Opinions on pentax DSRL?

[saulmr]

What are your opinions on the *isDS2 and *isDL cameras? I love my K-1000 I got for my photography class, easy to use and very sturdy. Can I expect the same from these new cameras?

 

[Big Mike]

I can't think of anyone here who has one...but I might be wrong.

Check www.dpreview.com for a good run down and review.

 

[photobug]

I have the older *istD. It has features the DS/DS2/DL don't have, but the newer models have stuff the D doesn't have, so it comes down to what features you want.

Some pluses for Pentax (my opinions):
- uses AA batteries
-great viewfinder
-great ergonomics
-ability to use *any* K mount lens (yes your K1000 lenses will work)

Cons:
-poor to sometimes non-existent support from third party lens makers
-those older manual focus lenses go for stupid (high) prices
-Pentax killed almost the entire line of AF lenses, leading to the point above. They are slooooooooowwwwwwwwwllllllyyyyyyy replacing them with interesting stuff, but slooooooooowwwwwwwwwllllllyyyyyyy
-an uncertain (or at least unclear) camera body strategy. Is Pentax going to concentrate on the low end of the dslr market, or will they step up with pro/serious amateur models? Only the Shadow knows for certain & he ain't talkin'.

I've been happy with the D, but it lacks some things that lesser camera now come standard with (it'll be 2 years old in a month), so I'd like to upgrade, but I'm not sure there's ever going to be a Pentax camera to replace it. If Pentax doesn't produce a replacement D body (or if it lacks features that I want) I'm jumping to Nikon.

If none of that bothers you you'll be very happy with a Pentax dslr.

 

[Johnboy2978]

I bought the film *ist and was so happy with it, that I later got the *ist DS for a digital version. I really like the camera and have nothing negative to say about it at this point. I haven't ran into anything that it wish it had that it doesn't. I am quite happy with the results both printed and digital. Pentax hasn't changed their mount since 75 so just about any pentax lens you find would with it. I think in general, Pentax is the step-child in the camera world and everybody generally wants to overlook the brand in favor of Nikon or Canon. I think this is primarily due to the better line of lenses that Nikon and Canon offer, but I also think Pentax produces results just as good and in some cases better.

One thing that I am utterly confused about is their pricing strategy. There is quite a difference in $ between the D and the other 3 versions, but the technical differences are negligible IMO. For the life of me, I can't figure why they would produce 3 different models that are virtually identical (speaking of the ds, dl and ds2). If you are interested in the Pentax line, check out the side by side comparison and go with the one that has most/all the features you want.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/com...tax_istds,pentax_istds2,pentax_istdl&show=all