Pentax * ist 35mm SLR Camera (Body Only)

Rating:
Summary: What a delight
Review: I have had my *ist D for about a month. What a delight to own and use. I like almost everything about it. I am a long time Pentax owner with a collection of lenses so have never considered any other brand as I patiently waited for Pentax to come out with a digital camera. I am so not disappointed. As a camera, not considering the digital part, it is the best of all the ones I have (LX, ZX-M, ZX-5n, ME, ME Supper, Spotmatic, etc). It is well balanced and small. I love the controls and the features. You may read reviews that say the memory card is difficult to remove. With my ScanDisk flash this is not a problem. Just tilt the camera slightly, press the release with your thumb and the card magically moves to your hand. It is really very easy, the trick is you don't try and grab it, you let it come to you. The first time I used it I took over 200 high-resolution JPEG shots of my daughters ballet performance. I used my old 85mm f2 lens and it was wonderful in the dim light. I also have the two new zooms (18-55 and 75-300) and recommend both as they are very reasonable in cost. The only thing I don't like is that using the old manual lenses requires either full aperture (OK for my use so far) or a manual setting of the exposure as you cannot do stop down metering as far as I have been able to find. Other than that, I like everything. The only point to consider is that I have no knowledge of any of the competitive digital cameras, have never even held one. But when you are in love with the one you have, who cares about the others.

Rating:
Summary: very good new camera
Review: This is an excellent new camera. Pentax has definitely innovated in the design and manufacture of the *ist. The form factor and light weight, yet well constructed, make it seem like a next generation camera compared to the Canon Rebel Ti and the Nikon N75 (both very good cameras also). The advanced features are all easy to access and use on the *ist, or you can use the pre-programmed mode wheel (sports, macro, landscape, portrait, etc.) to let the *ist make the decisions. So far, the pre-programmed modes have produced excellent photos in a variety of conditions.

One recommendation, upgrade to the Pentax SMCP-FA 50mm f/1.7 Lens that Amazon sells for $149.99. It is highly rated and produces excellent photos. The Pentax SMC 50mm/1.7 probably offers the best price/performance ratio of any Pentax lens made and will allow you to tap the full potential of the *ist. (Pentax, Canon, and Nikon tend to sell their consumer SLRs with mediocre zoom lenses to keep the overall cost down, and the quality of the photos produced is average as a result and often disappointing to new SLR owners.) The Pentax SMCP-FA 28-105mm f/4.0-5.6 (IF) Zoom Lens is also a very good lens.