*ist D - which one?

I'm still having sneaking thoughts of buying an *ist D as a second body to my K-m, however I'm not sure which variant (as in D, DS, DL, etc) is the most desirable? The collector in me says to buy an original *ist D as it was the first Pentax DSLR, it also supports TTL flash and a battery grip is available from a practical viewpoint. That said, which model is felt to be the best of the bunch?

The D is a great camera - Still have mine. Did have the DL but it was very "Point and Shoot" oriented and I was not happy with the build and layout of the camera - Hope this helps...

Yep, it does - I've just been looking at the entries for the various *ist D on the K mount site. The D has two control dials - presumably you can configure these so that one sets aperture and the other shutter speed?

My only complaint with the K-m is that it's a bit annoying use in full manual because of the single dial. I tend to leave it in Program instead and use the dial to shuffle through different combinations of shutter/aperture.

There are a couple on ebay at the moment, will see what they go for and keep my eyes open. They seem to be available around the £100-£150 mark if you wait and watch.

I had a Ds, which I loved. Tbh I wish I still had it and had not bothered with the K20D.
I liked it more than the K-m I bought my husband to replace the Ds, though the K-m is still a great camera.

I never had a D, but I know any people who have kept and still use theirs.

SRS have a couple of D bodies in at the moment, and the grips to go with them too .

I might have to look at that - they've got one bundled with the grip for £179, which is about what you'd pay for the two parts elsewhere and of course you get a sensor clean/6 month warranty from them.

Only snag is that it would wipe out my budget for the next month. Need to think about this carefully, but on the other hand I have every lens I could ever want now...

I love my K-m but I just think the *ist D would make a great second body, I can't afford a new K-x or a used K20D but the *ist D was intended as a professional DSLR when released, so it must be pretty decent. I also like the way that the *ist D has most of its functions on dedicated buttons, as opposed to the K-m where you access them via menus. You can do a lot with a K-m once you've got it set up your way, but it's still a bit tedious having to go through menus to change stuff (as opposed to my old MX where I just turn the dials).

Another query - what is the biggest CF card that the *ist D can handle? I have a 4GB one here which I'd want to use in preference to buying another card, but would the *ist D cope with it?

The *istD is getting a bit old now and I expect it's relatively slow compared with the current DSLRs.

The *istDS might be a better bet, and you can use SD cards as well.

To be fair, in speed terms I'm used to the KX where the FPS is a case of "how fast can you wind and keep it pointing at the subject?" I don't see the *ist D being that hard to deal with in comparison, although I'm well aware that the write buffer won't be as big as that on a new DSLR. They look like a lot of camera for the money, with a chance of it becoming valuable in the same way as the Spotmatic or the original K bodies in years to come. This may however be a tad incompatible with my intention to use it for situations where I don't want to risk the K-m!

It looks as though a 4GB card would be fine in the *ist D, in case anyone else is wondering (users of another forum reported it working with 16GB). Apparently the RAW files are about 13mb so a 4GB would keep me going for a while.

I've got 2 ist Ds, one's in regular use for work related photos of various building elements (and their faults) with my DA16-45 attached, the others on loan to a colleague.

The 6 MP sensor gives good results, and I've seen some stunning prints at A3+ of the reflections in the water around one of the islands in Venice produced from it.

It's the only Pentax DSLR to shoot TIFF - a great bonus because it's lossless and supported by most/all software. I'd recommend it - especially with the grip.


Steve

The *istDS can handle TTL flashes too, but the biggest benefit is probably it's use of SD cards, rather than CF.

The DS was my first DSLR, but I soon replaced it with a D and I can't remember if the DS has two e-dials, or just the one.

I bought my istD from another forum member (Are you still out there, Karl?) A couple of years ago, now. I got it to replace my first Dslr, the DL2. I love it. As others have said, it is slightly slower to process the image, than newer models. It can take two or three seconds for the shot to appear on the screen after the exposure, depending on what mode you have used. On my DL2, it was instant. The screen is tiny by modern standards, but I see that as a good thing, because it doesn't drain the batteries. With the grip containing 4 AA batteries on, you can go weeks without having to recharge. The grip is a must have, with this camera.
My only criticism of the D, is that the CF card can be a bit fiddly to get in and out, if you have fat fingers!

Just the one.

here's a list
https://www.pentaxuser.com/helpcentre#faq_question11

I still have my DS and it is a great camera.

If you wanted to choose, either the D (but only takes CF cards) or the DS

Advantage of the DS over the DL/DL2 etc is that it has a pentaprism rather than the cheaper and dimmer pentamirror.

Oh yes it has 11 point AF rather than a mere 5 of the DL

Thanks John, and for that reason alone, I'd have to recommend the *istD over the DS,even though the former uses CF cards.