The Resident Genius
Member
I finally broke down and registered after lurking on this forum for months.
I wanted to share with all what I have discovered about the DS in the first three days I have played with it. I do not have a photo site yet so I will describe my results only. This is my first real digital, cut me some slack.
In case anyone is wondering, I got mine through my local camera dealer within an hour after they got it delivered. Talk about a leap of faith.
1. I have the 18-55 DA lens, in addition to a pale assortment of old manual glass that LBA'ers would sniff at, and all are easy to focus and use even in incredibly low light. Last night I took photos using a flickering candle as light source for exposures from 1 to 20 seconds at 18 and 45mm (not full zoom) at iso 200 using the widest aperture available and BRIGHT setting. I don't care about high iso but I can say 800 did produce noise, go figure from a flickering light source! AF was unable to find a focus in such low light. I gave up and focused manually without problem. The AWB was too orange for my taste, it looked like a warm glowing fire on long exposures, but the tungsten setting somehow managed to make everything look like it was lit by a neutral light source, also interesting. Vignetting obviously wouldn't apply in a photo taken in the dark. Photos taken under a tungsten light source were not properly balanced by AWB. I had to set it to tungsten to get optimum results.
2. The view finder is big and easy to see through. I tried all the DSLRs under $2000 and this one is the best by far. I am so used to manual cameras I kept trying to use the top display, which does not light up unlike the D, until I realized how easy and intuitive the controls were through the lens. In 5 minutes I had the controls down and was taking pictures in near darkness by touch and viewfinder alone. That is the way it should be. I don't need a histogram until I review an image so that is fine by me. The brightness and clarity of the rear display is a true joy compared to most P&S and DSLR cameras out there. I never felt any major functions were deeply buried. The photo review feature made it easy to see settings, histogram, etc. I use a KX and ME as my film cameras because I am cheap, destructive, and an amateur at best in my imagery. I like these old cameras also because they are small and light. The DS is thicker than my ME, but only the batteries make it feel heavier. The curled grip made me immediately wish for one on my film cameras. My hands are average size and it felt right. I would rather carry the DS than my KX any day. It didn't feel cheap the way the Dreb does or bulky like the D70 or similar Dbricks. I want to take photos not weight lift.
3. I was stopping down my manual lens no problem - Mitakon 28mm 2.8, Pentax 50mm 1.4 and 1.7, and Sigma 70-300mm 4-5.6 POS special. Only the Sigma has an A setting and it won't report the lens length in that mode. I haven't played too much with them on the DS because I wanted more to try the 18-55.
4. I like the SD format. Nothing I will do could tax the maximum transfer rate of SD or CF, but SD's cheaper, smaller, and perhaps less power hungry (techno geeks let's hear it). The access doors for the card is spring loaded and released by a recessed slide switch. The card is easy to remove, unlike the D and some other cameras. The door for the AV connections and AC adapter is opened directly. Both doors are of the same material as the body, sturdy and well constructed, thankfully not rubber. The battery compartment is more difficult to open than I care for. For all you proprietary LI-ion cell devotees, I hope you consider the advantage of a universally available power source that provides nominally similar results for the majority of users. If you are so clumsy to have AA batteries drop out of your pockets tape them in pairs, ready for use. How many people will take more than 400 flash photos (the rated usage for Ni-mh) in a day or two? Another post asked about battery life in the cold. I was outside for 90 minutes in -10 C weather taking photos of the mountains silhoutted behind my house (Watch out Pentax Challenge 3!). I considered using my camera to keep me warm. Seriously, it doesn't warm up, but performed fineNot including the Ac adapter is a bit of a bummer.
This post is way too long already. If anyone encourages me to write further or has any questions other than noise levels at high iso, I'll be happy to test for you.
--
Wisdom on request
I wanted to share with all what I have discovered about the DS in the first three days I have played with it. I do not have a photo site yet so I will describe my results only. This is my first real digital, cut me some slack.
In case anyone is wondering, I got mine through my local camera dealer within an hour after they got it delivered. Talk about a leap of faith.
1. I have the 18-55 DA lens, in addition to a pale assortment of old manual glass that LBA'ers would sniff at, and all are easy to focus and use even in incredibly low light. Last night I took photos using a flickering candle as light source for exposures from 1 to 20 seconds at 18 and 45mm (not full zoom) at iso 200 using the widest aperture available and BRIGHT setting. I don't care about high iso but I can say 800 did produce noise, go figure from a flickering light source! AF was unable to find a focus in such low light. I gave up and focused manually without problem. The AWB was too orange for my taste, it looked like a warm glowing fire on long exposures, but the tungsten setting somehow managed to make everything look like it was lit by a neutral light source, also interesting. Vignetting obviously wouldn't apply in a photo taken in the dark. Photos taken under a tungsten light source were not properly balanced by AWB. I had to set it to tungsten to get optimum results.
2. The view finder is big and easy to see through. I tried all the DSLRs under $2000 and this one is the best by far. I am so used to manual cameras I kept trying to use the top display, which does not light up unlike the D, until I realized how easy and intuitive the controls were through the lens. In 5 minutes I had the controls down and was taking pictures in near darkness by touch and viewfinder alone. That is the way it should be. I don't need a histogram until I review an image so that is fine by me. The brightness and clarity of the rear display is a true joy compared to most P&S and DSLR cameras out there. I never felt any major functions were deeply buried. The photo review feature made it easy to see settings, histogram, etc. I use a KX and ME as my film cameras because I am cheap, destructive, and an amateur at best in my imagery. I like these old cameras also because they are small and light. The DS is thicker than my ME, but only the batteries make it feel heavier. The curled grip made me immediately wish for one on my film cameras. My hands are average size and it felt right. I would rather carry the DS than my KX any day. It didn't feel cheap the way the Dreb does or bulky like the D70 or similar Dbricks. I want to take photos not weight lift.
3. I was stopping down my manual lens no problem - Mitakon 28mm 2.8, Pentax 50mm 1.4 and 1.7, and Sigma 70-300mm 4-5.6 POS special. Only the Sigma has an A setting and it won't report the lens length in that mode. I haven't played too much with them on the DS because I wanted more to try the 18-55.
4. I like the SD format. Nothing I will do could tax the maximum transfer rate of SD or CF, but SD's cheaper, smaller, and perhaps less power hungry (techno geeks let's hear it). The access doors for the card is spring loaded and released by a recessed slide switch. The card is easy to remove, unlike the D and some other cameras. The door for the AV connections and AC adapter is opened directly. Both doors are of the same material as the body, sturdy and well constructed, thankfully not rubber. The battery compartment is more difficult to open than I care for. For all you proprietary LI-ion cell devotees, I hope you consider the advantage of a universally available power source that provides nominally similar results for the majority of users. If you are so clumsy to have AA batteries drop out of your pockets tape them in pairs, ready for use. How many people will take more than 400 flash photos (the rated usage for Ni-mh) in a day or two? Another post asked about battery life in the cold. I was outside for 90 minutes in -10 C weather taking photos of the mountains silhoutted behind my house (Watch out Pentax Challenge 3!). I considered using my camera to keep me warm. Seriously, it doesn't warm up, but performed fineNot including the Ac adapter is a bit of a bummer.
This post is way too long already. If anyone encourages me to write further or has any questions other than noise levels at high iso, I'll be happy to test for you.
--
Wisdom on request
Only kidding I know it is so subjective...
)) or whatever you call it