It has to be recognised that digital is different, for many it will always be a supplementary method of creating pictures, but I believe it is mature enough, and the *istD reliable enough and good enough, to justify taking it up. It certainly is a well-made camera: Ryan made the switch to Canon because he had focussing problems with a Sigma lens, not because the *istD was otherwise unsatisfactory. Many of the other issues that people have had sound to me like typical software and electronics problems which are easily (and very quickly) fixed by resetting the camera.
HTH
John Coyle
Brisbane, Australia
----- Original Message ----- From: "Shel Belinkoff" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, November 12, 2004 2:12 AM
Subject: Concerns About Moving to Digital (Quality of istD)
I have some concerns about moving to digital, not as a replacement for film but as a supplemental system. Having been reading many digi-threads here, one thing keeps popping up: the various problems people have been having with the istD. The idea of buying a camera and then working through software and quality control issues, problems of all sorts, downloading glitches, memory cards that fail, just seems to defeat the purpose of a camera and lessen the experience of photography for me. I'm not particularly interested in solving "computer" problems when out making photographs, and have never really had many problems in all the years I've been shooting film: One battery problem with an ME Super, a sticky shutter release on an MX (solved by whapping the camera against the palm of my hand), and an LX with sticky mirror. Apart from a friend dropping one of my Leicas and needing to replace the rangefinder unit, those are the only problems I've encountered since 1968 .... oh, my original Spotmatic had to have the meter calibrated.
Are these problems typical of the Pentax dslr, or are there just a few
people here with such problems who post a lot looking for help in resolving
these issues. From what I gather most of the regulars here are using an
istD. How many have had NO problems with their cameras, software, memory
cards, or what have you? Who has had serious problems, where the cameras
has had to go in for repair, or be replaced, within a year or less after
purchase? Who has had a problem, regardless of what it was, that caused a
loss of images, or prevented a shooting session from being completed?
I've had my little Sony for 18 months or so, maybe more, and have not had a
single glitch with it. I just put in a card, make sure the battery has
juice, and point and shoot merrily all day long. Can that be expected from
the Pentax istD?
Shel
