DSLR compared

Pentax has ISO 3200 and brighter viewfinder. But Nikon says 'Nikon' on it, so it must be better. :lol:

They're both good cameras and very good value, though I suspect the Pentax DS, DS2 or DL2 are better than the DL, and AFAIK cost about the same as the Nikon. Most important question is this: do you have any Nikon or Pentax lenses already?
 
They're both solid camera; a few differences I've noticed:

(1) Batteries - The Pentax takes 4 AAs. While you have the advantage of being able to buy them cheaply in any store, they also don't last that terribly long in most cameras I've seen that use them. The EN-EL3 in the Nikon is an incredibly durable battery - I get over a thousand shots off it on average (using the flash maybe 5-10 percent of the time). Its only flaw is that it lasts so long that I forget to charge it (I bought a spare specifically for that reason).

(2) LCD - the Pentax has the larger one here, although the D50's 2" LCD is quite large enough for all usage I've ran into. After all, you're not composing shots on teh thing, just reviewing them.

(3) The Pentax has ISO 3200, but I've yet to see a review of how it performs at ISO 1600 or 3200. Things tend to get pretty noisy up that high, although in my experience the D50 is one of the best cameras I've dealt with at 1600.

(4) Speed: The Pentax has 2.8FPS vs. 2.5FPS. Nothing I'd notice, but if you shoot in continuous mode a lot you might be able to tell a difference.

(5) Exposure Compensation - The Nikon goes to +/-5, the Pentax to +/-3. It's not common for me to go more than +/-2 when I'm normally shooting, but there have been times when I've had to use -4 or +5 in rare, strange circumstances, and while it's not enough to make this a true selling point, it's been nice having the option.

(6) Remote - Among people who often use remotes, I've heard some complaints about the D50's inability to use a wired remote. If wireless just doesn't cut it for you and you need a remote, get the Pentax. Myself, I haven't found the need for a remote yet and when I do I suspect wireless will be just fine.

(7) Self-Timer - if you use this a lot, you'll like the customizability of the Nikon. The Pentax is listed as having only two modes: 2s and 12s, neither of which sounds terribly convenient to me.

(8) Weight and feel - If you could hold both, I would. The Pentax is listed as being smaller and lighter. While that may SOUND great at first, you really have to hold it to know. The Canon 350D is also smaller and lighter, but I couldn't get used to the feel of it in my hands (they're reasonable large). The D50 felt much more natural and solid to me, but the feel of a camera is very much personal. I know plenty of people who love the feel of the Canon and feel that the Nikon is too bulky. You really have to hold them both in a store to tell what's best for you.

In the end, though, they're both great cameras. I love my D50, but the family point-and-shoot is a Pentax Optio 555 that's a stuning camera as well. Good brand.
 
I don't have any lens, this would be my 1st digital SLR...... I like the 2.5" LCD screen on the pentax. I can get a package deal on ebay that includes a 18-55mm & 70-300 macro lens plus sd card, tri pod, etc.....all that for cheaper than the d50 camera.
 
If you can get a full Pentax kit for less than the Nikon then my first thought would be to go for it, but... first I'd suggest finding the specs of the lenses and Googling them (or asking here) to find out if they're any good. You can't always tell with cheap kit lenses, for example some people aren't very impressed at all with the standard kit lens for the Canon 350d (though I can't speak from experience as I've only tried the Nikon kit lens, which I thought was pretty good).
 
it comes with a 28-80 ( not 18-55 ) TAMRON LEN
& 70-300 TAMRON MACRO LEN


Let me know if these are good lens. I'm a beginner, so I don't need the top lens
 
I'd avoid it. Not sure on the quality of the 70-300, but the 28-80 is utter crap in my experience.
 
why??? what is bad about it?? are the images not clear?? please explain
 
I have the pentax ist DS and am really happy with it. It came with the 28-80mm lens, and while it's not sharp as a razor, it gets the job done. I probably wouldn't use that lens for weddings, but it's plenty good to gain experience with. I later picked up the 50mm f/1.4 lens for it which is a really nice addition. There really isn't a lot of difference between the entire pentax line of dslr as I can tell, so as I said, I'm pretty happy with the camera. Haven't found something that it needed that it didn't have. Some may disagree, but I think the differences b/w comparably priced Nikon, Canon, Pentax, etc are really negligible. Your main consideration should be that you are buying a particular line of lenses. Pentax haven't changed their mounts since the 70's so you can pick up some nice prime manual lenses for nothing. Not sure what the case for other lines. Either way, I don't think you can go wrong.
 
i was considering the same two cameras but i picked the D50 and heres why:

the pentax may have a higher shooting speed 2.8 fps vs 2.5- BUT...it can only shoot 5 frames in a row. The Nikon on the other hand can shoot until the card is full. the nikon has a 5 point autofocus compared to the pentax's 3.

i do however like the fact that the pentax can use AA batteries and that its more compact (not to mention about $100 cheaper).
 
officersdr said:
why??? what is bad about it?? are the images not clear?? please explain
The one I used (Admittedly a Nikon Mount) wasn't very sharp as all, and it might as well have been a manual focus lens - the AF was incredibly slow, and when it did finally "lock" on it often was focusing a few inches behind the intended area of focus. Perhaps I just was using a bad model, but I wasn't pleased with it at all.
 
gundy74 said:
the nikon has a 5 point autofocus compared to the pentax's 3.

Can you explain why this is better??....I'm very new to this
 

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