DL purchase?

Ok I'm choosing between the Nikon D50 Olympus E300 and Pentax 1st Dl. Have always been a fan of Pentax but how is this camera. I saw the pictures on the review on the DS and they were not good. Please guide me Pentax room good or bad. Thanks Scott

First you have to make a choice between the 4/3 system and the other two that are utilizing APS-C sized sensors. This is far more important than studying certain camera models.

When done, and if you decide not to use the 4/3 system, get back here in this thread and let's discuss further.

Good luck,

Jonas

While I understand the Evolt uses the 4/3 system my main question is about image qaulity with the pentax. I understand the differences between the cameras spec wise but am looking for people with experience with them. Thanks.

I used to have the E300. If its quality and especially usibility, I would take the E300. However I don't think I would give up ever give up my DL. Its a great camera and as opposed to the E300 which I always left at home, the DL is small enough not be bothersome.

Some day I'll buy another E300, but I will ALWAYS keep the DL. Especially, now that I have my new Tamron, picture quality is top notch.
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--E--

Take a look at today's "Bird Shooting" thread. From beginning to end, there's some stunning photos that show the capability of the sensor. There are many threads with pictures, and a 1/2 hour of browsing them will show you way more than the review you're referencing. There's been a lot of request for sample images, and while people gather the energy to link them again, it shouldn't be hard to find stuff that's already posted.

I've looked at the Canon Rebel, the Nikon and the Olympus... hated the way that all three of them felt. Therefore I am purchasing a Pentax this weekend. I like the way it feels and I think that I'm making a good decision based off the (long) review on this site.

Its rubbish in my opinion, the picture quality in JPEG mode is fine on the DS... In RAW there is no difference but that is admitted...

Seriously printed at A4 converted from RAW or JPEG I see no quality difference, but I prefer RAW for other reasons ;-)

Have a look below, remember these are at 100% which is not the size most people print their JPEG photos, please if you still see a clear difference in image quality then choose the D50...

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond50/page21.asp

If I was going to shoot JPEG, I actually prefer the DS picture quality in this side by side comparison...

------------
Joel - *ist D/SFX
http://www.pbase.com/joele

Just browse this forum a little and you'll find the answer.

I would narrow the choice to DL vs. D50 and I would chose the DL.

Look at the wider picture of the whole system. With Penatx you get the ability to mount high quality lenses in front of the DL without the need to robb a bank.

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Stay away from the dark side

read this thread

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1036&message=17052320

same apply to DL
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Stay away from the dark side

The DS was reviewed with "image tone" set to "Bright", this gives oversaturated, oversharpened and contrasty images with poor detailing (quite much like the results you expects from a p&s digicompact). When the DS (and DS2, DL etc.) are set to "Natural", images are more natural and more lifelike with higher details. But the best option is of course to shoot RAW.

Take care*

Scott Needle said:

Ok I'm choosing between the Nikon D50 Olympus E300 and Pentax 1st
Dl. Have always been a fan of Pentax but how is this camera. I
saw the pictures on the review on the DS and they were not good.
Please guide me Pentax room good or bad. Thanks Scott

Click to expand...

I used to shoot with Pentax 35mm film SLRs back in the 80s and 90s and switched to the Nikon F mount in 2000 because I needed to move to digital for work and Pentax didn't have a DSLR at the time.

I currentlt have the Nikon D1X, D70 and Fuji S2 DSLRs ... and with the price drop of the DL I just picked up the DL kit and am building a small Pentax kit back up "for fun."

The Nikon D50 has a worse viewfinder than the D70 and the D70 viewfinder drove me CRAZY until I finally found a Nikon viewfinder magnifying eyepiece to put on my D70. The S2 is close to the same but for some reason doesn't feel quite as bad. The D1X viewfinder is GREAT.

Now back to Pentax. I was considering getting the DS or DS2 for the huge viewfinder, but it looked dark to me and the DL price drop was just too good. The DL has a smaller viewfinder than the DS but the DL viewfinder is brighter ... and the DL viewfinder is still larger than the D70 viewfinder WITH the magnifying eyepiece!!!

The Olympus E-series cameras have been heavily criticized as having horrible viewfinders ... so that combined with high ISO noise keeps me away.

A viewfinder might not seem like a big deal at first ... but it quickly becomes a big deal when you realize you have to look through it all the time.

I've only had a day to test out the DL with the kit lens, FA 50mm 1.4, and a couple old russian manual focus lenses, but so far I'm happy with this purchase. The DL "feels" better built and more ergonomic than the D70 or D50 ... and the HUGE LCD is a plus. Exposure is right on and ISO noise is VERY much in control (I'd say the DL has better ISO noise performance than my D70). The shutter sound is also less noisy so it doesn't sound as much like a machine gun when you do scontinuous shooting.

