Pentax *ist DS

Review Date: June 23rd 2005

Page 1 Introduction / Price Page 2 Features Page 3 Specifications Page 4 Design Page 5 Ease of Use Page 6 Image Quality Page 7 Sample Images Page 8 Conclusion / Links

Conclusion

(out of 5 stars)

The Pentax *ist DS is a very good entry-level digital SLR that manages to achieve the difficult task of being easy to use without sacrificing functionality. The *ist DS will more than satisfy all those people who are keen to upgrade from a film-based Pentax system. You should also seriously consider this camera if you don't have any vested interest in the likes of Canon or Nikon. The Pentax *ist DS offers a wealth of features, great ease of use, speedy operation and good image quality at a price point that would have been difficult to believe only a couple of years ago. The Pentax *ist DS is also an attractive proposition for anyone who is currently looking at a high-end prosumer compact digicam, and may tempt even more people to join the DSLR revolution. The main negative aspects of the Pentax *ist DS are "only" having 6 megapixels (although this is more of a marketing thing than anything else), the supplied lens feels cheap (although most standard kit lenses do) and the shutter release mechanism is noisy. Overall I can strongly recommend the Pentax *ist DS - not only does it have an attractive price-tag, but it is also a well-made, intuitive and compact digital SLR that will more than meet the needs of its target audience.

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Page 1 Introduction / Price Page 2 Features Page 3 Specifications Page 4 Design Page 5 Ease of Use Page 6 Image Quality Page 7 Sample Images Page 8 Conclusion / Links

PhotographyBLOG is a member of the DIWA organisation. Our test results for the Pentax *ist DS have been submitted to DIWA for comparison with test results for different samples of the same camera model supplied by other DIWA member sites.