The new Pentax ist DS

Xman

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Apr 21, 2004
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I am very interested in Pentax's new ist DS digital SLR they have out. It's
got a 2inch LCD display on it and a it's a very tight compact size, which I
like. Much smaller then the Nikkon D70 and Canon Digital Rebel. I use to own
a Canon Digital Rebel, but sold it a while back to invest in another camera
or maybe possibly the same one. I really loved the Digital Rebel, but I
always like to try new hardware and stuff because in my mind there's always
some thing better. Which of course in the camera world is true, since you
can spend ENDLESS amounts of money on a camera.

Anyway, I may have posted some thing similar here recently but my news
server (forte) had a problem with my account, so I had to reconfigure
another account and download all the headers back again.

Has anyone had experience with the new Pentax ist DS and I assume it's just
as good or better then the Canon Digital Rebel I use to own? I'm not worried
about the insignificant features that really won't matter since basically
both have the same (Pentax actually has some more) and they pretty much
operate very much the same. Would it be dumb to buy the digital rebel again
rather then spending a little extra on the new Pentax? I'm not a
professional but expectations of good image quality is of course high when
spending over $1000 on any camera.

If you have any information or comments regarding the new Pentax ist DS
model please let me know about them and/or any other information you think
may be helpful.

I read some reviews already one which was from Steve's Digicam website and
that was plentiful with lots of information.....but lacked a strong opinion
view on it.

Well, thank you and happy new year!!!!
 
G

Guest

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Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

They are great I bought one yesterday. I did the research and they are the
one!


<xman@xman.com> wrote in message
news:p1IAd.11365$m6.3982@fe36.usenetserver.com...
>I am very interested in Pentax's new ist DS digital SLR they have out. It's
> got a 2inch LCD display on it and a it's a very tight compact size, which
> I
> like. Much smaller then the Nikkon D70 and Canon Digital Rebel. I use to
> own
> a Canon Digital Rebel, but sold it a while back to invest in another
> camera
> or maybe possibly the same one. I really loved the Digital Rebel, but I
> always like to try new hardware and stuff because in my mind there's
> always
> some thing better. Which of course in the camera world is true, since you
> can spend ENDLESS amounts of money on a camera.
>
> Anyway, I may have posted some thing similar here recently but my news
> server (forte) had a problem with my account, so I had to reconfigure
> another account and download all the headers back again.
>
> Has anyone had experience with the new Pentax ist DS and I assume it's
> just
> as good or better then the Canon Digital Rebel I use to own? I'm not
> worried
> about the insignificant features that really won't matter since basically
> both have the same (Pentax actually has some more) and they pretty much
> operate very much the same. Would it be dumb to buy the digital rebel
> again
> rather then spending a little extra on the new Pentax? I'm not a
> professional but expectations of good image quality is of course high when
> spending over $1000 on any camera.
>
> If you have any information or comments regarding the new Pentax ist DS
> model please let me know about them and/or any other information you think
> may be helpful.
>
> I read some reviews already one which was from Steve's Digicam website and
> that was plentiful with lots of information.....but lacked a strong
> opinion
> view on it.
>
> Well, thank you and happy new year!!!!
>
>
>
 

steve

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Sep 10, 2003
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I don't have one yet, but in reading about the ist DS, the biggest drawback
seems to be that it only uses SD cards and the largest SD card I've seen is
512 megs. If you only shoot hi-res jpg's then it shouldn't be too big a
problem, but if you intend to play with RAW files you'll need a pocketful of
SD cards. Just my two pennies.


Steve



<xman@xman.com> wrote in message
news:p1IAd.11365$m6.3982@fe36.usenetserver.com...
>I am very interested in Pentax's new ist DS digital SLR they have out. It's
> got a 2inch LCD display on it and a it's a very tight compact size, which
> I
> like. Much smaller then the Nikkon D70 and Canon Digital Rebel. I use to
> own
> a Canon Digital Rebel, but sold it a while back to invest in another
> camera
> or maybe possibly the same one. I really loved the Digital Rebel, but I
> always like to try new hardware and stuff because in my mind there's
> always
> some thing better. Which of course in the camera world is true, since you
> can spend ENDLESS amounts of money on a camera.
>
> Anyway, I may have posted some thing similar here recently but my news
> server (forte) had a problem with my account, so I had to reconfigure
> another account and download all the headers back again.
>
> Has anyone had experience with the new Pentax ist DS and I assume it's
> just
> as good or better then the Canon Digital Rebel I use to own? I'm not
> worried
> about the insignificant features that really won't matter since basically
> both have the same (Pentax actually has some more) and they pretty much
> operate very much the same. Would it be dumb to buy the digital rebel
> again
> rather then spending a little extra on the new Pentax? I'm not a
> professional but expectations of good image quality is of course high when
> spending over $1000 on any camera.
>
> If you have any information or comments regarding the new Pentax ist DS
> model please let me know about them and/or any other information you think
> may be helpful.
>
> I read some reviews already one which was from Steve's Digicam website and
> that was plentiful with lots of information.....but lacked a strong
> opinion
> view on it.
>
> Well, thank you and happy new year!!!!
>
>
>
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Just about every SD card manufacturer makes 1 GB cards now and I have
seen hints that the 2GB ones should be out fairly soon .

