More lockdown fun with an *stD and an FA*300

Whoops. I missed an i out of *Ist.

I thought I would see how the *istD performed with a really big lens. It is quite a lightweight camera so I put
some batteries in the grip and stuck that on too as ballast. It made a really handy, well balanced combination.



The sun was bright so I left the camera at ISO200, left it on AF and let the aperture dictate the rest, according
to what was in front of me.
1 A bit tame but it was a nice dandelion.



2 One of those blessed Drone Flies having a rest and contemplating the bokeh in the cherry tree.



3 The clematis sprawled across the fence is in full flower this year.



4 And there is deep shade underneath it with bluebells catching fleeting rays of sunshine.



5 New leaves on one of the acers.



This seems to be a winning combination. I was very pleased with the results. I looked at the detailed EXIF information and
saw that this camera has taken 21,560 shots so far. It is a joy to use once you get used to its foibles and extra features that
were deleted from all subsequent cameras - such as the vertical MX style exposure ladder in the viewfinder and the
undocumented use of the AEL and EV buttons to enlarge and reduce the image on the back screen. (another undocumented
one on the *istDS is the use of the AEL button as the Green Button - which is absent on that camera).

If anyone else knows of more quirks of this camera it would be nice hear about them.

The combo looks to work well together, I had an Ist'd but don't remember much about it, sold it years ago to fund a K5, it did give me decent results

Impressive results. a little camera with a massive lens. I still have an *istD but its never been used for years. It was my first digital camera and in those early days of digital, 2005/6, I only shot in JPEG, but it gave me satisfactory pictures.
David

Just jealous about the BIG PENTAX lettering on the lens hood

I enjoyed my *istD when I had it - became redundant as soon as I got the K10D, unfortunately the *istD fell on a concrete floor which limited me to just JPEGS until I got it repaired...

My first DLSR also! Cracking camera and still giving great results !

So glad I read this. Got out the istD I bought years ago to see what Pentax's first DSLR was like.
Hasn't been touched in at least 3 years, likewise the Eneloops I found to power it.
Switched on first time, battery full symbol and the time/date was only 3 minutes out!
Quality or what?
Now I know what to take on my daily exercise walk.

Great shots, all are very impressive. The lens is obviously well suited to the istD. For the last 2 weekly competitions I have reworked photos taken with the istD and have been quite surprised at the quality you can get from it. Having seen what you've achieved I'm now going to have to get mine back out and try it with the newer lenses.

Paul

Great combination

I think that TTL Flash metering was another advanced feature that was not offered on later models (after the *ist DS) - great if you have the AF400T/AF280T system

so the question is , did you really need to up grade from it . some fine images David

Nice to have caused some cupboards to be turned out and thank you for joining in with the 'in praise of older bodies' theme.

Beautiful colours, detail and bokeh, evincing, if there were any doubt, that 'old' can still be 'gold'

Difficult to ignore the fact that the *istD is sporting what appears to be an FA* lens, but which one :

It is (reading the label plate) SMC Pentax-FA* 1:4.5, 300mm IF & ED. Beautiful lens.

Ha ha makes a mockery of the usual stampede to upgrade when a new camera comes out!