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The Pentax *istDS Silver is the silver version of the previously released Pentax *istDS DSLR.
Pentax Press Release
PENTAX Adds a Silver-Coloured Version to Its Popularly Priced Compact Digital SLR Camera
PENTAX Corporation is pleased to announce the addition of a silver-coloured version to the popular PENTAX *istDS digital SLR camera. Named the PENTAX *istDS Silver, it offers the same user-friendly features and high-standard specifications as the original black-coloured version, except for its body colour. With a choice of two attractive colours, the *istDS now extends outstanding manoeuvrability, simplified operations and an affordable price to a broader range of quality-conscious digital SLR users.
Major Features of the *istDS Silver
1. Attractive silver-coloured body
In response to the request from many enthusiastic consumers, PENTAX designed a fashionable silver-coloured body for the new *istDS Silver, offering a choice of a body colour between silver and black to accommodate individual preferences and assure greater colour conformity with lenses.
2. Compact, go-anywhere design
Featuring a super-compact, ultra-lightweight body, the *istDS Silver 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.
3. High-definition, maximum-gradation images with 6.1 effective mega pixels
Thanks to its large, high-performance CCD image sensor, the *istDS Silver offers 6.1 effective mega pixels. Coupled with PENTAX’s original image processing technology, it produces high-definition images rich in gradation and saturation.
4. Compatibility with PENTAX interchangeable lenses
The *istDS Silver offers the outstanding benefit of lens interchange-ability, allowing the user to take advantage of a wide selection of existing PENTAX interchangeable lenses to deal with diversified subjects and applications.*
*PENTAX K-, KA-, KAF- and KAF2-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.
5. Bright, high-magnification pentaprism viewfinder
The *istDS Silver 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.
* With 50mm F1.4 lens at infinity.
Thanks to a high-precision 2.0-inch colour LCD monitor offering approximately 210,000 pixels, the *istDS Silver makes it quick and effortless to review recorded images and read menus.
7. Large LCD data panel
The *istDS Silver 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.
8. User-friendly automatic operations
The *istDS Silver 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.
9. 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 Silver’s compact body to assure smooth, fingertip control.
10. High-precision 16-segment multi-pattern metering
The *istDS Silver incorporates an advanced 16-segment metering system to assure high-precision light measurement, even under complicated lighting conditions. Centre-weighted metering and spot metering are also available to meet specialized applications.
11. High-accuracy 11-point AF sensor
The *istDS Silver 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 auto-focusing, but also allows the user to select one of the sensors to accommodate a specific image composition.
12. Superimposed AF sensor point indication
The selected AF sensor point is highlighted in red in the viewfinder for easy visual confirmation.
13. 1/4000-second high-speed shutter
The *istDS Silver 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.
14. High-speed consecutive shooting
The *istDS Silver 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.
15. SD memory card compatibility
The *istDS Silver 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.
16. Other features
1) 18 user-programmable custom functions to personalize camera operations to
the user’s preferences
2) Noise-reduction system to minimize annoying digital noise during extended
exposures
3) Dual power source, with a choice of two CR-V3 lithium batteries or four
AA-size batteries
4) Effortless data uploading to a PC using the included USB cable
5) Functional playback functions, including 12X zoom display and nine-image
thumbnail display
6) A choice of image format between JPEG (Best, Better or Good) or RAW
7) 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)
8) PENTAX PHOTO Laboratory 2.0 RAW-data processing software and
PENTAX PHOTO Browser 2.0 browser software included
9) PictBridge compatibility
PENTAX, smc PETNAX, *ist, PENTAX PHOTO Browser and PENTAX PHOTO Laboratory are trademarks of PENTAX Corporation
All other brands or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
This product supports PRINT Image Matching III. PRINT Image Matching enabled digital still cameras, printers and software help photographers to produce images more faithful to their intentions.
Some functions are not available on printers that are not PRINT Image Matching III compliant
Posted by Darren in our Pentax category on February 14, 2005