Ken Miler

"Steve @verizon.net>" <sckenney<rmv this> wrote in message
news:53JAd.7421$1U6.5314@trnddc09...
>I don't have one yet, but in reading about the ist DS, the biggest
>drawback seems to be that it only uses SD cards and the largest SD card
>I've seen is 512 megs. If you only shoot hi-res jpg's then it
>shouldn't be too big a problem, but if you intend to play with RAW
>files you'll need a pocketful of SD cards. Just my two pennies.
>
>
> Steve
>
>
>
> <xman@xman.com> wrote in message
> news:p1IAd.11365$m6.3982@fe36.usenetserver.com...
>>I am very interested in Pentax's new ist DS digital SLR they have out.
>>It's
>> got a 2inch LCD display on it and a it's a very tight compact size,
>> which I
>> like. Much smaller then the Nikkon D70 and Canon Digital Rebel. I use
>> to own
>> a Canon Digital Rebel, but sold it a while back to invest in another
>> camera
>> or maybe possibly the same one. I really loved the Digital Rebel, but
>> I
>> always like to try new hardware and stuff because in my mind there's
>> always
>> some thing better. Which of course in the camera world is true, since
>> you
>> can spend ENDLESS amounts of money on a camera.
>>
>> Anyway, I may have posted some thing similar here recently but my
>> news
>> server (forte) had a problem with my account, so I had to reconfigure
>> another account and download all the headers back again.
>>
>> Has anyone had experience with the new Pentax ist DS and I assume
>> it's just
>> as good or better then the Canon Digital Rebel I use to own? I'm not
>> worried
>> about the insignificant features that really won't matter since
>> basically
>> both have the same (Pentax actually has some more) and they pretty
>> much
>> operate very much the same. Would it be dumb to buy the digital rebel
>> again
>> rather then spending a little extra on the new Pentax? I'm not a
>> professional but expectations of good image quality is of course high
>> when
>> spending over $1000 on any camera.
>>
>> If you have any information or comments regarding the new Pentax ist
>> DS
>> model please let me know about them and/or any other information you
>> think
>> may be helpful.
>>
>> I read some reviews already one which was from Steve's Digicam
>> website and
>> that was plentiful with lots of information.....but lacked a strong
>> opinion
>> view on it.
>>
>> Well, thank you and happy new year!!!!
>>
>>
>>
>
>
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Close Steve but no banana. There is 1Gig SD cards and the RAW files are only
10 Meg so just how many cards did you need?

"Steve @verizon.net>" <sckenney<rmv this> wrote in message
news:53JAd.7421$1U6.5314@trnddc09...
>I don't have one yet, but in reading about the ist DS, the biggest drawback
>seems to be that it only uses SD cards and the largest SD card I've seen is
>512 megs. If you only shoot hi-res jpg's then it shouldn't be too big a
>problem, but if you intend to play with RAW files you'll need a pocketful
>of SD cards. Just my two pennies.
>
>
> Steve
>
>
>
> <xman@xman.com> wrote in message
> news:p1IAd.11365$m6.3982@fe36.usenetserver.com...
>>I am very interested in Pentax's new ist DS digital SLR they have out.
>>It's
>> got a 2inch LCD display on it and a it's a very tight compact size, which
>> I
>> like. Much smaller then the Nikkon D70 and Canon Digital Rebel. I use to
>> own
>> a Canon Digital Rebel, but sold it a while back to invest in another
>> camera
>> or maybe possibly the same one. I really loved the Digital Rebel, but I
>> always like to try new hardware and stuff because in my mind there's
>> always
>> some thing better. Which of course in the camera world is true, since you
>> can spend ENDLESS amounts of money on a camera.
>>
>> Anyway, I may have posted some thing similar here recently but my news
>> server (forte) had a problem with my account, so I had to reconfigure
>> another account and download all the headers back again.
>>
>> Has anyone had experience with the new Pentax ist DS and I assume it's
>> just
>> as good or better then the Canon Digital Rebel I use to own? I'm not
>> worried
>> about the insignificant features that really won't matter since basically
>> both have the same (Pentax actually has some more) and they pretty much
>> operate very much the same. Would it be dumb to buy the digital rebel
>> again
>> rather then spending a little extra on the new Pentax? I'm not a
>> professional but expectations of good image quality is of course high
>> when
>> spending over $1000 on any camera.
>>
>> If you have any information or comments regarding the new Pentax ist DS
>> model please let me know about them and/or any other information you
>> think
>> may be helpful.
>>
>> I read some reviews already one which was from Steve's Digicam website
>> and
>> that was plentiful with lots of information.....but lacked a strong
>> opinion
>> view on it.
>>
>> Well, thank you and happy new year!!!!
>>
>>
>>
>
>
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

