About to buy first DSLR and need your advice

Hi guys,

I have an existing Pentax film SLR system and have been holding off for months buying a DSLR waiting for an Ist D successor. Key reason for buying is I have a 1 year old child and I want to capture her childhood and infancy so I can't go on hanging around waiting forever for Pentax to make an Ist d successor.

Options are currently:

Buy Ist DS2 from USA - £450 body only and couple it with the 16-45 Pentax zoom £250 (I need to add VAT/duty on these figures so reckon I'm going to be looking at £800 minimum

Buy Ist DS from Jessups - £490 including 18-55mm Pentax zoom. Annoying you can't get the Ist DS2 in the UK as I'd like the bigger screen. I guess if I want to upgrade the kit lens at a later date I could.

The other option is to wait up to another couple of months in case a DS3 or D2 emerges. I note that the Samsung GX-1S has been announced at PMA but it's just an Ist DS2 in drag and I'd rather have Pentax on my SLR body thanks very much. I presume that if Pentax were due to announce anything other than the DL2 at PMA we'd know by now???

Views anyone? Incidentally we have been using my wife's Finepix 4800 to capture our little girl's baby days but it's only 3 megapixels and the shutter lag is so great that she's usually moved out of frame by the time the shutter fires! The flash also seems to take about 10 secs to recharge between shots and I really miss the chance to use a responsive camera - the Finepix just annoys me really!

Would really value some input - if I buy now and Pentax launch a much improved range next month I will be disappointed though.

Views?

Jonathan

It all depends on how well you like the control set of a particular camera. Myself, I wouldn't use anything other than the original *st D unless they come out with something with a better control set.

That said, you should try to look at each camera and see if it fits your shooting style. Some like the DS or DL for various features that they have.

It's a very individual matter, you arte the one who knows your shooting style.

At the moment, the jessops offer on the *istDS with 18-55mm (which is what I use) is too good to miss. That's my opinion anyway.

The Pentaprism finder is gorgeous, much better than pentamirrors.

What are you waiting for?

I was in the same situation as you Jonathan, with a lot of Pentax glass and various gear. I spent six months looking at this Forum and reading what the guys were saying and then bought a beautiful *ist DS and everything was sweetness and light! It's a lovely piece of machinery and made to fit your hands perfectly. Go on, buy one, and join the happy people!!
Kind regards,
Phil.

I too am happy. I bought a DL with the 40mm pancake limited lens and the da50-200 zoom. I like very much both lenses, and the camera controls are ready to hand. Nice piece of kit. I will buy next a wide-angle say 20mm or perhaps a another zoom.

So go ahead buy Pentax and enjoy capturing those spevial moments.

Sad but true....I bought a used k1000 once...my first camera....wanted all the wistles and bells but couldn't afford....made some of my finest images on that camera. Eventually bought an mz5...shot many weddings and even a celeb or two...then they kept making newer models...now I got an ist ds2....why won't they stop making newer models?
Just go for it already and don't look back...keep looking forward.
Make as many great images as you can before it becomes obsolete...

Funny thing, when people come to my house I show then my images, the cameras stay in the studio until somebody hands me a cheque.

Only other photogs ask about the camera used for the image....
to me it's like back in highschool when your buddies ask you to whip it out and see whos is bigger... I usually responded with "Hey, your girlfriend didn't care, why should you?"

I bought the DS initially and found it to be a very capable SLR. But . . . (there's always a but ) I then bought a broken D with a Tamron 28-105mm Zoom for peanuts, had it mended by those lovely Pentax people, and I have to say that I much prefer the user interface of the D to the DS. The hyper-program facility is great and the fact that it has 2 thumbwheels which are primarily used for changing Shutter and Aperture (one wheel for each) makes it much simpler to use in my opinion.

I liked the D so much I just bought another one on eBay but unfortunately the seller lied to me (yes, I believed him). The camera is actually fine, works well and is undamaged and I'm quite happy with it but it has taken almost 8000 shots. Before buying it I asked the question "How many shots has it taken" and the seller replied "I don't know, hundreds, but not thousands". I fell for it.

The moral of this story is, don't always believe what the seller tells you. That said, there are still bargain D's to be had.

For info: My broken D had been dropped from a not very great height and the mode switch was inoperable. I bought it for £250, Pentax fixed it for £175.00 and its perfect now. My second one came boxed and complete with a Tamron XR IF 28-200mm zoom for about £425.00. So . . .
a new DS with kit lens for less than £500.00 is a pretty good deal I reckon, and you'll get the all important warranty. ALthough I prefer the D, the DS is a great camera. Go for it, both feet, enjoy.

