ist DS SLR Digital Camera with SMCP-DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL AF Zoom Lens
Manufacturer: Pentax Part number: 18033
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Product series
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- A compact design, flexible power sources, and a strong feature set make the Pentax *ist DS a digital SLR for the on-the-move photo enthusiast.
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Where to buy
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com Marketplace |  | In stock | Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price | as of 11/08/2009 |
CNET editors' review
ist DS SLR Digital Camera with SMCP-DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL AF Zoom Lens price range: $988.00
- Reviewed by: David D. Busch
- Edited by: Aimee Baldridge
- Reviewed on: 05/04/2005
- Released on: 02/15/2005
The good: Most compact digital SLR available; outstanding optical and LCD viewing; easy operation; solid performance.
The bad: No raw-plus-JPEG or TIFF mode; kit lens is a slow f/5.6 at longest focal length.
The bottom line: A compact design, flexible power sources, and a strong feature set make the Pentax *ist DS a digital SLR for the on-the-move photo enthusiast.
Although the most compact of the sub-$1,000 digital SLRs, the Pentax *ist DS is not a functionality lightweight. Packed into its 30-ounce (with 18mm-to-55mm lens, battery, and media), polycarbonate-clad stainless-steel frame is an array of automated and user-selectable exposure and scene controls, a brilliant optical viewfinder and an LCD that are easy on the eyes, and enthusiast-pleasing options such as an eight-frame, 2.5fps drive mode. In some ways, the *ist DS is an upgrade from its more expensive *ist D sibling, trading a few minor features for some significant improvements.
The newer, lighter Pentax offers only 6-, 4-, and 1.5-megapixel resolution settings; lacks TIFF mode; and includes fewer presets for white balance and user-set modes. But the *ist DS adds seven scene modes; a larger frame buffer that boosts drive mode performance; more flexible saturation, sharpness, and contrast adjustments; and a back-panel, 2-inch color LCD with a whopping 210,000 pixels vs. the 118,000-pixel, 1.8-inch LCD of the elder Pentax. The *ist DS also uses SD memory cards instead of CompactFlash and has faster USB 2.0 picture transfer instead of USB 1.1.
Excellent performance and good image quality make the *ist DS an attractive option for those who don't already own a bag full of Canon or Nikon lenses, or who do have a stockpile of Pentax optics.
User reviews
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Designed for Photgraphers
by pomster on August 2, 2005
Pros: Viewfinder - Great Ergonomics - Very Low Noise
Cons: None that I can think of - would have preferred CF over SD
Summary: Sold my Digital Rebel to get this - Why ? One of the most important things in a camera is the viewfinder , this has a noticeably better one than the Rebel. ...
Summary: Sold my Digital Rebel to get this - Why ? One of the most important things in a camera is the viewfinder , this has a noticeably better one than the Rebel. I also like to shoot in low (natural) light , I can get useable images up to ISO 1600 (ISO 3200 can even be used for smaller prints) It also has better ergonomics. Everything seems to where you expect it. A great camera especially for those who take photography seriously.
16 out of 16 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great Camera at an affordable price!!
by G Rogers on June 5, 2005
Pros: Very easy to use right out of the box. The controls are pretty well self explanatory. Despite what some reviews say, in my opinion it takes as good jpegs as raw. great picture quality all around!
Cons: None really... But to get the full use of this camera read the manual and adjust the settings manually it's awsome!!
Summary: I considered buying Nikon or Canon but chose Pentax, after trying all of these out!Picture quality is fantastic in either Jpeg or raw.Battery life is really good,uses ...
Summary: I considered buying Nikon or Canon but chose Pentax, after trying all of these out!Picture quality is fantastic in either Jpeg or raw.Battery life is really good,uses AA Batterys which is very handy.Taking pics using the flash, use Flash compensation, set Iso at 400. Brightens things up considerably. Great pics indoors or out! I got the best deal from Wolf Camera, the camera and 2 lenses for $899.I noticed that to get the full benefit or the most out of this camera you need to use the custom settings! You can select one of 2 color modes. Personally I really like the natural mode. The colors are excellent. Picture quality is excellent! I love this camera! Read the manual and adjust the settings and you will be thrilled at what you can come up with when using this camera!
11 out of 11 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Awesome camera. Amazingly sharp lens.
by dlachambre on February 26, 2005
Pros: Size, ease of use for novice and enthusiast alike.
Cons: Continuous AF only accessible from Sport mode.
Summary: Having used the Digital Rebel, D70, and the 20D, the Pentax IstDS impressed me quite a bit. It has a much better lens package than the Rebel and the base ...