"Pete D" <no@email.com> writes:

> Close Steve but no banana. There is 1Gig SD cards and the RAW files are only
> 10 Meg so just how many cards did you need?

Just to clarify -- this means some kind of lossless compression is being
done on the RAW files, right? Six megapixels at 24 bits each should be
18 megabytes of uncompressed data.

I have a Pentax K-1000 with a couple of lenses, so if/when I shell out
the money for a DSLR it will likely be a Pentax.

--

http://ourdoings.com/ Let your digital photos organize themselves.
Sign up today for a 7-day free trial.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Bruce Lewis <brlspam@yahoo.com> writes:
> Just to clarify -- this means some kind of lossless compression is being
> done on the RAW files, right? Six megapixels at 24 bits each should be
> 18 megabytes of uncompressed data.

There are usually just 10 or 12 bits at each pixel. In a RAW file
there's not a separate R, G, and B value at each pixel. Each pixel
is exactly one of R, G, or B, not all three.
 

Darrell

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"Paul Rubin" <http://phr.cx@NOSPAM.invalid> wrote in message
news:7xy8ffdi0m.fsf@ruckus.brouhaha.com...
> Bruce Lewis <brlspam@yahoo.com> writes:
> > Just to clarify -- this means some kind of lossless compression is being
> > done on the RAW files, right? Six megapixels at 24 bits each should be
> > 18 megabytes of uncompressed data.
>
> There are usually just 10 or 12 bits at each pixel. In a RAW file
> there's not a separate R, G, and B value at each pixel. Each pixel
> is exactly one of R, G, or B, not all three.

My *ist D (same sensor as DS) produces a 14.5MB 12 BIT RAW file. The * ist
DS produces a 11.4 MB RAW, Pentax applies a different algorithm so the RAW
files are a tad smaller.
 
G

Guest

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"Darrell" <no@spam.here> writes:
> My *ist D (same sensor as DS) produces a 14.5MB 12 BIT RAW file. The * ist
> DS produces a 11.4 MB RAW, Pentax applies a different algorithm so the RAW
> files are a tad smaller.

My guess is the D is storing a jpeg file along with the RAW, and it's
storing 16 bits per pixel even though it's a 12 bit sensor.
 

Darrell

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"Paul Rubin" <http://phr.cx@NOSPAM.invalid> wrote in message
news:7x8y7f288d.fsf@ruckus.brouhaha.com...
> "Darrell" <no@spam.here> writes:
> > My *ist D (same sensor as DS) produces a 14.5MB 12 BIT RAW file. The *
ist
> > DS produces a 11.4 MB RAW, Pentax applies a different algorithm so the
RAW
> > files are a tad smaller.
>
> My guess is the D is storing a jpeg file along with the RAW, and it's
> storing 16 bits per pixel even though it's a 12 bit sensor.

AFAIK the Pentax * istD doesn't store a jpeg with the RAW. I am not sure why
it has the biggest 12 bit RAW in it's class.I can store 70 RAW images on my
1 GB CF card, with the *ist DS it will store 90 on a 1 GB SD card.
 
G

Guest

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Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

In article <WdmdnR_MRtlClEncRVn-jQ@rogers.com>, "Darrell" <no@spam.here>
wrote:

> My *ist D (same sensor as DS) produces a 14.5MB 12 BIT RAW file. The * ist
> DS produces a 11.4 MB RAW, Pentax applies a different algorithm so the RAW
> files are a tad smaller.

With my Canon 20D, the largest RAW file is 9.1mb on my 80gb drive. FWIW.

:)
JR
 
G

Guest

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Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On 30 Dec 2004 08:32:25 -0500, Bruce Lewis wrote:

> "Pete D" <no@email.com> writes:
>
>> Close Steve but no banana. There is 1Gig SD cards and the RAW files are only
>> 10 Meg so just how many cards did you need?
>
> Just to clarify -- this means some kind of lossless compression is being
> done on the RAW files, right? Six megapixels at 24 bits each should be
> 18 megabytes of uncompressed data.
>
> I have a Pentax K-1000 with a couple of lenses, so if/when I shell out
> the money for a DSLR it will likely be a Pentax.

