Main reason I won't ever touch a *ist ds is the absurd placement of metering mode / flash compensation / focus point selection which are more than 6 clicks away through the menus. The software designers in their infinite wisdom decided that image attributes - size, tone, saturation etc. are more important settings that the photographer will fiddle with more often, hence they're at the beginning of the menu. I think I know what Pentax problem is: the imaging division must abound in all kind of qualifications except for photographer.
Overall I strongly disagree with this trend of delegating more functionality in the recording mode of the LCD menu. All photographic functions should be available externally and at worst display feedback on a top, small LCD. The *ist ds is basically unusable in dark, when making the slightest adjustment forces the photographer to look at the LCD and his degraded night vision will require long minutes to recover. The former (?) *ist d is a bit better in this regard but its operation is still closer to a computer than to a real camera. Servus, Alin Christian wrote: C> Just out of curiosity, what essential photographic functions are buried in C> obscure LCD menus on the D or Ds? C> Here's what's essential to me: aperture control (back wheelie thing on ist C> D). Shutter speed control (front wheelie thing on *ist D). Focus ring (yep C> all lenses have one). Shutter button thingy (both D and Ds have one) C> ISO sensitivity (as easy to set on the D as it is on the LX or MX). And last C> on a digi-body, file type/quality setting (I shoot RAW 100% of the time and C> it's easy to set and not "burried" in a menu on the D; on the 20D it IS C> buried in the menu, but again it makes no difference to me because I set it C> once and never change it). C> nothing else needed to take a picture. C> Christian
