Originally posted by ChristianRock Ah, good to know. I think I'd want the DS then, for the SD card. Or the DS2 but these seem hard to find. I don't use fancy fatures, if it has an M setting and a good viewfinder I'm good to go
Do you know the capacity for the SD cards that The DS and DS2 can support? Up to 16GB like the K10D, or less?
There's an *istDL now on Ebay for 60 dollars shipped - with 18-55mm lens! The only thing wrong with it according to the seller is that the flash doesn't work. Meh, I don't use onboard flash
So tempting.... but those viewfinders are tiny, smaller than the K-r/K-x, right?
Originally posted by paulh My niece has a DL, and the viewfinder is about the same as the K100D (prob same as K-x, etc). The Pentax OME53 magnifier works great on those models. Not sure if the DL has the red focus points in the VF...? Dunno, if it were me, I'd hold out for a D or DS, or equivalent Samsung model like Dan James acquired.
I found over here (in the UK) there are plenty of *ist DL and K100D and K110D models. Whilst these have the same 6MP (Sony!) sensor, they have a smaller VF than the K10D, and a pentamirror, not pentaprism. I held out for one of the models with 0.95x, 95% and pentaprism, exactly like the K10D. I believe the models with this are the *ist D, DS, DS2 and the Samsung GX-1S. The GX-1S I understand is the same as the *ist DS2, the GX-1L is the same as the DL.
Most of the D, DS and DS2 models are quite rare on the auction site, though a few come up in Japan and the US. The DL and K100D and K110D are plentiful, as I said.
Anyway, I held out, as a good VF is crucial for me, and found a Samsung GX-1S, with the same VF as the K10D. I've even swapped in the aftermarket diagonal split focus screen I got for my K10D and the Pentax OME53 eyepiece you mention Paul, and with these it's really easy to focus with fast lenses wide open (f/3.5 or less). With f/4 lenses, or f/3.5 sometimes in poorer light, the microprism does that black out thing, so I would recommend sticking to f/3.5 and faster, which is not exactly limiting with the Takumar range for example. My 55/1.8 and 105/2.8 are a joy to use. I can't see the point of a DL etc with the lesser screen, because I switch between the K10D and the GX-1S now and the VFs are identical, and if I had the DL I would notice the difference and never want to use it compared with the K10D. I'm coming very recently to DSLRs from using film cameras with great VFs like Pentax M series, the Contax 139 and 167, so VF is very important to me, especially with my old M42 lenses.
Regarding the SD cards, the GX-1S does have a limit. My 16MP SanDisk from my K10D doesn't work, it isn't recognised. I'm using an old 1GB card currently (allows about 95 photos in RAW) and have ordered a 2GB, which is plenty for me on any one photowalk. My firmware is 1.0 and I can't find anywhere online to upgrade - I believe there was a firmware upgrade for the GX-1S that allowed larger capacity cards. They might take a 4GB on v1.0 as standard, I just don't have a 4GB card to try and didn't want to risk buying one and it not work. I'm sure I read somewhere that 2GBs were fine. If you shoot hundreds of pics in one shoot, the worst scenario is you'll need to carry a couple of spare SD cards.
Re the JPEGs yes I've read that the JPEG engine in the Samsungs wasn't so good. A non-issue for me as I always shoot RAW (with the K10D and now the GX-1S) and do a very simple export to JPEG in LightRoom. I don't do any PP, this is a major appeal of the K10D and GX-1S, the colours straight from the RAW to JPEG export are fantastic. I like this completely neutral processing too as it allows me to see how different lenses look in their natural form. If you do enough processing you can make anything look like anything else - I just prefer the neutral RAW approach so each lens has a chance for its personality to come through.
Another bonus for me is the smaller files. Meaning they take up less hard drive space and tend to be somewhat quicker to work with, export etc than, say, the 16MP RAW files from my Sony NEX.
I don't ever crop pictures, one of my "rules" for myself is to compose in the VF as you want the final image to be. This is another reason for choosing the 95% screen in the K10D and GX-1S - you see virtually exactly the same in the VF as the final image.
If you do heavy crops and/or enlarged prints you might notice image degradations with a 6MP sensor. But for my needs, even with the 50% reduced images I make for Flickr, the resolution from the 6MP CCD I'm finding fantastic and to be honest, if I couldn't see the file size/ dimensions, I couldn't tell you which photos I've taken with a 10MP sensor and which with a 6MP. And for the sizes we all see on our computer screens, my 16MP NEX doesn't take noticeably "better" images, and the colours are more to my tastes with the CCD sensors too.
As you guys both know already from the K10D, Takumars are fantastic with these old CCD sensors, and just as good with the 6MPs. They were made for each other!
My Samsung doesn't feel quite so good to hold as the K10D (slightly harder rubber, smaller grip - the K10D is pretty much perfect in my hands) but it's still very comfortable. It doesn't have so many functions (no green button for K and M lenses, for example). But it does have everything I need to shoot Taks and get great results - Av and M modes, RAW, exposure comp, exposure lock (AE-L), blinkies and histogram, and that aforementioned excellent 95%, 0.95 pentaprism VF. Plus it's significantly lighter and smaller (especially after an hour of shooting) than the K10D.
I don't need to, but I am very tempted to keep a look out for a Pentax *ist DS or DS2 as a back up for my GX-1S, which in turn was bought as a back up for my K10D, ha ha!
A couple of shots with the Samsung GX-1S and my battered old Helios 44-2, which some complain is low contrast, soft, and washed out in colours... they obviously haven't used one with a 6MP CCD sensor!