Meanwhile, the magazine Photography Monthly have reviewed the curiously named Pentax *ist in the August 2003 review. As well as giving the 35mm SLR camera a rating of 9 out of 10 and saying “the Pentax joins the Canon EOS 300V and Nikon F75 as the pick of the best sub-?300 SLRS”, they also contacted Pentax UK to explain the reasoning behind that strange name (to say the least). To quote:

“Apparently, it’s meant to be used as a suffix to describe the type of photographer who might use the camera. You can be a Pentax-ist - someone who loves using their Pentax. Or, an Artist, Specialist, Pictorialist, Perfectionist, Portraitist, Publicist…”

So now you know :-)