Summary: Having used the Digital Rebel, D70, and the 20D, the Pentax IstDS impressed me quite a bit. It has a much better lens package than the Rebel and the base 20D kit. It offers a more well rounded group of features than the rebel, but falls short on the pro side when compared to the D70 or the 20D. In short, I bought it.
However, to rate a confusing name of a camera as a downside is, well, idiotic. It's like rating a car badly because you didn't like the colour of the test model. It has absolutely no bearing on performance. Your credibility in reviews has gone down a bit in my eyes.10 out of 12 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Fantastic images, minimum weight, solid body.
by normhead on June 1, 2005
Pros: Light weight and small size, great for hiking or canoeing or nature photography.
Cons: Raw format only for best image quality means 10 meg pictures for top quality (ouch).
Summary: A fantastic camera all around. For an older guy like me the part of the auto focus that puts a red dot on what the camera is focusing on is ...
Summary: A fantastic camera all around. For an older guy like me the part of the auto focus that puts a red dot on what the camera is focusing on is a godsend. I can tell what's in focus without depending on my own bifocal dependant eyesight. My pictures are almost as good as I used to be, back when I could see. Even in manual focus mode, the camera still shows you what you've focused on. That allows you way more control of depth of field than any one my age deserves.
6 out of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Excellent Camera for 90% of the market
by hanschiu on September 16, 2005
Pros: Lightest Weight Digital SLR, Solid Build, SD Card Slot
Cons: Requires Firmware Update to read SD Cards Greater than 1GB
Summary: Superb camera. I looked at the Nikon and Canon equivalents and found them to be significantly larger. That's a big minus when you need to fit it into a ...
Summary: Superb camera. I looked at the Nikon and Canon equivalents and found them to be significantly larger. That's a big minus when you need to fit it into a separate camera bag with other accessories. Oddly enough it weighs more than the larger camera. This usually means more metal components and gives the camera a more solid feel. In general my experience with lighter larger cameras are that there are more plastic components and if "heaven forbid" you drop it the camera is trashed. Pentax has always been known for durability and when I took it with me to China the camera held up extremely well. There are actually a few additional models a DS and I think a DZ. The *ist DS is in the mid range. The camera is also cheaper than the comparable Nikon and Canon. The megapixel number is slightly lower 6.1 vs 8, but I think you would be hard put to tell the difference and Pentax claims to get more data per pixel using a proprietary technology. The simple answer is that for the average user it will make no difference. I feel that the SD Card Slot is a big plus. Compact Flash cards are bulky and interesting enough are slower than SD Cards in general. Of course you can get larger and faster compact flash cards, but you pay the price and you would still likely find that you can get a faster SD Card. I'm not sure you will notice unless you are doing bursts of multiple shots at a time. The other big plus to SD Cards is that they are starting to be used in other devices like computers and phones. This allows for easy transfer and showing of photos. A very nice advantage. Most Toshiba laptops have an SD card slot, but I don't know many computers that will accept a compact flash card. One draw back is that the firm ware that comes on the camera DOES NOT allow it write beyond 1GB. It would have been nice if they told me this in the manual, since oddly enough a preformatted 2GB chip will read like it really is 2GB and you won't realize you can't write 2GB until it simply stops writing. This took me a while to figure out, but there is a firm ware upgrade that you can simply download and transfer to the SD card and from the SD card update the computer. It's very easy to do, they just should have said something about it in advance. The Canon purports to be a few frames faster, when you try to shoot multiple frames. I did not feel that having 6 frames per second was a draw back compared to 8. Again this is a difference that is very hard to appreciate. Finally I think the Canon requires that you use a proprietary battery set and the Pentax uses 4 double AA. Believe me that makes a big difference when you are out of battery power and are looking for a store that has double AAs verus a proprietary format. Although the Pentax has less features I think that for most of us it has more than what we actually need. How many average users would want to shoot in RAW? The other really nice feature is that ALL of Pentax's lenses will work on this camera where as my understanding is that depending on the Canon model only certain lenses will work. It may be a draw back that Pentax doesn't have as many different lenses, but for the average user a good zoom and perhaps a faster lens is about all you would use 99% of the time any ways so I'm not sure what you would miss. My guess is that for the 5-10% of us that are near professional level these kinds of things might be important.
4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great SLR camera package for the buck!!
by bziegler3 on April 6, 2005
Pros: Lighter than the Rebel, full featured, easy to use, my deal at Ritz came with 2 lenses, a 18-55 & a 70-300 for $899!
Cons: Weird naming is all!
Summary: I've only used this one day, but it's FAR superior to all the point and shoots I've had in the past (Canon A40, Minolta Dimage Z3) MUCH ...
Summary: I've only used this one day, but it's FAR superior to all the point and shoots I've had in the past (Canon A40, Minolta Dimage Z3) MUCH better in low light situations.
