Reviews for Pentax DL 6.1 Megapixel Digital SLR Camera Body with Lens Kit - 0.71"-2.17"

A great Digital SLR at this price level!

Strengths: Good size and weight to fit hands, excellent image quality as a Digital SLR at this price level (around $500), 2.5" LCD looks much better than 1.8" and smaller LCDs.

Weakness: Design of the LCD makes it is nicked more easily unless to use some protecting stuff. The LCD can be only used to review but not frame and shoot.

When I tried to find my first digital SLR, I just focused on Nikon D50 kit and Pentax *ist DL kit (both with a 18-55 lens) because of the price I can accept. After a long time waiting (hope the price down),I finally choose the Pentax *ist DL kit.
This Pentax *ist DL SLR is perfect fit for my hands because of its size and weight. Although its using of 4 AA batteries makes its weight rising a littel bit, it still acceptable.
The use of AA batteries, cheap and small SD card, most of old Pentax SLR lens make Pentax *ist DL have a high compatability with accessories.
When I first try to shoot, I find that it has an excellent image quality although its price is less than $600 with kit, so when I find the price of kit down to $500, I jumped in at once. And I am happy with my choice!

PS: There is an online course for the use of Pentax digital SLR, it may be helpful for the person who use Pentax digital SLR at the first time: www.digital.pentax.co....

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Best Value on the Market, Great Entry/Midlevel SLR

Strengths: Inexpensive but not cheap. Wide range of used lenses available, better viewfinder than most, easy to hold, easy to use.

Weakness: Flash seems to give more Red Eye than I expected, auto white balance under incandescent lights leaves orange cast - this is common with a lot of cameras however.

This is a great camera, even my wife thinks so! We love the speed over most of the pocket/point-n-shoots out there. The optical viewfinder is very nice. I looked at the Nikon and the Canon, and was not impressed with their viewfinders.

I've already purchased an old Pentax manual 50mm lens, and its very easy to focus - takes some getting used to of course, but not bad.

All the controls are very straightforward, things make sense. My suggestion as a user, get off of Green/Auto mode - shoot in P mode at least, set the color to "Natural" instead of bright.

Like any purchase, I suggest you try this camera out - I don't think you will be disappointed. To me it felt the best, and does pretty much everything the competition does, just cheaper!

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Great camara

Strengths: Looks,Price and the pictures are great.

Weakness: None for me.I got a PDA screen protector from RadioShack $5 or so.Cut it to fit back and top screen and so far in 4Moths or so of use not one scratch.

I was looking for an SLR Digita camara for a long time (3 Years).I did look at the Canon Rebel and the Nikon D70 and D50 but the rebel was too big.Nikon D70 was also big,the D50 was OK but all of them felt too plastic and also I wanted AA batteries and the SD memory.My thinking is that if for some reason I need batteries. I can go any ware and get them to get me out of trouble.Well I'm glad I waited this camara is perfect for me the pictures are great,is easy to use, it fits in my hands perfectly and it feels solid.The batteries last long too.I got Energizer rechargeable batteries from walmart and sofar have taken 370pics, use the menu plenty for more than two days on and off of course and the camara remains at full bars.It was worth the wait.I recommend this camara to any one looking for a good camara for real recreational photography.

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The Pentax *ist-DL is a great camera

Strengths: Compatibility (with existing lenses, existing flash, existing SD cards, existing rechargeable AA NiMH batteries, etc.), compact size and excellent pictures at a reasonable price.

Weakness: The LCD on the *ist-DL is pretty exposed in the current design and it would be nice if it was slightly recessed to minimize the risk of damage.

I had been looking for a digital SLR for a couple of years (to replace either my Pentax Superprogram or Nikon 2020 film based SLRs), but I was unwilling to pay $800 to $1500 to upgrade. Recently Nikon and Pentax have released 6+ MP cameras at a reasonable price point and I decided to take the plunge. In addition to price, compatibility with my existing gear was a major concern: manual focus lenses (Kiron, Kalimar, Tamron, Sigma); flash attachments; lens filters; tripods; SD memory cards; rechargeable batteries; etc.

