Pentax *ist D

[Photo-John]

Look what I picked up today at the Pentax PMA booth. I get to play with this for a few weeks. I've been very curious about the *ist D and I'm psyched to try it out. I'll be posting photos and letting you know what I think. I have to get used to the controls but first impression is pretty nice. To me, the cool thing is how small and light it is.

[Photo-John]

Portrait of Photo-John in a hotel. Taken with preset tungsten white balance at ISO 400, 1.6 secs @ f/7.1, on a tripod. Optimized for color and contrast with Photoshop 7.

[Photo-John]

Here's another from the Pentax. I took it this morning between Victorville and San Bernardino, CA. The original was a high resolution JPEG. This has been optimized for color and contrast with Photoshop 7. I'll post the original file in the gallery and post a link so you can see the whole thing, untouched, at original resolution.

I turned off the in-camera sharpening, contrast, and saturation last night. And I don't have RAW software yet. But I plan to explore all aspects of the camera. So far the main thing I've noticed is how nice the camera feels and how much I like the small size and light weight. Using this camera feels almost like using my Canon G2 compact, except this is a much more powerful camera.

[yaronsh]

Here's another from the Pentax. I took it this morning between Victorville and San Bernardino, CA.

Great shot, Photo-John. Makes me miss the Southwest... Makes me forget how much I disliked living there from a sociocultural standpoint, and remember how much I loved road-trippin' and such. There's something very, hmm, "American" about the great open desert Southwest.

What does this post have to do with photography, or the Pentax *ist (b.t.w., how do you pronounce that???)? Guess nothing, except that it drives home the point that, in the end, it's not about the equipment...

- Yaron

[Photo-John]

What does this post have to do with photography, or the Pentax *ist (b.t.w., how do you pronounce that???)? Guess nothing, except that it drives home the point that, in the end, it's not about the equipment...

The post is really just to show that I have the camera and how I'm using it. I try to stay away from giving out much of my own opinion. But do want to share what I'm using and a little of what I think. I just don't want to be in the business of telling people what camera to buy. I'll let other people and our review section do that.

Here's another example, from a birthday party I went to on Friday. I do a lot of photography like this so I was excited to do some with the *ist D. My exposures were a little dark so I had to open them up a lot in Photoshop. You can see a fair amount of noise in the shadows, but it doesn't really bother me. I'm sure once I got used to the camera my exposures would be a little more on and I'd have to do less work on them, after the fact.

Photo is a high-res JPEG, taken at ISO 400, with the built-in flash, with white balance set to sunlight.

[natatbeach]

You can see a fair amount of noise in the shadows, but it doesn't really bother me. I'm sure once I got used to the camera my exposures would be a little more on and I'd have to do less work on them, after the fact.

If THAT'S noise...I'll take it and double it

I'm getting really excited about this camera dn I'm so glad you've had an opportunity to play and share with us...lucky you and happy me

any "downs" to it...that you feel from your personal experience....?

[CLKunst]

[QUOTE=natatbeach]If THAT'S noise...I'll take it and double it

Hi there, new to this group but have been looking for information about the *ist D and have enjoyed your dialogue so far. I bought one when they were brand new in October and have been using it professionally. I love it and have been greatly pleased so far. But I am having a problem that I wonder if you could look out and test for. I shoot in lots of clubs for bands, typically lots of low and red lighting with bad ceilings for bounce flash. I like to work with available light whenever possible and often use the special 3200 ISO setting. When shooting withthese conditions half of my pictures come out with stripey lines that seem to be part of a noisy static. Is this a malfunction? It doesn't happen every time but it happens enough that if it's avoidable I'd like to. This is my first digital SLR; previously I've only worked with film and have never experienced this before. Any ideas? Has it happened with any of your tests yet? Any input you have would be great!
Thanks!
Cindy K.

[®andyA]

Here's another example, from a birthday party... with the *ist D.

... but somehow I was kinda expecting to see you in that pic P-J. cough*kidding*cough ;)

But seriously, thanks for the pics John. I'm looking forward to seeing reviews & more sample pics on the *istD (& D70 as well) as I'm in the market for a dSLR. The S30 I've been using has served me well, but I'd love to get into more creative stuff.

... the D100 & Canon 10D are on my list as well...

Randy --> hmmm... first post on the foto-review forum... woohoo! Can you say "newbie"
(Note: Edited for grammar)

[Photo-John]

You mean the belly dancer photo? No way! I was looking as occupied as possible while she was looking for victims. A dancer I am not.

And welcome to the site and another endless series of expensive upgrades. Hope we can make your new bad habit a little more enjoyable :-)

[®andyA]

...And welcome to the site and another endless series of expensive upgrades. Hope we can make your new bad habit a little more enjoyable :-)

P-J, are you using the "kit" lens on that *istD? I believe it's that new FA-J 18-35mm lens. If you are, can you give a quick rundown on your thoughts on it when you get some time. The more I look at the *istD the more I like it.

Again, thanks for all the great sample pics.

Randy --> Hopefully the photo habit won't be as expensive as my mtb habit... yeah! riiiiiiight! ;)

[Seb]

Thank you for sharing more of your pictures taken with the *ist (and thank you for having given a look at Nikon DX lenses at the PMA).

That last picture of you look good to me (the others too actually). To my untrained eyes, that noise in the shadows look pretty much like the grain one might expect from good old 35mm film. Could it be sharper? Quite certainly but it doesn't look wrong to me. Beside, the colors are great.

regards

Seb

[natatbeach]

and share anything you want---- I really think this may be the next one (size wise mostly) so I would love to hear what you have to say...thanks

[Seb]

Hello Natalie and John,

I just went to my usual store (a very dependable place) earlier today in order to have an enlargment made of a recent picture and to lurk at gears a little.

While I was looking at lenses I have noticed that they actually had the Pentax *ist D on a shelf so I asked to hold it and I talked with a rep for a while. For what it's worth, this is by very far the best feeling SLR body I have ever held in my hands (whether film or digital and regardless of the brand/price). I haven't been an amateur photographer for so long and I cannot pretend to have a huge experience but wow, what a great body (sensual would be the most accurate term to describe it). First of all, it is clearly smaller than your average body but there's more to it. The actual grip and overal feel that the magnesium body provide is great. The shape seem's just perfectly ergonomic to me. The layering of the controls is simple and intuitive. The handle is large and comfy despite the size of the camera. Finally, I would also say that the camera seem's beefy and have an intersting weight (it's not bulky but it clearly doesn't seem any flimsy either).

My rep however had disturbing things to say... They actually test every single piece of equipment for themselves at the store and while the *ist is said to do fine with daylight it appear that there is a serious issue about the sensitivity of the sensor to light. According to my rep, the *ist may possibly be the most noisy DSLR on the market at that point in time. I would have personally assumed than Pentax would have taken advantage of the mistakes that Canon and Nikon did with their first generation DSLR's but that's apparently not the case... Beside, the price of the camera already droped from 400$ (canadian) since it was released not long ago.

John, I am hasty to hear your impressions on the camera but it seem's that waiting for a second or third generation of DSLR by Pentax would be the safer thing to do. (If I was to buy a camera, only relying on the way it feel in my hand's I might have walked out the store with the *ist this afternoon though....)

best regards to both of you.

Seb

[natatbeach]

thanks for your input Seb...I have a lot of time before the next so your input is valuable.

I want a camera I can use for awhile and don't wanna waste my money on something I can't hold regardless of how "great" it is...

can't take a pic if ya can't hold the camera

but how it feels isn't sufficient grounds for purchase either...it'll be interesting to see what transpires over the next year...

thanks again

[Photo-John]

Nice post, Seb. And I'll definitely test this camera at lots of settings and share the results. Be aware that digital cameras are under a microscope as film cameras never were. While noise is an important consideration, you should see it before you get worried. Eevn if it does have more noise than other cameras, it might still be excellent under most conditions. I've only had it since yesterday afternoon, but so far I'm happy. But I'll try to push the limits in regards to noise.

I took this photo this afternoon at ISO 200. Can't complain

[Photo-John]

Damn that Photoshop action! The logo isn't supposed to be there!

[Trevor Ash]

Damn that Photoshop action! The logo isn't supposed to be there!

Do you even look at your photos?

[Asylum Steve]

Do you even look at your photos?

John doesn't do anything but push the little shutter button anymore. His ASSISTANTS do all the rest...