on 11/20/03 2:28 PM, David Madsen at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > I am feeling a bit week, but not quite broken. I am in lust with the *istD, > but do not have enough money. My question for the owners of this fine > camera is, should I sell my film equipment to purchase the D? I have an > MZ-S, FA 100mm f2.8 macro, FA* 85mm f1.4, and an FA 50mm f1.4. I also have > a Mamiya C330f with 80mm f2.8 lens. Should I sell this stuff to go digital? > I obviously like fast lenses. My primary subject is portrait/people > photography. I would appreciate any input all of you may have. > > David Madsen > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://www.davidmadsen.com > > My advice - don't change.
I bought the *ist-D. It generally meets my expectations, in some ways exceeds my expectations. I will probably use the *ist-D 10 times more often than my Optio 330RS (now my wife's except when I need to borrow it back for a trip). I will probably use the *ist-D 15-20 times more often than my MZ-S. I plan to sell my remaining Pentax 645 gear. So you can see, I am not adverse to change, and I am not against the *ist-D. Nevertheless, I still say, don't change. I have the advantage that I was able to finance my *ist-D through the sale of many of the lenses and camera bodies I had gradually accumulated. I did NOT have to sell the MZ-S. If I had to give up film to move to digital, I would wait. Film is arguably better for many purposes, it is a known media for you and your local processor. The advantages of digital (quick feedback on shots, variable ISO, some advantages with respect to the finished product) are not yet adequate to abandon film, IMHO. On the other hand, I think my old SMC-K 55/1.8 will be a nice portrait lens on the *ist-D, the FA 20-35/4.0 is a nice moderate-wide-to-normal zoom, the FA 77 is a pleasant reintroduction to short telephotos [effective length of about 115mm], and my other lenses provide similar new perspectives for me to explore. But I still say you should stick with your very capable film camera and wait for the second or third generation Pentax DSLR before making the switch. Meanwhile, I will say that one of my surprises is to find how good my Optio is. I had expected major major improvement given both the larger megapixel electronic "film" in the *ist-D and also the limitations of a P&S camera. But the *ist-D shots so far are really not all that great an improvement. Which is to say, you can satisfy your digital urge relatively cheaply with one of the Pentax digital P&S cameras while waiting for a future DSLR... Stan