I was amazed that the Pentax *ist-DL was compatible with every piece of my existing "Pentax mount" equipment (saving me literally $1000+ dollars) while the Nikon D-50 merely locked up (even with Nikon brand lenses).

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Finally a camera with real manual focusing...

Strengths: Built to last,comfortable, through the lense focusing easy menu choices ,well laid out,can change lenses, fast shooter and thekit lense is not bad at all. Choose a Tamron 28-300 to avoid censor dust

Weakness: Would love the option of using the lcd in the early stages of framing and shooting and not only to view after

This is my first digital slr and I have been prowling for over a year waiting for prices to come down. I,ve owned all the high end prosumer cameras and out grew them and the limits of their functions so when this kit went on sale for $599 on HSN I jumped and landed with a beautiful camera that is inspiring me to do more photography for its own sake. I am pro painter and up until now used camera as a sketching tool. Packed with the tamron lens and the easy to use functions of this camera with ttl I am very pleased.

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Recommended for those ready for

Strengths: Good image quality - Ergonomic design - High compatability with accessories (non-proprietary) - Easy-to-use (with expert capabilities as well) - Low battery consumption

Weakness: Lack of RAW+JPG option - Inability to use LCD for record view* - No motion recording capability** - Battery cover seems flimsy

Despite having owned a half-dozen digital cameras, starting with a 1.3 megapixel Olympus point-an-shoot, I still consider myself a novice at this. I chose to plunge into the digital SLR market for an upcoming trip to Europe, and went with the Pentax *ist DL for its level of value. Reviews touted many of its features as being at--or above--the level of its competitors, at 80% of their price (more or less).

One characteristic that attracted me to the Pentax was its use of common, relatively inexpensive media & batteries, and its ability to use classic Pentax lenses, right out of the box. This meant buying a 2 GB SD card for $88 and 16 NiMH batteries for $20, instead of having to buy a 512MB XD card for the same price, and having to spend $100-$150 for the equivalent amount of "proprietary" batteries.

I was able to turn around and buy a bunch of inexpensive accessories with the dough I saved on the body (with the kit lens), and I bought a pretty good 28-200 zoom lens to go with it.

The camera is generally a breeze to use, with more preset modes than I care to try to use, and plenty of freedom, with aperture and shutter priority modes, as well as fully manual modes. The pictures are fantastic so far, and I am confident that, as I become better able to manually adjust settings, I will continue to improve upon previous shots.

Not having a RAW+JPG setting, where the camera captures the unprocessed RAW image data (at 10MB a pop) and a small compressed JPG version (say 1600x1200) means I can't drop the SD card into my PDA to manage shots while on the road. Others in this "prosumer" realm offer such an option.

The battery cover moves a lot while I am shooting. It doesn't open or anything--it just has a lot of "give" to it. This is more of a potential issue, as opposed to a current defect; it could become something more problematic.

Both the LCD and motion recording "issues" I have referred to as weaknesses appear to be "weaknesses" of the format, itself. In other words, don't knock the *ist DL when comparing it to other DSLRs for these "shortcomings", since it appears to be common to all of these.

Apparently, both the inability to preview image compositions on the LCD screen and the lack of video recording capability are attributable to the way the viewfinder/lens/CCD all interact. Since it is a literal WYSIWYG (what you see . . .) situation--contrary to the case with your average point-and-shoot, there is no intermediate point in the workflow where the lens could send a preview to the LCD.

My guess is that manufacturers could offer this, at the expense of image quality, but they have chosen against this--possibly in large part because those willing to fork out $600+ for a camera have "graduated" beyond 1) using a still camera as a video camera and 2) using an unreliable LCD representation to compose a shot.

Bottom line: I recommend this camera to everyone but the all-out tweak-happy pro type consumer.

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Great value.

Strengths: Quality build, price, largest LCD in its class, lightest in its class.

Weakness: No focus indicator in viewfinder.

The *ist DL is a great camera for sure. It's the lightest in its class, and offers the largest (2.5") LCD. The LCD has high resolution (210K pixels), which makes previewing realistic. You can truly see color rendition and focusing accuracy in the LCD after picture is taken. The only downside is there is no focus indicator in the viewfinder. There are three focus points. But after focus is confirm, there is only a beep sound, so you don't know which of the three has the focus.

