It is Pentax second digital SLR and it continues their position of having the smallest and lightest DSLR on the market today. The extremely compact *ist Ds features a 6.1 effective megapixel CCD sensor - the same as used in Nikon's D70 - and a large 2.0" LCD monitor which occupies a large part of the rear of the camera. Good news for Pentax users of the pre-digital era is that the istDs is backwards compatible with most older Pentax K, KA, KAF and KAF2 mount lenses, albeit with some limitations in metering or functionality.

Specifications

 More information :  Announced 13-Sep-04 
 Max resolution   :   3008 x 2008
 Low resolution   :   2400 x 1600, 1536 x 1024
 Image ratio w:h  :    3:2
 Effective pixels  :    6.1 million
 Sensor photo detectors  :    6.3 million
 Sensor size   :   23.5x 15.7 mm
 Sensor type   :   CCD
 Colour filter array   :   RGB
 Sensor manufacturer  :    Sony
 ISO rating   :   200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200
 Zoom wide (W)  :    n/a
 Zoom tele (T)  :    n/a
 Digital zoom   :   No
 Image stabilization  :    No
 Auto Focus   :   Yes
 Manual Focus  :    Yes
 Auto focus type  :    TTL 11-area AF
 Normal focus range   :   n/a
 Macro focus range   :   n/a
 White balance override   :   7 positions, plus manual
 Aperture range  :    n/a
 Min shutter   :   30 sec + Bulb
 Max shutter   :   1/4000 sec
 Built-in Flash   :   Yes
 Flash guide no.       
 External flash   :   Yes, hot-shoe
 Flash modes   :   Auto, On, Off, Red-eye reduction
 Exposure compensation  :    -3 EV to +3 EV in 0.5 or 0.3 EV steps
 Metering   :   Multi-segment (16), Center-weighted Average, Spot
 Aperture priority   :   Yes
 Shutter priority   :   Yes
 Focal length multiplier    :  1.5
 Lens thread   :   Pentax KAF2, KAF, KA mount
 Continuous Drive   :   Yes, 2.8 fps up to 8 images
 Movie Clips   :   No
 Remote control    :  Yes, IR or Wired
 Tripod mount  :    Yes
 Self-timer  :    Yes, 2 or 12 sec
 Timelapse recording    :  No
 Orientation sensor   :   No
 Storage types :     SD/MMC card
 Storage included    :  None
 Uncompressed format   :   RAW
 Compressed format  :    JPEG (EXIF 2.2)
 Quality Levels   :   Normal, Fine, Superfine
 Viewfinder   :   TTL
 LCD   :   2.0 "
 LCD Pixels    :  210,000
 Video out   :   Yes
 USB  :    Yes
 Firewire (IEEE 1394)   :   No
 Battery / Charger  :    No
 Battery  :    AA (4) batteries (NiMH recommended)
 Weight (inc. batteries)   :   605 g (21.3 oz)
 Dimensions   :   125 x 93 x 66 mm (4.9 x 3.7 x 2.6 in)
 Notes   :   SLR body only, no lens

Review

The top screen of the main menu now gives instant access to tone, resolution and quality level settings, as well as saturation, sharpness and contrast controls. Where the *ist D had all its settings on one menu, the *ist DS now has separate menus for playback and set-up, as well as a new ‘function’ menu accessed by pressing the ‘Fn’ button. This gives quick access to drive mode, white balance, ISO and flash modes, somewhat similar to the system used on most Olympus cameras.
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