Pentax *ist DS2

By Lisa Gidley, CNET.com
Apr 4, 2006

As Pentax's top player in the tightly competitive field of consumer digital SLRs, the *ist DS2 is essentially a slightly upgraded and repackaged version of the company's successful *ist DS. The DS2's only significant difference from its earlier sibling is a larger color LCD, supersized from 2 inches in diameter to 2.5 inches, the new standard in prosumer digital SLRs.

But smart companies know that major overhauls aren't always necessary. Like the DS, the Pentax *ist DS2 is a relatively light but robust and easy-to-navigate digital SLR, with 6- megapixel resolution, an impressively bright viewfinder, responsive 11-point autofocus, and a wide array of advanced automatic and manual features that should please longtime SLR enthusiasts without befuddling newcomers.

The picture quality is generally solid, with minimal noise at typical settings and nearly no chromatic aberration. A minor weakness is the DS2's erratic automatic white balance, but overall, the DS2 is a hearty, well-performing, intuitive, and easy-to-handle camera. For those approaching the dSLR market with a bag of Pentax lenses--or no lenses at all--it's a camera to consider.

Editors' note: The Pentax *ist DS2 is currently available in Malaysia and Australia by Shriro.

Design
SLRs of both the film and digital varieties are never truly compact, but the Pentax *ist DS2's design is relatively streamlined, with a width of 125mm, a height of 92.5mm, and a depth of 67mm (not counting a lens). It weighs just more than 680g loaded with two CR-V3 Lithium-ion batteries and an SD memory card. It's easy to grip, thanks to a nonslip texture for your right hand to wrap around as well as a contoured thumbrest.

Like all modern SLRs, the DS2 has a fair array of buttons and dials spread around its body; with a little use, it's apparent that they're logically arranged. Many basic setup functions are accessed via an all-encompassing menu button on the left-rear side; more frequently adjusted shooting features, such as ISO, drive mode, color balance, and flash modes, are reached via a function button with a four-way control pad and an Ok button. A scene-mode dial atop the camera's left side lets you choose automatic scene settings or aperture-priority, shutter-priority, or manual exposures; a dial on the right-hand side allows for aperture, shutter-speed, and exposure-compensation adjustments.

The camera's top also features a standard electronic flash with a slide-out hotshoe cover, a shutter release with a power switch/depth-of-field preview control, a monochrome status LCD, and a button that you use in conjunction with the back-panel command dial to set exposure compensation. On the camera's front, you'll find the lens mount and a switch to move between auto- and manual focus.

The back panel is dominated by the crisp, 210,000-pixel, 2.5-inch color LCD monitor, which you use to review your shots as well as to choose settings using the menu and function buttons. Besides the menu and function buttons, the back panel also features a flash pop-up button, a play button to switch the camera from shooting mode to review mode, a trash button, and an info button that reveals all of your current settings--if you're in shooting mode--or a particular shot's histogram and other settings (if you're reviewing photos). When you're in review mode, the function button also allows you to apply filters to photos you've already shot, set up printing options, or begin a slide show.

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