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Pentax istDL is a good Digital Camera.

Strengths: Use the popular SD card as memory. Use regular AA batteries. Good pictures with affordable price.

Weakness: The flash light is too bright. My portrait object always closed his or her eyes.

This is my first digital SLR camera. I have a Pentax 35mm autofocus SLR for about 7 years and took a lot of excellent pictures. That is why I choose the *istDL. I like this camera, too. I may use all my old lens from 35mm and accessories with no problem. Picture quality is excellent, too. I could get very large capacity memory for very low price. Recording time much shorter than my other point and shot digital cameras. 6.1MP picture is good enough for me to print out large print without noise. I really like this camera.

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SLR performance for compact price

Strengths: Price, intuitive controls

Weakness: Low light AF, deceptive LCD, mirror flip causes camera shake

I got the Pentax a few days ago. After two years of compacts, I was so ready for a real camera, and what a relief.

It delivers much of what I learned to like about a D70 I used for a while. It feels like the $1000 camera, pulled back just a little bit, evenly in all areas of performance.

A bit smaller. My hands are big and I like the way the larger cameras feel. The things controlling aperture and exposure are clustered around the shutter release and are quite comfy to use. Would have liked to have WB and flash buttons instead of a menu item, but for $500 that's allright.

The shutter is just a little bit slower than I would like and the mirror can really cause some shake. I found some pictures a little blurred that I took at 1/the focal length, steadying myself against a firm support. Shooting off a tripod, when the mirror flips up 2 seconds before the shutter, rectified the problem.

The image quality is great, especially if you like a little bit of softness. If you don't, shoot RAW.

In my first shooting with the camera (flower show), the pictures on the LCD looked like some areas might have been overexposed, so I pulled back the exposure a little and wound up with underexposed photos. You can't really check it on the spot, because the camera has luminosity-only histograms and they are no help to see if the red channel blows out on that tulip! Anyway, many of the shots I thought overexposed came out all right in the end. It just needs a little experimenting.

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Pentax *ist DL

Strengths: chockful of features at an astounding price

Weakness: the strange sounding name, lousy camera control software and USB1.1 (hello ? in this age ?)

well exposed images with the right contrast and saturation levels. sharp lens included with kit. can extend functionality with afforable 3rd party lenses. dont let the dimunitive 6.3mp deter you. The megapixel count is more than sufficient if you can learn to handle this baby. am happy with the purchase

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An Excellent low-budget

Strengths: * Cheapest DSLR available * Compact and lighter than most DSLRS * Compatibility with existing lens * Excellent photo quality

Weakness: * Auto-focus can be slow, especially with moving objects * Raw files are huge!

This is my first DSLR and a very good one. It takes excellent photos and is easy to use. The big size LCD is also a plus. It is also easy to use and fits my hand nicely. It also takes AA rechargeable batteries which is useful when you go out. My only complaint is that auto-focus is a bit slow, especially in low-light condition.

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Great camera

Strengths: Most anyone can use it and take great photos. It is basically point and shoot in the auto mode. I can't believe I can use all my old lenses and flashes that I have for my very old ME Super!

Weakness: The LCD display is very exposed and can be easily damaged. It also gets smudges and finger prints on it and I find my nose print on it after every photo.

Overall, this is a great camera for the price. I find it extremely interesting that Pentax designed this camera to be compatible with my other Pentax film SLR lenses and flashes. I just received it and have only taken a few indoor shots but I can tell right away that I am going to love this camera. I purchased my first digital camera last summer and after years of using an ME SUPER I just couldn't take good photos with the digital camera. I take lots of sports shots of my kids, and I was always 1-2 seconds behind with the Canon Powershot S1 IS. Can't wait to get back to an SLR with digital capabilities.

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The Pentax ist DL is great SLR camera

Strengths: Solid metal body, compatibility with existing lenses, existing compact size and excellent pictures at a reasonable price. Compatible with SD memory.

Weakness: LCD is very exposed and high risk for damage.

I had been looking for a digital SLR for a year and finally I found affordable SLR Pentax digital camera kit for less than $600. Great camera highly recommended! Great pictures!

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Pentax *ist DL

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