On Mar 21, 2006, at 11:31 AM, Brian Dipert wrote:
... I was surprised to see little
grumbling about the features that were stripped off the *ist D in
the *ist
DS transition.
I did mention that there were features removed for the DS but that I
never missed them.
To whit (liberally borrowing from
www.dpreview.com/reviews/pentaxistds):
o Custom image sizes
Utterly irrelevant. I always capture with full resolution and full
format, in RAW format.
o TIFF image format option
Again, irrelevant. TIFF is simply JPEG *** without compression,
wastes a lot of space for extremely little gain.
o Hyper-program
Never had it so I don't really know what I'm missing if anything. I
do wish the DS had simple Program-Shift control, like my Sony does.
o Program lines, vs picture modes
o Two additional user memories
Never use picture modes on the DS, never used multiple custom program
settings on my other cameras that had them. The program lines choices
I've never had but I haven't yet seen anything particularly more
relevant than P, Av, Tv, and M exposure modes for my photography.
o Altered metering range
The DS has 1.5 EV less range, 1EV at the bottom and .5 EV at the top.
This is not enough to matter to me .... I don't think I've ever run
into the top of its range, and at the bottom I find guesstimating and
bracketing more successful than metering.
o Two additional manual white balance presets
Since I capture in RAW format exclusively, my cameras are always on AWB.
o wider built-in flash angle of coverage
Neither camera's built in flash is worth much other than for
occasional fill in, and is occluded by a lens hood on a wide angle
lens anyway.
o PC Sync flash terminal
Not a big deal for me, but for some it might be important. An adapter
to a PC sync terminal is easily available, however ... although most
people I know using studio and multiple flash setups use either
slaves or RF triggers rather than PC sync connections.
o Continuous autofocus option in all exposure modes
This was added back to the DS with firmware revision v2.0.
o etc....(what did I forget?)
For those that use them, the powered battery grip on the D is handy.
I don't use them.
The larger, higher resolution LCD, improved write and review
responsiveness, saturation warning display, and lower price of the DS
mean more to me than any of these features.
If you intend to stick with Pentax system in the future and look
forward to buying the new, higher end body in the Fall, buying
another D body now, which likely means buying a couple more CF cards
which will be incompatible with the new body, seems a costly step.
Better to put that money into a DS backup body at half the price and
4G worth of fast SD cards.
Or pay the extra for the D body to have an identical backup and buy
the SD cards anyway. And an SD->CF adapter or two so you can use the
cards in your present D body as well as future bodies.
Godfrey
