Help with a Christmas Present

patrick009 · Nov 28, 2010

Hi everyone,

First off thank you for reading this cause I need some help. I've tried to research all of this but have sadly gotten just more and more confused.

So the story is I know nothing about cameras and photography, however, my girlfriend has always liked it but never really had a good camera. So I thought for christmas I would surprise her with one. I want to get her a fairly decent DSLR. The other problem is that I have a limited budget. $300. So new cameras are out of the question basically.

I found a used Pentax ist DS2 for sale locally and am going to go take a look at it. I have a few questions thought that if someone could answer I would really appreciate.

This is a link to the stats of the camera that are mostly jibberish to me.
Pentax *ist DS2: Digital Photography Review

1) Since this is an older camera it is only a 6 megapixel camera. Now my question is does this mean that modern day little point and shoot cameras that are 12 megapixels will shoot better quality photos then this one? If so thats a bit of a waste.

2) It comes with a 18-55mm lens. If she wanted to get more lens down the road would they still be available for an old camera like this? Or are most lens compatible with most cameras?

3) What are some main thing to look at that could be wrong with the camera when I go to look at it in person?

4) What do you think this camera should be selling for?

Thank you so much for any response. I have honestly tried to do the research but am just very lost. I really appreciate any help with this.

Robin Usagani · Nov 28, 2010

1. No, DSLR will take better pictures. High megapixels only matters if you print something big or you crop the picture (only use a small portion of the pic).
2. I am not familiar with pentax but she will have a hard time finding used lenses for pentas. I suggest sticking with Canon or Nikon
3. Wow.. tough to answer.. probably your best bet is to set the camera to auto (since you probably dont know how to operate it very well), shoot something, upload it to a computer and view the photo. Make sure there is no strange object resulted from dirty/scratched lens or dirty sensor
4. Not sure.. but if you really want to buy $300 camera with lens I would suggest looking for refurbished Sony A230. There are a bunch on ebay selling fro less than $300. It has 10.1 MP.

Patrice · Nov 28, 2010

Schwettylens has given a lot of time to this forum and has often provided really insightful information, however in his response above he may have been a bit hasty, not bad information but also not completely accurate.

A dslr does not by definition take better pictures. It may give you more creative control over the photos you do want to take, by way of available accessories such as lenses and flashes and also through direct operator control of exposure, but they won't necessarily be better photographs.

Pentax dslr's are compatible with practically every lens made by Pentax and they have been making really excellent lenses for a long time. Some lenses may not autofocus and some may not meter but that is no different than Nikon with older Nikkor lenses or with Sony and older Minolta lenses.

Johnboy2978 · Nov 29, 2010

I currently shoot with Pentax. My main body is a k10d and my backup is an ist DS. It is certainly a capable camera, and has very good image quality. I don't think I've printed anything larger than a 16x20 shot with it, but those came out w/ very good quality. I will ditto what Patrice said. There are many excellent lenses out there for Pentax. They haven't changed their mount since the 70's and even the older m42 lenses and screw mount lenses can be used if you buy an inexpensive adapter. Many of the old manual focus lenses are spectacular. Price is a tough question. I've thought about selling mine, but I know I wouldn't be able to sell it for what it's worth; that's why I just hang on to it. I would say $300 is the upper limit and really for the age compared to what you could buy a newer model for, 200-250 is more realistic. The main thing I would be concerned about is shutter actuations as the shutter does have a life span. For this model probably around 50-75K. Hopefully the seller will give you accurate information about it. Good luck.

patrick009 · Nov 30, 2010

Thank you for the information. It was all really helpful. I took a look at the camera and it seems to be in great shape. The owner said he has taken around 9000 pictures with it so the shutter should still be good for quite a while.

He also said he will toss in a 70-200 telephoto lens that is in good working shape. It is quite a bit older but still works fine. As well as a 15-28 wide angle lense that does have a scratch on the lense but to just try it out and play around and if she likes it she can buy a new one.

I think I'm going to go back and get it. It still shoots great, had him take a few pictures and upload them onto his computer while I was there.

Thank you very much for your help.