Thursday

The Pentax *ist DSL

Pentax recently launched the lightest DSLR on the market today: the *ist DL. The Pentax *ist DL is an entry-level digital SLR camera that targets audiences who are just beginning to take up photography as a hobby or profession. While this 6 megapixel camera has simplicity in operations, it is versatile enough to please even seasoned/professional SLR users.

The camera has a number of great semi-automatic and manual features as well as overrides to give the user full control.

This $700 camera has a lightweight, ultra-compact body with a rugged finish. Compared to the Nikon D50, this DSLR is a featherweight. The camera even has a depth of field preview that is normally found only on higher-priced DSLRs.

The smallest and lightest digital SLR on the market at the time of this writing, the *ist DL is also among the most affordable in the 6-megapixel category. As the entry-level model in the Pentax line, it was designed for simplicity of operation, yet it’s surprisingly versatile, with a full slate of semiautomatic and manual features as well as overrides for full control. While the high-end *ist Ds2 boasts a few more capabilities, the *ist DL is very well equipped. It even includes depth of field preview, not available with every camera in the sub-$750 price range.

The camera’s design is well thought of. In spite of its small size, it has very good built quality. The handgrips are well sculpted enough to fit snugly fingers of almost all users. The camera doesn’t have a myriad of buttons that can confuse the user. Pentax made a very nice function system (Fn) whereby with a press of the Fn key, the user would be given immediate menu access for quickly setting the white balance, drive mode flash mode and ISO. The menu of the camera is quite easy to navigate and the icons on the selector dial are nicely designed for easy user identification of a desired setting.

Experienced and novice photographers alike will like the additional control options that the camera has to offer. Information for a function can easily be accessed on the large LCD display, thus minimizing the time required to study the user manual. The camera offers several scene modes that have intelligent automation features. Select the correct automation setting and the camera would give the user the correct aperture, shutter speed, white balance, contrast, edge sharpness and color correction for the shot. Depending on the automation mode, the flash pops-up only when necessary.

Users who already have Pentax lenses would surely love this unit because their manual focus K-mount lenses fit perfectly in this unit. Even if the user has older lenses (e.g. screwmount), the *ist DL could easily fit those using an adapter. However, some of the cameras digital functions would not work on straight-manual lenses (e.g. autofocus and program mode).

The camera is fast and reliable on shoots. One second after power-on, you can already take a picture. The response of the camera to the shutter-button press is instantaneous. However, there is somewhat of a lag when shooting in dark interiors and the effectivity range of the flash was at only 10-12 feet or so.

The images produced by the camera are crisp and clear, with very limited amount of noise. Color fidelity is very good and the skin tone shoots came out pretty well, although the camera’s color saturation is a bit high. Amazingly, the auto white-balance is accurate almost every time. However, the camera is not suited for action or sports photography – the quality of the images for action shots were kind of on the weak side.

While this cam may turn away sports/action photographers, hobbyists would get a kick out of what this DSLR has to offer. Professional photographers might even love this cam. The Pentax *ist DL is a very good multi-purpose camera that would make newbie and experienced shutterbugs happy. It has perhaps the fastest response times in all entry-level to mid-level DSLRs and has the capability to produce stunning pictures at high ISO levels.

Tags: New Products and Models