Pentax to enter budget digital SLR sector with *ist DS

Pentax announce the *istDS digital SLR camera. Offering a compact, lightweight body, simplified operations and an affordable price, the *istDS assures high-quality digital SLR photography, including the advantage of lens interchangeability, to photographers of all levels.

Developed as a sister model of the popular Pentax *istD , this new camera was designed by further advancing Pentax's digital camera development concept of user-friendliness, or a harmony between ease of use and portability.

The *istDS is one of the smallest and lightest digital SLR cameras on the market today - even more compact and lightweight than the Pentax *istD . Despite its compact body, it assures outstanding image quality, thanks mainly to its 6.1 effective megapixels and Pentax-original image processing technology. It is designed to be compatible with most Pentax interchangeable lenses both new and old to meet a wide range of applications and maximize freedom of visual creativity. It also offers a host of advanced and user-friendly features, including a high-magnification viewfinder, a large two-inch color LCD monitor and an LCD data panel, and the innovative Auto Picture mode for automatic selection of the proper exposure program. Offering speedy, effortless operations and great portability, the *ist DS is the ideal digital SLR for all levels of photographers, including first-timer digital SLR users and families.

Major Features

• Compact, go-anywhere design
  Featuring a super-compact, ultra-lightweight body, the *istDS offers outstanding portability to accompany the user anywhere. The combination of many downsizing technologies, including a high-rigidity stainless-steel chassis, multi-layered electronic circuit boards and high-density packaging technology, resulted in this extremely portable body, measuring only 125mm wide, 92.5mm high and 66mm thick and weighing a mere 505 grams without batteries and SD memory card. In fact, it's even smaller and lighter than the acclaimed *istD .
• High-definition, maximum-gradation images with 6.1 effective megapixels
  Thanks to its large, high-performance CCD image sensor, the *istDS offers 6.1 effective megapixels. Coupled with Pentax's original image processing technology, it produces high-definition images rich in gradation and saturation.
• Compatibility with Pentax interchangeable lenses
  The *istDS offers the outstanding benefit of lens interchangeability, allowing the user to take advantage of a wide selection of existing Pentax interchangeable lenses to deal with diversified subjects and applications.**

**Pentax K-, K A -, K AF - and K AF2 -mount 35mm-format lenses can be used without an adapter or modification. Pentax screw-mount 35mm-format lenses and Pentax 645- and 67-system lenses can be used with an adapter. Some functions may not be available with certain lenses.

• Bright, high-magnification pentaprism viewfinder
  The *istDS comes equipped with a glass pentaprism viewfinder offering a 95% field of view and a 0.95-times magnification. It offers a large, bright viewfinder image equal in size, clarity and brightness to viewfinders incorporated in conventional 35mm-format SLRs. It makes confirmation of the subject's focus much easier, even in manual-focus mode.
• Large color LCD monitor
  Thanks to a high-precision two-inch color LCD monitor offering approximately 210,000 pixels, the *istDS makes it quick and effortless to review recorded images and read menus.
• Large LCD data panel
  The *istDS features a large, easy-to-read LCD data panel on the top panel to allow easy, at-a-glance confirmation of the camera's operational status and various settings.
• User-friendly automatic operations
  The *istDS is equipped to make camera operations simple and effortless for the user. Its innovative Auto Picture mode automatically and instantly selects the optimum combination of exposure settings for a given subject or situation, including shutter speed, aperture, white balance, saturation, contrast, and intensity of edges. The built-in auto flash automatically pops up in dimly lit or backlit situations.
• Simple, accessible operation system
  From the multi-function four-way controller to the responsive electronic select dial and the large, easy-to-use mode dial, all switches and dials are efficiently and functionally laid out around the *istDS's compact body to assure smooth, fingertip control.
• High-precision 16-segment multi-pattern metering
  The *istDS incorporates an advanced 16-segment metering system to assure high-precision light measurement, even under complicated lighting conditions. Center-weighted metering and spot metering are also available to meet specialized applications.
• High-accuracy 11-point AF sensor
  The *istDS features the sophisticated SAFOX VIII AF system incorporating 11 AF sensors (nine of them constituting a cross-type wide-area sensor grid in the middle). It not only offers accurate, pinpoint autofocusing, but also allows the user to select one of the sensors to accommodate a specific image composition.
• Superimposed AF sensor point indication
  The selected AF sensor point is highlighted in red in the viewfinder for easy visual confirmation.
• 1/4000-second high-speed shutter
  The *istDS features a high-speed shutter unit with a top speed of 1/4000 second and a top synchronization speed of 1/180 second to assure greater visual creativity.
• High-speed consecutive shooting
  The *istDS records up to 8 images consecutively at a speed of approximately 2.8 frames per second, allowing the user to capture a series of the subject's action or movement.
• SD memory card compatibility
  The *istDS uses the widely available SD memory card as its storage media, not only assuring high-speed recording and readout of image data, but also contributing to the downsizing of the camera body.

15. Other features

• 18 user-programmable custom functions to personalize camera operations to
  the user's preferences
• Noise-reduction system to minimize annoying digital noise during extended exposures
• Dual power source, with a choice of two CR-V3 lithium batteries or four AA-size batteries
• Effortless data uploading to a PC using the included USB cable
• Functional playback functions, including 12X zoom display and nine-image thumbnail display
• A choice of image format between JPEG (Best, Better or Good) or RAW
• Interchangeable Natural-Bright-Matte focusing screen (AF Frame Matte screen included as standard; AF Split-Image Matte and AF Scale Matte screens available as optional accessories)
• Pentax PHOTO Laboratory 2.0 RAW-data processing software and Pentax PHOTO Browser 2.0 browser software included
• PictBridge compatibility