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Review: I bought this Pentax *IST DS digital SLR camera in preference to the Canon 350D, which is about the same size and weight, so that I could use my old Pentax lenses. I compared the two cameras quite closely and felt that the general build quality was better on the Pentax, and it has a brighter viewfinder too. The Pentax is only 6 Megapixels, yes, but do you really want prints bigger than A3, or the ability to crop images heavily? The advantage of 6 MP is that you get more shots on your SD card, and the data is processed faster too. I've been using the DS for 3 months now and am very happy with it. The 18-55 kit lens is pretty good for the money - better than the 350D equivalent - and the camera controls are simple and neatly set out. If you update the firmware to version 2 (via the Pentax UK website) a few more features are added. The DL is also a nice camera but the viewfinder in the DS is better. Both these models are dropping in price because new versions are on the way, but I don't think there will be a significant difference in their capabilities, apart from a larger LCD monitor. The DS is a great entry-level DSLR, which is actually quite sophisticated when you start to look closely at it, and the backward compatibilty with the lenses is a real plus, since over the years Pentax have produced many superb lenses. |
Digital Cameras