3008x2008 = 6040064 (12-bit) pixels

Assuming it packs the data - unlike the *istD - this stores into 9060096
8-bit bytes (8.6MB), without compression. The file also contains several
JPEGs plus the usual TIFF format headers and EXIF, but there's no need for
compression to achieve a 10MB filesize.

--
John Bean

Bacchus hath drowned more men than Neptune (Thomas Fuller)
 
G

Guest

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Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

"Darrell" <no@spam.here> wrote:

>
>AFAIK the Pentax * istD doesn't store a jpeg with the RAW.
>

Apparently the istD RAW does include an embedded JPEG within it. This
can be used by viewers to display the image without having to decode
the RAW file in its entirety. I recently bought one of those
Phototainer storage devices which makes use of this feature to display
istD RAWs.

TH
 

Darrell

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"Tony H" <tony@nosuchname.co.uk> wrote in message
news:41d699d0.2668457@news.freeserve.net...
> "Darrell" <no@spam.here> wrote:
>
> >
> >AFAIK the Pentax * istD doesn't store a jpeg with the RAW.
> >
>
> Apparently the istD RAW does include an embedded JPEG within it. This
> can be used by viewers to display the image without having to decode
> the RAW file in its entirety. I recently bought one of those
> Phototainer storage devices which makes use of this feature to display
> istD RAWs.
>
> TH
>
I haven't read that in the manual or elsewhere. I had to download a free
plug-in from Cerious so Thumbsplus could display RAW files. I will have to
try it with the Epson 2000P when we get some in.
 
G

Guest

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Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 12:43:17 GMT, Tony H wrote:

> "Darrell" <no@spam.here> wrote:
>
>>
>>AFAIK the Pentax * istD doesn't store a jpeg with the RAW.
>>
>
> Apparently the istD RAW does include an embedded JPEG within it. This
> can be used by viewers to display the image without having to decode
> the RAW file in its entirety. I recently bought one of those
> Phototainer storage devices which makes use of this feature to display
> istD RAWs.

Correct - but it stores more than one - full resolution, VGA, and thumnail.

--
John Bean

I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them (Isaac Asimov)
 

Leo

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xman@xman.com wrote:
> I am very interested in Pentax's new ist DS digital SLR they have out. It's
> got a 2inch LCD display on it and a it's a very tight compact size, which I
> like. Much smaller then the Nikkon D70 and Canon Digital Rebel. I use to own
> a Canon Digital Rebel, but sold it a while back to invest in another camera
> or maybe possibly the same one. I really loved the Digital Rebel, but I
> always like to try new hardware and stuff because in my mind there's always
> some thing better. Which of course in the camera world is true, since you
> can spend ENDLESS amounts of money on a camera.
>
> Anyway, I may have posted some thing similar here recently but my news
> server (forte) had a problem with my account, so I had to reconfigure
> another account and download all the headers back again.
>
> Has anyone had experience with the new Pentax ist DS and I assume it's just
> as good or better then the Canon Digital Rebel I use to own? I'm not worried
> about the insignificant features that really won't matter since basically
> both have the same (Pentax actually has some more) and they pretty much
> operate very much the same. Would it be dumb to buy the digital rebel again
> rather then spending a little extra on the new Pentax? I'm not a
> professional but expectations of good image quality is of course high when
> spending over $1000 on any camera.
>
> If you have any information or comments regarding the new Pentax ist DS
> model please let me know about them and/or any other information you think
> may be helpful.
>
> I read some reviews already one which was from Steve's Digicam website and
> that was plentiful with lots of information.....but lacked a strong opinion
> view on it.
>
> Well, thank you and happy new year!!!!


Spend $1300 to get the 20D. $300 more than your plan but you'll love it.
Nothing in the Pentax's spec's that great, unless you already have some
lenses. If budget is tight, I'd choose D70. It's nice to stick with a
brand with more choices of lenses.
 
G

Guest

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Kenneth Miller <kenm1@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
> Just about every SD card manufacturer makes 1 GB cards now and I have
> seen hints that the 2GB ones should be out fairly soon .

Still, 1 GB compact flash cards are less expensive, and 2 GB compact flash
has been available for quite some time.

With SD, 512 MB has the best price per capacity ratio. With CF, 1 GB.

I think the biggest drawback of the Pentax ist-D(s) is the total lack of
antishake or image stabilized lenses. That might not be a big issue.
After all, photographers worked, and excelled, before IS lenses.