[DavidF]

I have an *istD which works GREAT. The only complaint I can think of is that it seems to have a greater-than-average amount of hot/stuck pixels in the CCD sensor and my pics come with the same red/green/blue pixels in each picture. It's only noticeable in dark shots though. Anyway, I was thinking of upgrading to a more modern Pentax DSLR model, but the more I researched the more confused I got. I don't want to spend money on a new DSLR if it would not really be an upgrade from my *istD. I was looking at the K100D and the K200D but then I read something that seemed to suggest that either of these would actually be a downgrade from an *istD.

What Pentax camera should I get if I want something only a notch better than my *istD?

Thanks in advance!

David

[Spock]

I had an *istD and didn't think it was worth upgrading until the K7 came out. It is the only logical upgrade - it literally is an updated *istD.

[schmik]

k10d. Still two wheels, SR and 10mp. Unfortunately it's BIG.

mike

[Spock]

k10d. Still two wheels, SR and 10mp. Unfortunately it's BIG.

mike

Whereas the K7 is the same size as an *istD.

[Marc Sabatella]

Most models would be upgrades in *some* ways, downgrades in others. Only the other *ist models (DS and DL) and the K110D would be a downgrade in *most* ways. Only the K10D, K20D, and K-7 would be upgrades in virtually all ways. The others - K100D, K200D, K2000, K-x - would all be tradeoffs. You gain SR, more pixels with all but the K100D, support for the newer SDM lenses, and some other new features, but lose some buttons & one of the dials, and the viewfinder shrinks. Some poeple would find that a fair trade,others would not.

[Ash]

Marc's summarised it well.
Look into the features you appreciate most and you may find that having a K100D Super is sufficient enough for you, or you wouldn't be happy with a *ist D replacement unless it was the K-7. So much has happened since the *ist D, but each upgrade (k10D, K20D, K-7) comes through with different feature upgrades.

Hope this helps.

[Lowell Goudge]

I have upgraded twice since my *istD although I still use it regularly, hot pixels and all.

I went to the K10D because I wanted SR and a higher MP body.

I have since upgraded to the K7, put a split image in the K10 as a MF body but the *istD is still chapms for flash photography with my collection of K mount lenses.

the hot pixels have increased over time, but for general shooting they don't bother me, and if I want to print something it is still easy to edit them out.

If you have manual aperture lenses, the K7 would be better as it seems to meter better than K10/K20.

This is all assuming you want dual thumbwheels.

Also, if you are using high ISO, K20 or K7 would be better as the CMOS sensor performs better than the CCD of the K10

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Last edited by Lowell Goudge; 10-18-2009 at 05:48 AM.

[TonyC]

Hi David - I went from a *istD to a K20D, but in between I purchased a full-frame camera from another manufacturer. I made two errors of judgement here - a. Thinking I needed full-frame and b. Selling my *istD. So I later bought a K100D Super to backup my K20D and use occasionally when I wanted the lighter weight and smaller size, in risky situalions and sometimes where I preferred the image from that sensor. It also works with the latest lenses.

So if you don't need a larger image size I suggest you don't buy anything. If you do or feel ready for a new camera get a K10d or K20D. I noticed that one place was still selling new K10d's a few months ago - not sure if they are still available.

[Zarkon]

David, I got into Pentax with the K10D a couple of years ago. A few months ago I picked up an old stock Pentax istD for a song from a Ritz store that was closing. I am quite impressed by what a good camera it is - even compared with current DSLRs on the market. It did have a few hot pixels that were quite noticeable to me. But I downloaded a free program called Pixel Fixer from Pixel Fixer | Hot pixel removal utliity (disclosure - I have no affiliation to it whatsoever) that takes care of dead/hot pixels in RAW (PEF). You'll have to shoot in PEF though which is no longer a problem these days since CF cards are so cheap (I picked up a Kingston 8gb for $18 last weekend).

[DavidF]

Thanks for all your replies. These really helped. I decided to just hold off, I'm still really happy with my *ist D and the hot pixels only really bother me when I do long exposure photographs.

[Ash]

Well, that's another area that the *ist D excels in - long exposures.
I've been more than impressed with what the little camera has done for me in this department, with beautiful colours and such sparse noise to speak of, e.g.: