong sharpening algorithm that causes a loss of detail. Many reviewers do not turn off this mode while reviewing this camera, thus inaccurately reporting that this camera has poor image quality.

Hi, just got my camera, and am playing with it, where do you set or change the mode, i can see controls for saturation etc, but I didnt see a place to chance moes

It's the very first setting in the menu. You'll see a curved graph with a color spectrum on it. Switch it to the linear graph without the colors.

Can it only be changed under manual mode, that leaves a lot of auto modes that will look saturated. Or is this issue minor that I should not care?

 

[yhelothar]

Originally posted by: kalster
What is the difference between manual focus and auto focus lens. If I get one of the older manual focus lense for the pentax *st dl, and use it , is the AF functionality in the camera pretty much useless?

manual focus lens, you will have to turn the focusing ring with your fingers and judge the focus with your eyes.
Autofocus lens, a computer on the camera determines the focal point and uses a motor to turn the focusing ring.
I personally prefer using manual focus. It's just a lot quicker in between shots as your camera doesn't have to refocus everytime you shoot, and you get your camera to do exactly what you tell it to do.

 

[yhelothar]

Originally posted by: JimKiler
Can it only be changed under manual mode, that leaves a lot of auto modes that will look saturated. Or is this issue minor that I should not care?

It could be changed at any mode.
It's independent from manual/auto scenes.
I personally can't stand the images on vivid mode.

 

[Mac]

Originally posted by: Dnana
I cannot find deals with prices given in the original post - seems everybody upped their prices when this caught on fire - where is a good/cheap place to get in on this deal for a body only camera?

You might try Butterflyphoto, Beach Camera, BuyDig, Willoughby's. I did see some deals for $419 and $439 before rebate for the body only but it has been a few days so don't know now. I've had mine for a couple of weeks now and can honestly say that it has exceeded my expectations. When I started playing around with some old prime lenses, I was very pleasantly surprised by the image quality, even shooting jpgs (Natural mode, +1 Sharpness). There is no mistaking the smoothness of an image from a large sensor on a dslr.

 

[Slacker]

The original deal is dead, but you can still get this camera for a great price, Amazon has it for $528.00 -$100 rebate -$30.00 chase cc apply and free 2nd day with Amazon Prime free 2 month trial, this is how I got mine for $398.00 shipped, I ordered 07/30/06 link to new hot deals thread Pentax *istDL KIT still available under $400.00

 

[MOCKBA1]

Hopefully price will go down again.