Yesterday at the NorCal gathering, Bruce was kind enough to let me use one of his istD cameras. This is the first time I've had a chance to hold and use the camera and get familiar with it. I popped off a couple of shots with John Francis's istD soon after he bought it, but that wasn't much of a test drive for a number of reasons. And I grabbed two or three shots from Juan's camera a few months ago, but that was mainly to see what the view through the finder looked like through my K18/3.5 lens. So, this was for all practical purposes the first time I've held and used and looked at the camera and got to know some of its features and functions.
As noted elsewhere, there was a chance to use a number of lenses. They were, in no particular order, the A50/2.0, the K30/2.8, the K85/1.8, the K18/3.5, a K200/2.5, and a Tamron auto focus 400/5.6. I shot the equivalent of about three rolls of film and had the camera in hand for about six or seven hours. At first I was pretty intimidated by all the bells and whistles, screens, and choices I could invoke. Bruce patiently explained that which I needed to know in order to make photographs. I know there's a lot about the camera I didn't experience, but nothing that I could imagine that would help me take better pictures and use the camera more comfortably. First allow me to address a few concerns that others have expressed. A big complaint is that the CF card is difficult to remove. I did not find that to be the case at all. It's clear that card removal might be an issue for some users, but even with my big fingers and clumsy way of going about handling small objects, removing the card was simple in concept and easy in execution. Had I not just that morning trimmed my fingernails, removal would have been easier still. There's a small lip on the card that you can catch with a fingernail, and, as has been said here many times, Bob's your uncle. Were I to own an istD, I'd just not clip my right thumbnail as short as usual, just like a guitar player sometimes leaves a fingernail or two longer for better string action. There have been numerous complaints (often by those who have never used the camera) that working with pre A series manual lenses would be difficult, and that such use is not intuitive, fast, seamless, or whatever other negative fantasy might gush forth from those ignorant in the ways of the Green Button. It took all of 30 seconds to master the concept, and but a few shots to become reasonably proficient with the technique. Using early manual focus lenses is a piece of cake, and anyone who condemns the method used for so doing, or condemns Pentax for offering a "crippled" camera that is not completely backwards compatible is just makin' noise. And, speaking of backwards compatible, I discovered that even with plain old K-mount, pre A-series, totally outdated and antique optics attached to the new body, the camera will still auto bracket exposures. Pretty cool, if y'ask me. Making the adjustments needed to adjust modes was straightforward and simple, as was accessing the menu. Frankly, I found little wrong with the way the camera functioned. It is very similar to all the manual cameras I've used, and not too dissimilar from the little Sony P&S I sometimes use. I'd say that, apart from anything else the istD is, it's a camera that a manual camera user would get comfortable with rather quickly. A simple turn of the dial, a push of a button, and you're in fully manual mode, and can easily override any meter or exposure settings. The camera felt great in my hand. The ergonomis are as good as the MX and the Leicas that I frequently use. Different, of course, but as good as or better in every case. The body offers good grip, too. Whatever material Pentax has chosen to cover the body with works for me. The camera, sans grip, is easy to hold and use both horizontally and vertically. I did not use the camera with a grip, and I imagine that using it vertically with the grip may even be better for some people. However, I like my cameras small, light, and unencumbered or cluttered, and having just fiddled with Bruce's other camera with the grip attached, I don't think its benefits outweighs its drawbacks for me. The viewfinder surprised me. It was brighter and easier to focus with than I thought it would be. A big plus! It's also not cluttered by too much information ... it is far less distracting to look through the istD finder than it is to look through the LX or ME Super finder. I was also surprised to discover that the camera will provide focus confirmation with the old manual focus lenses. A nice feature for some people. I like the idea because sometimes I like to shoot without my glasses, and if the focus confirmation is reasonably accurate, I can do so and still get a well focused pic. When I see the photos I'll know for myself how well it works. Exposure compensation is easy enough in any mode, and John showed me a little trick using the DOF preview button that provided a quick, unobtrusive readout that you can use to show you if you're over or under normal normal exposure. I can see (literally) that the camera can be operated thriugh numerous functions and changes without ever having to take it down from your eye. It's that easy to operate, and that well laid out. And it can be operated with one hand as the aperture and shutter speed controls are quite easy to use - they're laid out so that my fingers fell readily in place to use them. I'm sure I've overlooked a few things, but I'm sure my enthusiasm for this little jewel is obvious. Of course, liking the camera itself is one thing. The photos are another. Bruce saved my pics on his portable hard drive and will transfer them to DVD or CD and send 'em back to me. It's just like waiting to get prints back from the lab with a film camera <LOL> Im anxious to see the results of the experiments and what can be done with the over and under exposed RAW files. Shel
