Home > Consumer Reviews > Pentax *IST DS - Digital SLR & 18-55mm DA Lens [6.1Mp]

I bought this in preference to the Canon 350D, which is about the same size and weight, so that I could use my old Pentax lenses. I compared the two cameras quite closely and felt that the general build quality was better on the Pentax, and it has a brighter viewfinder too. The Pentax is only 6 Megapixels, yes, but do you really want prints bigger than A3, or the ability to crop images heavily? The advantage of 6 MP is that you get more shots on your SD card, and the data is processed faster too.

I've been using the DS for 3 months now and am very happy with it. The 18-55 kit lens is pretty good for the money - better than the 350D equivalent - and the camera controls are simple and neatly set out. If you update the firmware to version 2 (via the Pentax UK website) a few more features are added. The DL is also a nice camera but the viewfinder in the DS is better. Both these models are dropping in price because new versions are on the way, but I don't think there will be a significant difference in their capabilities, apart from a larger LCD monitor.

The DS is a great entry-level DSLR, which is actually quite sophisticated when you start to look closely at it, and the backward compatibilty with the lenses is a real plus, since over the years Pentax have produced many superb lenses.

I bought the ist*DS last June (my birthday!)and have since taken several thousand shots. My main reasons for buying the Pentax was that I could use my Pentax lenses from my film SLR and the SD cards from my Kodak DX6490.I take mainly urban and nature pictures and I'm very pleased with the results from the ist*DS. Since buying my first digital in 2000 I've been waiting for a chance to use my Pentax lenses in digital. Digital SLRs are still pretty expensive, but if you're used to the flexabality of SLRs then it's worth the money to be able to control exposure, focal length etc in detail. The ist*DS is light weight, sturdy and a pleasure to hold and take pictures with. The results are as good as I have come to expect in 30 years of using Pentax products. The supplied manual is a 200 page epic (all in English) and covers everything. All in all I would recomend the camera to anyone thinking of making the switch from film to digital SLR.

Have had this for 12 months. Excellent camera. Same sensor as Nikon D70 but the camera is smaller and more compact. Better viewfinder. very easy to use. Excellent results up to A3 printing.
More robust than Pentax DL.
Can use JPEG or even better RAW images.
Can use all your old Pentax film lenses ... or if you dont have them you can buy excellent lenses for next to nothing. Worth buying with kit lens. However as with other kit lenses these are not quite as goood as other lenses

I took delivery of the silver version of this camera last week and had it up and running in as long as it takes to fit the lens, batteries and sd card (pity one of these isn't included in the package)...if you have used digital before you will be snapping in minutes the pictures recorded look ok on the pc screen ..."I use a card reader so didn't load the included software..am just waiting some new paper to try an A3+ print.
The unit is a nice size for medium to large hands and feels rugged once connected to lens/batts, is quite but not too heavy.. shop around they are quite cheap to find and it will do all that most want from a camera

I bought an *Ist DS recently after comparing the Nikon D70 and Cannon 300D, having used Pentax SLR's before I tried to be as unbiased as possible, I liked the Nikon, build quality was good and the lens looked as if it upheld the finest Nikon traditions. But when it came to the Cannon I found myself disliking it intensly, it looked and felt cheap and tacky after the Nikon and Pentax, (It was actually considerably cheaper than the other two,) Readily available rechargeable batteries and cheap SD cards, Lenses and such finaly swayed me to the *IST DS, and fter buying the Pentax with 18-55 lens I can report that I am more than satisfied, it's a fantastically versatile piece of kit when you get used to it, backward compatability wasn't an issue for me, I bought a new long Zoom to go with the 18-55 and have taken some fanastic photos, update the firmware to version 2.0 for still more facilities.