Pentax *ist DS Digital Camera

Pros: Compact; Lightweight; Bright/Large Viewfinder; Nice Color-Reproduction and RAW Image-Quality; Cheap Price; Clear Indications; User-friendly Operations.
Cons: Poor QC; Inaccurate/Slow AF; Inaccurate Metering; Battery Problem; Inferior-Quality JPEGs; Vigorous-Mirror; No Upgrade-Path; Poor-Services; Irresponsible-Pentax.

As a long time Pentax DSLR user for more than two years, I am going to write an in-depth but yet concise review on my experience with my second Pentax DSLR body model, i.e., the *ist DS, since I have owned this camera body in July 05. I am going to write ...

Pros: Quality, great ergonomics, small size, great picture quality for a consumer camera, lens compatibility
Cons: Buffer limited with RAW shooting

This model in the D-series camera range (D, DS, DS2, DL, DL2) is a truly capable and competent performer. I've had mine for close on 18 months now, so this is not a review based on the first rush of excitement. The very first impression is one of ...

Pros: Excellent pictures, light weight.
Cons: Slower shot to shot time, slower auto-focus

I was looking for my first digital SLR (6th digital camera) and I narrowed it down to the Canon Rebel, Nikon D70, and Pentax *ist DS. The Pentax was very difficult to find because it was so new, but it got great reviews, so I persevered. I am glad that I ...

Pros: Small size, SD memory, AA batteries, price, PENTAX lenses!
Cons: a little underexposed on certain shots

I have been an amateur photographer for over 30 years and have mostly worked with film for my "good" photography efforts. I have been using digital Point and Shoot cameras for the past several years, but recently decided to replace my 35mm SLR with a ...

Pros: Image quality, use of AA batteries, competitive pricing, lens compatibility
Cons: No PC sync terminal, flimsy doors

When shopping for a DSLR I honestly had the Nikon D70 in mind because of all the hype I've seen and heard regarding it. I was fully prepared to buy it when I walked into the camera shop. The salesperson talked me into giving the *ist DS a chance ...

Pros: Small, light, intuitive controls, good ergo, non-proprietary batteries.
Cons: Slower than some in its class, low light focus could be better.

I have been a film SLR user for many years and the *ist DS is my first entry into the realm of digital photography. I’ve had the *ist DS for about nine months and have taken thousands of pictures - many of which I would not have attempted, because of ...

Pros: Small, lightweight, large bright viewfinder, great value, compatibility with existing Pentax lenses
Cons: Aperture-priority metering not fully supported with K lenses. Incompatibility with some non-Pentax K-mount lenses.

I bought the Pentax *ist DS wanting a digital SLR compatible with my existing selection of K, KA and KAF lenses. With this model now discontinued in the USA, it can be bought for around $500 with the 18-55 mm kit lens - I paid about $530. Overall I ...

Pros: compactness, viewfinder, use of old lenses, picture quality, large LCD, well balanced, flash compatibility
Cons: slower AF, "crippled" K-mount

Been using this camera for about one year. I had already a few Pentax lenses and this was the first "affordable" DSLR form Pentax, so my decision was clear. This camera was a must for serious amateurs who came from analog Pentax world and wanted to go ...

Pros: Pentax backward-compatibility for lenses, good build quality, intuitive and easy to use.
Cons: Manual is poorly written, supplied software is useless.

Pentax has always gone about the business of quietly making excellent quality cameras and lenses at reasonable prices, without marketing hype, for decades. Their long-standing philosophy of insuring that all of their older lenses work on all of their ...

Pros: Looks professional, light and smaller than competition, price, quality of images and feel.
Cons: Canon XT has 8 megapixels compared to Pentax's 6.1.

I started photographing with a Nikon 35mm pocket camera, then to a Canon A-1 Professional SLR. SLR is truely better than pocket cameras, when it comes to quality and depth of a picture. I'm not a professional photographer, but I do enjoy taking great ...

Pros: Solid construction Easy to use. Excellent results. Accurate Auto Focus. Great image quality.
Cons: AF a little slower than previous Pentax film SLRs. Underexposes by 0.5 EV or less.

The Pentax DS is well constructed. It inspires confidence when handled. It is intuitive and easy to learn. Auto Focus is accurate and exposures are consistant. I bought the Pentax DS because I had come to trust Pentax according to my very good ...

Pros: Excellent image quality, mirror lock up, backwards compatability, Well built. Priced well.
Cons: light weight (the heaver the camera the less camera shake with hand held shots).

The Pentax *istds is a wonderful camera and produces photographs equal in quality if not better than Nikon's D70 and Canon's 10D and 20D.
It has mirror lock up for getting those perfect shots when using a tripod.
Works great with my othr Pentax lens' (1.5) multiplication facor. As with most Oriental companies the manual is written in poor english, you would think they could hire a native English speaker to do it right. But who knows what stupidity lurks in the corprate offices of asian companies.
Like all 35mm cameras in this price and pixal range (up to 12mp) this camera is great for smaller sized prints (8X12 and smaller)for large display Quality prints I have my Pentax medium format film based cameras. For quality film still rules.
It is a great well built camera. I'm sure those who study charts and graphs with red pens in hand serching for real or percieved falts will find them as they do with all cameras, but for those whotake pictures in the real world using their camera will no be disappointed.
Well worth $900 with kit lens.

Pros: Excellent pictures, use of AA batteries and power consumption, price
Cons: Omission of Pentax lens powerzoom feature,lack of a single button to change metering modes

Really smallish, well built, metal bayonet and very easy to use. One can utilize the of powerzoom feature on older 330 flash unit. Excellent TFT screen which gives very informative directions for use.

Pros: Ergonomics, AA batteries, solid build, excellent RAW output, backwards compatibility.
Cons: Small buffer, focusing is a little slow sometimes.

Excellent ergonomics, solid build, A4 and 12x18 prints from this camera are superb, backwards compatibility is unmatched by any other manufacturer. After 6000 shots in 2 years I still love this camera.