Paul Stenquist informed us:
The *ist DL gets a nice brief review and picture in the New York Times
today. The author gives kudos to Pentax for backward lens
compatibility. Very nice. It's on page C8 in the national edition.
Let's give Pentax marketing and PR full marks. This dovetails very nicely
with their new advertising
For those of you without easy access, here's the text of the NYTimes story:
Nice Fit: Old Lens on a New Digital S.L.R.
Ian Austen
Owners of single-lens reflex film cameras often find there is a catch when
they try to use their lens collection on new digital camera bodies: with
some brands, the old lenses simply will not fit. Others accept the lenses
but do not offer any light metering when they are attached.
A new $800 digital S.L.R. from Pentax, the oddly named *ist DL, accepts
every lens Pentax has made for its 35-millimeter cameras, although adapters
are required in some cases. Pentax also offers adapters for lenses
originally made for its larger-format film cameras. The *ist DL's light
metering system will work with older lenses, although it may not always
operate in automatic mode.
The 6.1-megapixel *ist DL is similar to Nikon's recently introduced D50 and
Canon's Digital Rebel XT because it shares many parts and specifications
with the company's more expensive digital cameras. To lower its price, which
includes an 18-55 millimeter zoom lens, a few higher-end features have been
removed or altered. For example, instead of using a prism to straighten out
the viewfinder image, the *ist DL uses a less sophisticated series of
mirrors. But the camera's display screen, at 2.5 inches, is big.
It's accompanied by a picture of the not yet released DL.
Larry in Dallas
