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Is a *istD a good secondhand buy?

P

Patrick Dixon

Imagineer
Thinking of buying a DLSR, but, for me, Alex's thread poses more question than it answers.

Ideally, I'd like, small, fairly manual, cheap prime lenses and good image quality.

Obviously, the mega pixel game marches on, but is the *istD and a couple of old K primes worth bothering with, or is new the best way forward? And if it's a thumbs up for the *istD, what's to look out for?
 
Patrick,

The *istD fits your requirements -- small, fairly manual camera with good image quality that works well with inexpensive, older primes -- but I wouldn't pay a lot for a discontinued D-SLRs from a generation or two ago.

KEH in the U.S. is a good site to estimate current secondhand prices. Based on what I just looked up you shouldn't pay more than 125 UKP for a *istD in good shape.

Joe
 
I bought an *istDS from a member here, then a new 50mm lens. It has been perfect for my needs and I can't fault it in any way. Joe may well remember as he was very helpful at the time, this route was preferable to staying loyal to Nikon (my previous SLRs)
 
Joe,

It's a Pentax *ist D + 18-55 DA

I'm not really interested in the lens as I've never really got on with zooms. Far too much phaff, and disappointing results usually.
 
I think the *istD is the first gen pro version pentax dslr. The DS was the consumer (smaller) version without the heavy duty seals, etc. I think the D has a 100% VF. Both have the pentaprism. IIRC the DS has a slightly smaller VF. The DL has something like a 85% VF and a pentamirror.

The drawback of all these is that they dont have shake reduction which can add a stop or two in low light.

Dan
 
Patrick,

Can you buy the camera itself, as the lens is meh.

Joe
 
I doubt you'll get much for the lens on ebay. Do you already have a film pentax and lenses? If you've got old M or A SMC lenses then it's very much worth getting a pentax dslr - either new or old. Even the oldest version is capable of some stunning results, and 6MP is plenty really.

Dan
 
I wish I kept my *istDS. Its manual exposure metering is much better than my current K10D with manual lenses. More compact too ...

James
 
*ist are excellent and I still use mine despite having a K20D. They are compact, straigthforward sensible cameras. My one caveat is the lack of decent wide angle lenses as the Pentax 28mm is a bit meh so if can be hard to find something that ends up in the 30-50mm range (with multiplier). 50/1.4 is a classic easy to find and cheap. 43 Limited can be found for £200 second hand and is also a cracker.

BTW *istDS comes in 2 flavours -- second model (DS2 I think?) has a Pentamirror not a Pentaprism. You want the first one if at all possible.
 
Matthew,

The Pentax 28/f3.5 is supposed to be good, the 28/f2.8 not quite so - although vuk apparently found it OK.

The Limiteds sound great, but are out of my league.

I think the DL has a pentamirror (too?), this particular one is just a plain D.
 
matthewr said:
My one caveat is the lack of decent wide angle lenses as the Pentax 28mm is a bit meh so if can be hard to find something that ends up in the 30-50mm range (with multiplier).
Click to expand...
The only wide angle prime is the DA14/2.8, which gives a film equivalent of 21mm - a bit too wide for regular use. I occasionally use a DA12-24/4, but I have rarely needed a wide perspective.

James
 
I'm looking at older K lenses - I'm not too worried about auto focus, and for wide angle and decent light, DOF is usually fine anyway.
 
I think the DL has a pentamirror (too?), this particular one is just a plain D.

I think the DL and DS2 are the same camera - both have pentamirrors - UK vs. elsewhere labeling. As I said before the plain D is the pro level - quite a bit bigger/heavier - the predecessor of KXX cameras, whereas the DS/L/S2 are the old KXXXX cameras. IIRC the D can do ISO100 - the DL can only go to ISO200.

If you want a super-compact carry around DSLR, then the D is not the camera you want. If you go with the D, make sure you can get batteries for it - I'm not sure it can run off 4 cheap rechargeable AAs like the DL etc.

Dan
 
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