[sven]

Hi--thought I'd talk about the old one here--the *istD. My main cameras are Olympus (E-1 and E-330), but the *istD was second on my list when I bought the E-1, and since then I've followed Pentax with interest. I just recently bought a new *istD at a great price, and am having a lot of fun with it. It's a great camera.

However, as with many cameras, there are several design decisions that beg the question "What were they thinking?! So far on the *istD, I've noticed several--the grip looks to be designed around putting the four batteries in a symmetrical square rather than around the human hand, something I see that was changed in the DS where two batteries are angled to create a deeper and narrower grip. The four-way controller is the worst I've ever used (including digicams). The right strap attachment sticks straight out into the side of my finger, when they could have angled it up a little to eliminate this. And the rear dial is recessed a little behind the rear grip, making it harder to spin the dial without thinking. The front dial? Why would you design an On-Off switch that has the same tactile feel as a dial that is a quarter-inch below it? Several times when I have tried to turn the dial I have switched the camera off. This is not endearing. If only they had reversed On-Off, so that when it is "On" the lever is off to the side. And removing the CF card--what a pain! It's a struggle every time for me. What were they thinking?!

Ok, now that that's off my chest, would I buy it again? Absolutely, without question. Yes, it has its quirks. And of course the buffer is slow and the screen is small, but this is to be expected on a four-year-old DSLR. I really do like the camera a lot. It takes great photos, and is small and well made. The viewfinder is wonderful, and hyper-program is great as well. I still have much to learn about the camera. Auto white balance in low light is way off, so I will have to learn to compensate (although I shoot raw so this problem is minimized). I've picked up the two standard kit lenses off ebay (18-55 and 50-200) and bought the FA50mm 1.4 new. Love the 50 so far, and the others are nice too. I wanted to start with some inexpensive lenses to try the system out. I also got the AF 540 flash. Looking for a grip. All in all, a decent, interesting Pentax starter system.

Am I completely switching to Pentax? Not at this point. I love my Olympus gear. The E-330 is unlike any other DSLR so far, and has given me a new perspective for many shots. Very underrated, and a steal right now for $349 new. But I'm really pleased with my Pentax gear so far, and would like to get into the wonderful primes as funds allow. Olympus and Pentax are two great systems that can really compliment each other.

Sorry for the long post--just some thoughts from a Pentax noobie. Every camera/system has its idiosyncrasies and design philosophies, and I am still learning Pentax's. I'm sure most of the issues I've noticed are not issues for long-time Pentax users. Thanks for reading!

Steve