Well here they are. I had 10 people respond, which is what we had in our last
Municipal
Election, LOL,
but hopefully this will be helpful.
I was hoping to here from more people who had complains about the camera,but
they did not
want to
play I suppose.:-)
Answers follow the >>>
1-Why did you buy a Pentax *istD.
>>8 already had lots of glass (80%)
>>1 was love at first sight
>>2 were tired of scanning, plus had glass
>>1 thought it would be a good snapshot camera at least
2-Have you previously owned other digital cameras, either P&S or DSLR
>>90% plus have had at least a P&S digital,1 even had an Optio 330
>>The rest had not owned a P&S digital
2A-Did you try or purchase other brands of DSLRS prior to or since buying the
*istD
>>Not much of a response to the reword of this, but, 1 person tried TVV�s 10d
>>which was
liked, but
not the >>D100 which he also tried, and 1 tried a 10d for a day.
3-Did you compare printed quality of the D to scanned images before and or
after the
purchase..
>>65% compared and commented the D is much superior to the scan. The rest did
>>not compare
or
called >>me names, LOL Scanning techniques were not brought into the equation
here.
4-What problems have you had with the D. Was service satisfactory.(asking this
to see if
the camera
has constant faults of one nature or another)
>>99% have stated no problems. Someone had a faulty DOF lever and fixed it.
>>Several
complaints
about >>AF in low light.
>>I was surprised no mention of the battery problems. I know several have asked
>>questions
when
>>batteries are in both camera and grip, reporting low levels when fresh
>>batteies are
used, camera
shutting >>off etc.
5-What do you like about the images printed from the camera.
>>General consensus is: No grain, low noise even at ISO 800, do not look
>>�digital, and
sharpness is
good.
>>Seems 100% who answered enjoy their images.<g>
6-What DON�T you like about the images printed from the camera.
>>10% say resolution not as good as film
>>10% say to expensive to print
>>10% say reprints with blown out areas don�t look as good as film.
>>The rest have no complains/comments or need to be better photographers. LOL
7-What lenses, Pentax or other, do you find work well with your camera/shooting
style.(sharpness etc)
>>Hummm. A very broad range here. Not very good for a percent answer.
>>Many are happy with primes from 28 to 50mm, with fast aperture, DA 16-45.
>>Many are happy
with
>>certain Tamron(28-75 f 2.8)Tokina 80-200 f2.8Sigma 55-200f3.5-5.6, F and FA
>>zooms lenses
are a
hit. >>Vivitar 400 f5.6, Tamron 20o f 3.5, the 31 and 354mmand macro lenses
received good
marks to.
>>Notable mentions to Pentax: 17-28, 28-80, F70-210, F 20o f 4, ed macro, 300
>>f4.5, 600 f
4 and 1.4,
1.7 x >>converters. Phewww that was long.<g>
7a- What lenses, Pentax or other, do you find DO NOT work well with your
camera/shooting
style.
(sharpness etc)
>>30% mention the wides are not wide enough now.
>>10% mention slower than 2.8 is a problem
>>1% say long primes bring chromayic aberation
>>1% mention Sigmas 15 f 2.8
>>1% mention FA 24/2 and FA135/2.8 worked weel on film bodies but not the
>>digital body.
>>The rest say all is well with the lenses they own.
8-Has digital taken the place of 35mm film shooting for you
>>50% yes they shoot no film
>>49% say they shoot film if hi res is needed or important work
>>1% said nope.
9-Do you still shoot film, if so what format(s)
>>35mm slide 2
>>35mm film 2
>>B&W-MF or 35mm 3
>>LF 1
>>IR 1
>>6x6 slides 3
>> A few people still shot more than one format still, thus it does not add up
>> to 100%.
10-How do you post process.(PS, Corel etc)
>>PS seems to be the biggy here either Version 7.0 or CS. One uses older
>>version�s that
I�ll assume is
5.5 or 6.0
>>Others used (and they seems to be divided equally over the 10 replies) are:
>>Breese Browser, C1LE, Picturewindow Pro, FixPhoto, Ulead, PhotoImage, Image
>>Majic,
Photolab >>
(Pentax Raw), ACDSee for Tiff-Jpg conversions.
11-Do you shoot RAW or JPEG or what is needed for the job at hand.
>>RAW 40%
>>JPG 40%
>>BOTH 19%
>> WHATS NEEDED 1%
>> I noted some shot jpg ONLY if non critical work is being shot, or if they
>> have a LOT of
images they
>>want to shoot. One was to cheap to spring for another 1GIG card.<vbg>
11a-How big have you printed with quality you are happy with.
>> 20x30 1
>> 12x18 3
>> 4x6 1
>> 8x10 3
>> 8x12 2
>>11x14 1
>>15x112cm pano 1
>> 13x19 1
12-How do you rate flash shooting.
>>Good 2
>>Medium 2
>> Bad1
>>Non using 3
>>Interesting replies. Some hate it, others have had good results. The AF360
>>either does
ok or sucks.
The >>AF400 seems to be well suited for weddings and the AF 360 for fill.
>> I am surprised that to get decent results and ISO of 400 is needed. I know
>> Nikon and
Canon had
very >>bad TTL in their earlier DLSR models but seem to have come up with a
decent set of
working�s
with the >>D2h and D70. Hopefully Pentax will address this soon.
13-If a Pentax rep stopped by your house, what would you like to tell him/her
to fix or
change or add..
>>Oh boy.Lots of answers on this one..LOL..
>>Bigger file sizes and better softeware.( x 3)
>>Bigger buffer, ISO in finder or better spot that having to fumble finding it..
>>Increase profile of green button, 4 way buttons, pz linkage.
>>Histogram in �show picture after� and blown hilite blinkies, and picture
>>remaining till
card full function.
>>Better AF in low light
>>USB2 and better cable, Tv dial to close to ON/OFF, lighter weight??
>>AE for K and M
>>Firm ware update to fix sharpness, autorotate in vert position
14-What do you use the D for mostly ie: Portraits, sports, weddings etc.
>>Pretty wide gamut here. From weddings to portraits to landscapes to air
>>photos, sports
and general
photography.
Thanks to those who responded. Shel I hope this helps.
Dave Brooks
