The UK magazine 'Photography Monthly' reviews the Pentax *ist in the August issue.
Overall it is a favourable review for the new camera, the "whats bad" items are:- HANDLING:- 'light spill from the AF points irritating' EASE OF USE:- 'Very little to complain about' FEATURES:- 'Little missing to be honest' PERFORMANCE:- 'The AF and shutter are relatively loud' The pluses they give the camera under the above sections far outweigh the minuses. The magazine gives the camera a score of 9/10 A second opinion is given by the magazines technical writer who noted the following:- "The camera does want to always drop the shutter speed down as opposed to the aperture, which can prove tricky for handholding. The mirror does seem very clunky. Maybe the lightweight body has a big part to play in this problem, but even when mounted on a tripod, I could see the whole camera moving when firing." As regard the above points use of shutter priority would overcome the first problem and using the mirror lock should ensure minimal movement of the camera when mounted on a tripod. In its VERDICT panel one small quote is:- "The Pentax *ist represents a major improvement over the MZ-series cameras. In fact, bar the semi-pro MZ-S model, it's the best Pentax 35mm SLR on the market." One final quote from the magazines technical writer:- "With a digital version of this camera on the way, could the *ist range of cameras be the new EOS? Only time will tell. As an owner of an *ist I am happy with the features that the camera has but it can be improved as regards AF and mirror noise, lets hope that Pentax introduce some high end models based on the basic *ist design. Harry -- Harold Owen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