3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great Camera and Lens Package
by hero1117 on April 16, 2005
Pros: Great LCD, Quick, Lightweight, A Pentax,
Cons: Found none yet
Summary: Love the feel of this camera, More solid than the Rebal, enjoyed the pictures, Fast,
SD Card, Just an all around solid camera.
Uses my old lensSummary: Love the feel of this camera, More solid than the Rebal, enjoyed the pictures, Fast,
SD Card, Just an all around solid camera.
Uses my old lens3 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Love it except for the warranty service and the manual.
by snicks1 on July 28, 2005
Pros: Light weight, high ASA, ease of use, convenience
Cons: Manual not well written, poor D.C. service center
Summary: I bought my ist DS in February and have loved it. I had read the reviews that were on CNET before I bought it. I am back here to offer ...
Summary: I bought my ist DS in February and have loved it. I had read the reviews that were on CNET before I bought it. I am back here to offer my opinion on two things that I didn't see mentioned. One is the manual. The manual is not well written. I found it to be confusing but I did figure things out.
The other thing is more irritating and you wouldn't know about his until you had owned your camera for a while and something goes wrong. In June my flash stopped working. I called the number given for Pentax support and the person told me to go to the website and follow the instructions for sending a camera in for work that was under warranty. Okay. I did that. I sent the camera to the place that was listed online that was the closest geographically to me. I wanted my camera back quickly and I assumed, incorrectly, that the closest place would be the quickest to fix it and wouldn't be as busy as the main Pentax center.
It is now a month later and I don't have my camera or any information about when I am getting it back. I called the D.C. Strauss camera repair place and they asked me if they could put me on hold. I foolishly said yes. Ten minutes of holding the phone later, I called them again.
When I finally got someone to answer the phone, they wanted me to send them $15 to pay for sending the camera to Pentax because they couldn't fix it. I had heard nothing from them about my camera before calling them. If I hadn't called, I'd still be wondering when I was getting my camera back. I asked them to send the camera to me by C.O.D. but they refused. I argued with them and finally they conceded.
I then called a Pentax service representative and described what had happened to him. He said that he would get the Strauss place to send the camera to Pentax and that Pentax would pay for the shipping. That was two days ago.
I am hoping that I get my camera back soon. I had planned to use it for events that are now gone by and I am angry. But I do love the camera.
One other thing about the camera that I don't like besides the warranty service is that they use odd acronyms or terms to describe certain features. These are hard to associate with the actual feature when you are trying to set up your preferences. I don't have the manual or the camera here right now to give an example.2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great DSLR, worthy of more attention
Pros: Backwards compatibility with all Pentax Lenses (with Custom Function set), including 67 and 645 with adapters; Fantastic feel and balance; Image quality on par with competitors; Price; access to the very highly regarded 50mm f1.4 and 85mm f1.4 Pentax from
Cons: Feature set not as complete as competitors; Pentax lens system not as complete as Nikon or Canon
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Jewel of digital SLR
Pros: As a Pentax user for decades, including the LX, I was glad to see the DS hit the market. I was ready to get a Nikon D70 but hated to give up access to all my old K-mount lenses. The DS does it all with grace and style. From good, effortless point and shoo
Cons: None
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Pentax
- Part number: 18033
- Description: The *ist DS is one of the smallest and lightest digital SLR cameras available. Measuring just 4.9 x 3.6 x 2.6 inches and weighing under 18 ounces, the *ist DS also delivers superior image quality in compact design. Despite the size, the *ist DS offers 6.1 effective megapixels and PENTAX original image processing technology. The camera is designed to be compatible with most PENTAX interchangeable lenses to meet a wide range of applications and visual creativity. The *ist DS hosts an array of advanced, user-friendly features including a high-magnification viewfinder, a 2.0 inch color LCD monitor, a generous LCD data panel, and an innovative Auto picture mode for automatic selection of the proper exposure program. Offering quick, effortless operation and easy portability, the *ist DS is the ideal digital SLR for all levels of photographers, including first-timer digital SLR users and families.
