Pentax Ist Dl and Ds?

[MrMorrill]

I was at my local ritz camera and they offer a Pentax Ist* dl and a ds for i think it was 370, and 350 not sure on what one was what. But the workers had no idea what the differences are! They both came with lenses too (18-55mm) i was wondering if those deals are really good? And anyone have the cameras and can tell me a little bit about them.

 

[Don Simon]

Judging by the US$ cost of new cameras, those prices sound very good to me, but then I'm not totally sure about what constitutes a good deal over there.

The *Ist DS and DL are both 6mp dSLRs from a couple of years ago, released around the same time as the Canon Rebel XT and Nikon D50... they are still good entry-level dSLRs and use the same Sony sensor which Nikon and Pentax continue to use today (in the D40 and K100d respectively). They are very similar in most ways, and I can only think of two main ones...
The *Ist DL has a larger rear LCD screen of 2.5" compared to 2" on the DS.
But the *Ist DS uses a pentaprism for the viewfinder, whereas the DL uses the cheaper pentamirror system.

Personally I think the DS is definitely the better buy because of the brighter viewfinder... it might have a smaller LCD but IMO the viewfinder is more important, a brighter one being better for composing and for focusing (especially for manual focus).

 

[MrMorrill]

So the ds is the better buy?!I get there damage plan so if it breaks i can get it repaired no questions asked and if they cant they will give me a new camera with the same features....

 

[Don Simon]

Sounds like a good plan to me, although I don't know Ritz so I have no idea how good this service is in practice.

Between those two cameras, yes I would definitely consider the DS the better buy. It has a better viewfinder than the DL (and in my view probably better than any dSLR at that price).