Hi Jonathon, and welcome to the forum..

I bought the *ist DL just after Christmas, and it's a beutiful bit of kit. I haven't even seen any of the other P-DSLRs up close, but if they're half as good as the DL then you won't be dissapointed. I started out with an ME super about 12 years ago, and this just fits in perfectly. Ease of use is exemplary. If you can get hold of a camera for an hour or two to play with, then you will want one, of which ever model.

I don't know much about future developments in the Pentax range, but there's little I can think of that you can't do with the DL (or their contemporaries, I assume). They're quick and can achieve stunning results at 20"x16".. although you may want to get post-production advice from Matt, John and the rest.

You won't be dissapointed with it, and you can always upgrade at a later date, but you can't rerun the littlun growing up.

Cheers

Liam

I'm really grateful to you guys for the very warm welcome and the helpful replies. I think Liam you summed it up perfectly:

"You won't be dissapointed with it, and you can always upgrade at a later date, but you can't rerun the littlun growing up."

As a result I'm going to order the Ist DS at Jessop's - at that price as several of you have pointed out it really is a great deal and will mean at last I will be able to shoot high quality digital and use my existing lenses. I'm still unclear on whether my ME Super era Pentax AF200S flashgun will work with it and would welcome your views on that, plus whether I can use a 2GB SD card in the Ist DS or not and if there are any particular makes to go for.

Obviously I have seen yesterday's announcement about the new 10MP Pentax DSLR, however the reality is that this will probably not arrive before Sept even in Japan and so it will probably be next Christmas before it's available to buy in the UK or USA. It will also probably cost £1200 ish body only so my Daughter will be nearly 2 by the time it arrives and the cost will be more than double the cost of buying the DS kit today. The thought has occured to me too that if I eventually decide that the D2 is irrisistable then assuming I could afford it (big assumption!), I would give the Ist DS to my wife (who is quite keen on photography) and treat myself to the D2! It would be really nice to have 2 digital SLR bodies sharing common lenses when on holiday etc.

I really am very grateful to you all for your informative and helpful replies. I'm looking forward to reporting back on my experiences with the Ist when it arrives. I wonder if Jessops mail order can get it here for Saturday when we are having a birthday party for our little one? That would be a fun first shoot!

Thanks again,

Jonathan

Have fun with the new camera when it arrives!

As regards cards, my inclination is to use more smaller cards. Very occasionally a card can fail or become corrupted so it's far better to lose only onecard out of several rather than one that holds everything. I am now settling on 512MB cards, although I still use plenty of 256MB ones. These hold around 144 and 72 images respectively as best quality JPEGs, which is IMHO perfectly OK.

I've used an AF200S on my DS with good results.

Just a quick question on the best battery option for the DS - Jessops want £10 each for a CRV3 cell and the DS takes two of them so that's £20 for batteries!! Do you guys use these Lithium batteries or do you use rechargeable ni-mh AA cells and a charger? How long do the lithium batteries last?

Should I invest in a ni-mh battery charger?

Let me know if there are any cheap high street options for buying the CR-V3's e.g. Tesco etc or am I going to be forced to give Jessops £20 to get me going tomorrow for the party.

Many thanks for all the advice.

Jonathan

Hi Saxon,

My DS kit came with CR-V3 batteries which I keep as backup while I use normally NiMH rechargeable batteries. I think NiMH batteries and charger is a good investment.

But if you want to shoot straight with your DS as soon as you got it, you can use 4 alcaline AA batteries which would allow you 50 to 90 shots according to the amount of flash you use.

Oh yes
I bought a very nice fast-charge travel charger from an online company (think it was PicStop), and my sister bought the same thing with batteries from B&Q. It was the Uniross Globe Trotter Pocket Travel Charger RC103719.

I only ever use NiMH (except where I've been caught out and had to use emergency Alkalines). You can get Lithium CR-V3s from www.7dayshop.co.uk - £7.59 for two They're useful as a spare as they have an incredibly long shelf-life.

Here are a few online companies that I've bought camera stuff (memory cards, batteries, chargers etc) from:
www.7dayshop.co.uk
www.picstop.co.uk
www.davoom.co.uk

Hope that helps
Matt

To complete the package, don't forget a card reader - much more convebient and efficient than attaching the camera to the PC.