there isn't a lot of difference in the bodies, but there is a lot of difference in the lenses. with Canon or Nikon, i get IS/VR and instant manual override of autofocus. with Pentax, there is only one, soon to be two, lenses that will allow that. this weekend's shooting with the *istD has convinced me that the $5K body, of whatever manufacturer that meets my needs, is going to be on my shopping list sooner rather than later. it has to have a high sustained frame rate (say 5fps) with no pausing for writing of files to the card and instant manual override of autofocus with no switches. it has to be supported by a lens line that has long and fast glass with manual focus override without any switches. these are strong requirements. nice to haves are more than 6 megapixels and IS/VR. i'd be willing to compromise on the frame rate and manual focus override if Pentax's $5K body had at least 10 megapixels.
i've had my *istD 8 months and it has paid for itself in saved film processing costs alone in that time. another month or so and i will have saved enough to pay for the 4G Microdrive too. that doesn't even account for having more salable shots, in absolute numbers and in hit rate, resulting in more real and potential income. i look at the misses i have had anyway, a fair number of which were waiting for the camera to write to the card and a fair number because by the time i could override the AF, the animal had moved again, that not spending the money on a higher capability body represents loss of income. using the AF 1.7X on my 400/2.8 has shown me what a good total AF should work like, and except for the two new DA lenses, none of Pentax's other lenses work that way. the 1.7X-400/2.8 combination is too long for anything other than birding, but i still need that type of focus control in other situations. working mostly in MF mode is not an option. Herb.... ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeff Post" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, June 21, 2004 11:47 AM Subject: Re:pentax digital line up (was Re: OT A*85mm for $1,000 (was MX for nearly $400)) > If and when you decide > you need more out of a digital camera then Pentax can provide, you can then > switch camera brands. Is there a big difference between the $1500 DSLRs > from Cannon, Nikon, and Pentax?