Now for the negative. I'd have to say that AF on the DL (even when set to center spot) is a little slower than the D70 (though not by much) and AF is louder than the D1X, D70, or S2. The D70 and D50 do offer one thing that might matter to some when compared to the DL ... better continuous shooting performance. If you need to take a bunch of photos in a short period of time the D70 or D50 will get it done. The DL's continuous shooting isn't bad ... just not as good as the D70 or D50.

I haven't tried a P-TTL compatible flash with the DL yet, so I can't tell you how well the camera deals with hotshoe mounted flash. The D70 (and D50) have top-of-the-line flash metering and work very well with Nikon's latest iTTL flash systems. Flash photos with my D70 and SB800s are a DREAM. I tried a couple of auto flashes on the DL yesterday and the results were good, but nothing spectacular. A P-TTL flash on the DL might give me flash results that rival the D70 and SB800 ... but I don't know.

Overall, I am VERY happy with the DL and I'm glad to be back in the world of Pentax. That said, I'm not getting rid of my Nikon gear. I'm sure the DL is capable of doing some serious work, but I've been using Nikon and Fuji gear since 2000 and I've come to anticipate the quirks of those cameras when working. The DL (at least for now) is just for fun ... when getting the shot doesn't mean my income.

Anyway, if you get the DL I think you will be very happy.

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http://www.jjjphotography.com

I'd dismiss the review shots regarding the DS instantly!

Look for threads by Lance and Darren M for example, pure class

TBH, I haven't heard a bad word said about the DL yet

Good luck with your choice!
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Mr Benn was a cartoon character, popular in the late 70's.
I was not a cartoon character

That doesn't count because Lance has a D
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Don't put all your eggs in one basket, use an egg carton and stop being such a poser.

GMT +9.5

I shoot both a DS (operates same as DL except for a few features) and a Olympus E300. Both are good cameras. Both are built well. I use the Pentax about twice as much as E300. This has nothing to do with larger chip vs smaller chip. It has to do with how straight forward the Pentax menu and controls are. The Olympus is just less well sorted out. It is more point and shoot camera ( small compact cameras) based. It doesn't have a cable release socket without buying a big grip. It doesn't allow having a quick manual focus button and DOF button at the same time. There is a work around but it sure isn't like the Pentax for ease of use. The screen on the Olympus is harder to see ( 1.8") and it has no top lcd screen. I do think the E300 is slightly more comfortable to hold than my DS. The DL is also slightly more comfortable than the DS because of subtle changes to the rear of the grip. These 2 cameras are the most comfortable I have tried. Haven't tried a D50 but didn't care for D70 menus much - may have needed more time with them. The Olympus also has a strange file numbering system that no Oly user has been able to explain yet.
thanks
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barondla

Hi Joel,

Joele said:

Its rubbish in my opinion, the picture quality in JPEG mode is fine
on the DS... In RAW there is no difference but that is admitted...

Click to expand...

I couldn't agree with you more. The following quote from the article you posted really blows me away:

"The D50 shows a clear resolution and detail advantage over the *ist DS, this wasn't unexpected as we have noted the weakness of the processor built into the *ist DS"

Resolution advantage??? They've got to be kidding. Just look at the neck of the vermouth bottle, you can barely read "appointed by her majesty.." on the Nikon image, on the Pentax one you can make out the individual strokes of each letter. The colors on the Pentax are fantastic, whereas the Nikon seems to be suffering a sever lack of contrast and for my taste, very poor colors. I think the only reason you can make out more details on the ist ds image is that the contrast is very high compared to the Nikon. Subjectively, I feel the Nikon image is softer.

I think the Pentax blows the D50 away in this comparison. That could well have more to do with the 50 1.4 than anything else. Shocking that dpreview editors portray all these differences as all being a result of the camera and its resolution. The only true test would be to use the same lens on each camera with an adapter.
Is there pro-Nikon, anti-Pentax bisas here?

I just can't understand where they come up with this jpeg issue. Maybe it's the only thing they could come up with to fault the camera.

-Matt

Thanks Guys this has been very helpful.

The *ist D JPEGs tested fine so it camer as a bit of a shock that the DS JPEGS were not as good. I read in another forum that Pentax has since corrected the problem, so that there is no need to shoot RAW and then convert them to JPEG later to get the maximum sharpness and resolution.

Pentax DSLR cameras have been praised for their film like color quality. They also have the edge in being free from moire, oversharpening artifiacts and back and front focus problems that plague other DSLR cameras.

Joele said:

Its rubbish in my opinion, the picture quality in JPEG mode is fine
on the DS... In RAW there is no difference but that is admitted...

Seriously printed at A4 converted from RAW or JPEG I see no quality
difference, but I prefer RAW for other reasons ;-)

Have a look below, remember these are at 100% which is not the size
most people print their JPEG photos, please if you still see a
clear difference in image quality then choose the D50...

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond50/page21.asp

If I was going to shoot JPEG, I actually prefer the DS picture
quality in this side by side comparison...

------------
Joel - *ist D/SFX
http://www.pbase.com/joele

Click to expand...

What model did they "fix" the JPEG issue?