General
- Product Type Digital camera - SLR
- Width 4.9 in
- Depth 2.6 in
- Height 3.7 in
- Weight 17.8 oz
Main Features
- Resolution 6.1 megapixels
- Color Support Color
- Optical Sensor Type CCD
- Total Pixels 6,310,000 pixels
- Effective Sensor Resolution 6,100,000 pixels
- Light Sensitivity ISO 200, ISO 400, ISO 800, ISO 1600, ISO 3200
- Shooting Modes Automatic, Manual
- Special Effects Black & White, Sepia
- Max Shutter Speed 1/4000 sec
- Min Shutter Speed 30 sec
- X-sync Speed 1/180 sec
- Exposure Metering Spot, Evaluative, Center-weighted
- Exposure Modes Bulb, Manual, Program, Automatic, Shutter-priority, Aperture-priority
- Exposure Range EV 1-21.5 ( ISO 200 )
- Exposure Compensation ±3 EV range, in 1/2 EV steps
- Auto Exposure Bracketing 3 steps in 1/2 or 1/3 EV steps
- Exposure Metering Zones 16
- White Balance Custom, Presets, Automatic
- White Balance Presets Shade, Cloudy, Daylight, Tungsten light, Fluorescent light (daylight), Fluorescent light (cool white), Fluorescent light (warm white)
- Status LCD Display Illumination Yes
- Status LCD Display Information Program, Aperture, Drive mode, Film speed, Flash mode, Frame counter, Photo quality, Shutter speed, Autofocus mode, Self-timer mode, Photos remaining, Battery condition, Manual focus mode, Red-eye reduction, Exposure compensation, White balance indicators
- Still Image Format RAW, JPEG
- Continuous Shooting Speed 2.6 frames per second
- Remote Control Optional
- TV Tuner None
Memory / Storage
- Flash Memory None
- Supported Flash Memory SD Memory Card
- Floppy Drive None
- Digital Storage Media None
- Image Storage RAW 3008 x 2008 : 11 - With 128MB card, Super-fine JPEG 3008 x 2008 : 34 - With 128MB card, Fine JPEG 3008 x 2008 : 70 - With 128MB card, Normal JPEG 3008 x 2008 : 117 - With 128MB card, Super-fine JPEG 2400 x 1600 : 51 - With 128MB card, Fine JPEG 2400 x 1600 : 96 - With 128MB card, Normal JPEG 2400 x 1600 : 161 - With 128MB card, Super-fine JPEG 1536 x 1024 : 106 - With 128MB card, Fine JPEG 1536 x 1024 : 173 - With 128MB card, Normal JPEG 1536 x 1024 : 271 - With 128MB card
Camera Flash
- Camera Flash Pop-up flash
- Guide Number (m / ISO 100) 11
- Flash Modes Auto mode, Fill-in mode, Flash OFF mode, Red-eye reduction
- Red Eye Reduction Yes
- Effective Flash Range 28 mm - 28 mm
Lens System
- Type None
- Focus Adjustment Automatic
- Auto Focus TTL phase detection
- Auto Focus Points (Zones) 11
- Optical Zoom 12x
- Zoom Adjustment Automatic
- Filter Size 52 mm
- Lens System Mounting Pentax K
Additional Features
- Self Timer Yes
- Self Timer Delay 2 sec, 12 sec
- Flash Terminal Hot shoe
- Additional Features AE lock, AF lock, DPOF support, Direct print, Auto power save, Histogram display, PictBridge support, PRINT Image Matching, USB 2.0 compatibility, Digital noise reduction, Depth-of-field preview button
Viewfinder
- Viewfinder Type Optical - Fixed eye-level pentaprism
- Field Coverage 95%
- Magnification 0.95x
- Dioptric Correction Range -2.5 to +1.5
- Viewfinder Frames Autofocus frame
- LCD Display Information AE lock, Aperture, Shutter speed, Metering system, Red-eye reduction, Exposure compensation, Flash charge completion
Display
- Type LCD display - TFT active matrix - 2 in - Color
- Display Form Factor Built-in
- Display Format 210,000 pixels
Digital Player (Recorder)
- Type None
Microphone
- Type None
Connections
- Connector Type 1 x USB, 1 x Composite video output
- Expansion Slot(s) 1 x SD Memory Card
Software
- Software Drivers & Utilities
System Requirements for PC Connection
- Operating System Support MS Windows ME, MS Windows XP, MS Windows 2000, Apple Mac OS 9.2 or later
- Peripheral Devices USB port
Miscellaneous
- Carrying Case None
- Included Accessories Body cap, Carrying strap, Eyepiece cover
- Cables Included 1 x USB cable, 1 x Video cable
Power
- Power Device None
Battery
- Supported Battery CR-V3
- Supported Battery 2 x CR-V3
Manufacturer Warranty
- Service & Support 1 year limited warranty
Product series
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ist DS SLR Digital Camera with SMCP-DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL AF Zoom Lens
Manufacturer: Pentax
Specs: SLR, 6.1 megapixels, 12x, 2 in LCD display
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Manufacturer: Pentax
Specs: SLR, 6.1 megapixels, 2 in LCD display
Manufacturer info
- Pentax
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Pentax products on Shopper.com
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- Address:
35 Inverness Drive East, Englewood, CO - Phone: 1-800-877-0155
- Fax: 303-799-9213
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