My first D-SLR!!!

Not the latest or hottest Canon…






Not the latest or hottest Nikon…






Not the king of the high-megapixel race…






Rather, a PENTAX *ist D!:thumbsup:

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Yesterday evening, a friend who is a retired pro photographer handed down to me a used *ist D – in excellent condition (except for a dead built-in flash). He also gave me three lenses, an external flash, 2X tele-converter, macro-specialized tripod, and a large camera bag.

After firing off a few indoor “test” shots, and walking around with the camera, I immediately noticed several different things compared to my FZ7K:

• Size! Very noticeably larger and heavier.
• Viewfinder size, sharpness, and clearness.
• Bigger & yet comfortable handgrip – enough room to include the “pinky” finger.
• Zoom/MF rings.
• Loud sound everytime a photo is taken. (Think it's called "mirror-slap").
• Wow – incredibly low noise at high ISO’s!:eek:
• Also, the *ist D has the ON/OFF switch right around the shutter button. Since with the FZ7K I am used to zooming by means of a “zoom rocker” in the exact same position – slightly weird since I might end up turning the PENTAX camera off when trying to zoom. I’m sure this problem will go away after a while, though.


Can’t wait for the raining to stop to go outside and try out my new gear…

#1. *ist D with TAKUMAR-A ZOOM 1:3.5~4.5 28~80mm lens.
#2. *ist D with TAKUMAR-A ZOOM 1:3.5~4.5 28~80mm lens and PENTAX AF-330 FTZ flash.
#3 -

• *ist D. (Center).
• TAKUMAR-A ZOOM 1:3.5~4.5 28~80mm lens. (Mounted on camera).
• PENTAX SMC PENTAX-F 1:2.8 100mm MACRO lens. (Far right).
• 2X MC7 TAMRON-F AF TELE-CONVERTER. (Front right).
• PENTAX AF-330 FTZ flash. (Front left).
• SMC PENTAX-A* 1:4 300mm lens (Far left).

I'll try to post real “samples” as soon as possible. With the macro lens this'll be easier, since I might find stuff to photograph around the house. But the 300mm/2X will definitely have to wait for the weather to clear up.

Anyway, just wanted to share this big news (for me), and am looking forward to browsing/posting more in the PENTAX forum.:)

Your friend gave you a bundle.
I bet you're excited.
Now lets see some shots!

Wow, congrats! You've got a great selection of lenses!

Fantastic!!! I'd take that man out for a very nice steak dinner!!! Can't wait to see your first photos with it!

congrats, you are gonna have alot of fun. I got some good lenses to start. Looking forward to seeing some shots.

I really like the Pentax's. But I really don't have enough user experience to really compare the others. I did do a lot of comparison shopping though before I bought our Pentax's, and have never regretted it and our next bodies will be Pentax.

Congrats and welcome to the DSLR world.

Good Stuff ADMA! You won't regret it.

Thanks guys!:)

The *ist D uses CF cards − I don't have a CF card reader and the USB cable for connecting camera/computer wasn't included. Which means that I won't be able to post any images here yet. Tomorrow I may go to a local camera shop and buy a reader, and several rechargeable AA batteries.

A larger capacity CF card will also definetely be on the list. (Current one is 256MB − and now full).

Hopefully there will then be a lucky break in the constant drizzling... :(

Everything finally cleared up today... but I suspect not for long.

Here's three shots from this morning with the *ist D/100mm MACRO lens. All hand-held.

#1. Little bud between two tree branches.

Shutter-speed: 1/125 second
Aperture: f5.0
ISO: 1600

#2. Twig with water droplet.

Shutter-speed: 1/320 second
Aperture: f5.0
ISO: 1600

#3. Some kind of plant (or weed).

Shutter-speed: 1/160 second
Aperture: f5.6
ISO: 1600

I have to say that I am amazed that images at such high ISO's can actually turn out usable! The only thing which I greatly miss is an Image Stabilizer. Guess PENTAX hadn't developed its SR yet.:(

Congratulations, Alex! That's a hell of a hand-me-down :)

I did a review of that camera a few years back. It was one of our first pro reviews. I liked it a lot. Even though you think it's big, it was much smaller than my Canon DSLRs. I have a feeling you're going to have a hard time using your Panasonic anymore :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Photo-John

Congratulations, Alex! That's a hell of a hand-me-down :)

I did a review of that camera a few years back. It was one of our first pro reviews. I liked it a lot. Even though you think it's big, it was much smaller than my Canon DSLRs. I have a feeling you're going to have a hard time using your Panasonic anymore :)

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Thanks Captain.:D

I absolutely love that 100mm MACRO – it appears to provide as much (or more) magnification that my FZ7K and image-degrading close-up diopters.

Excellent lens for portraiture too.:)