After a couple of days of playing, I love this camera. Its a joy to use, and pretty much all I had hoped it would be (if not more). I find it very easy coming from the *istD; its pretty close in operation. Its fast, and I'm very happy with the images I've seen from it so far. Thats not to say I love everything about it, but overall I'm happy with it.
Here's some things I specifically do or don't like (mostly compared to my *istD): Things I like: * I'm pretty happy with the image quality in general, though I've not done extensive low light tests yet. * Its fast. Card writing, viewing images, etc. is all very snappy. * Autofocus is vastly better in low light to my *istD * Being able to show buffer space left on shutter half-depress is a nice feature * The ability to set it to switch to flash WB when the flash is used * Did I mention its fast? * I find the AF selector a lot easier than the slide switch on the *istD. * The 4-way button thing is much nicer than the *istD one * Being able to set the 'AF' button to cancel AF is nice, but see below... * The SR is cool, but see below... * Compressed PEFs are a godsend, particularly coming from the original *istD * Same cable release socket as *istD * Rear IR sensor for remote Things I don't like: * Its a bit big for my liking * Even in situations where it would autofocus fine without it (and does, if I test it), with the flash up it still does its strobe assist thing * The MTF programme line still refuses to use all apertures on my primes (ie, no F1.4 on the FA50/1.4) * Auto ISO when using flash seems to select a higher ISO than I'd have thought it needed. Its almost like it chooses ISO based on the (dark) scene, then holds back the flash power to compensate. I always seem to wind up with the highest ISO I've set in my auto range. I'd rather see it only boost the ISO if the flash isn't strong enough at full power. * Cancelling AF with the 'AF' button stops it doing AF, and show "MF" in the finder... but doesn't disengage the motor drive. So Manual Focusing is still not really possible, except with a DA-style clutch lens * I'm not always confident the SR is working. I can't hear it, and many tests I've done have been inconclusive. Sometimes the SR shot is less sharp than the regular one, but in other cases its vastly better. I'm not sure if I'm just not used to it, or if its not working reliably in my camera. * Yet another non-standard mini-USB connector. Its not the same as my *istD, and its not the same as any other camera I have (both the others having regular mini USB) - yes I realise it carries the video out as well, but I'd rather another connector, or no video out, and a standard mini USB. * The Auto WB doesn't seem to deal well with tungsten lighting. In fact the manual even says it only auto corrects from about 4000K-8000K (tungsten is around 2850K) - Peter Loveday -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
