[dleung000]

I would like to buy one of these 2 cameras because they fit my budget. After trying at shop, I found both cameras their own advantages & disadvantages:

Nikon D50
- Easy to focus (better than Pentax)
- Bright EVF

Pentax DS
- Large EVF but dim
- Very clear LCD (much better than D50)
- Smaller
- Better look (personal feeling)

Picture quality is my main concern. Can anyone tell me which camera can produce better & sharper picture? Thx!

[pcheung25]

I am the ex-user of istds, I think the color and white balance of this DSLR is just ok, not hightly recommand u go to get one, thx

[Rol]

i am the current user of istds, i played my friend D70S and find the quality of photo is no big different between D70s (kit lens) and DS (kit lens), actually both DSLR (also include D50) use the same Sony CCD.

Then the question is what system you like .... Pentax - mid-sharp, natural, rich color. Nikon - very sharp, cool & blue tone. It is hard to say which systems has better picture quality, just what taste you like. You can see more photo sample in web site and found out it.

If consider function, D50 is stronger than DS.

- faster AF
- 1/500 sec flash syn. (DS just 1/180 sec)
- build in flash as master wireless flash (not sure whether D50 can do it, but DS surely cannot)
- AF-C (DS can only use in Sport mode)
- Child mode

What DS is stronger than D50 is

- Larger view finder (0.95 vs 0.75)
- use 4 AA battery
- smaller size

So if you are not specially like Pentax style, suggest you to consider D50, or KM 5D, better than one day you regret and change system......

[price_cheat]

dpreview may give you some comparison.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0507/05072301nikond50review.asp

[dleung000]

Originally, I prefer to go for DS. When I was searching the forum of dpreview, many said it's a good camera. However, I found many pictures posted in the forum were not that sharp, and that caused me to hesitate.

On the other hand, there's not too many user comments on D50.

By the way, how's the quality of the DS kit len comparing to the one from D50?

[dleung000]

I found some good pictures taking by DS in dchome.net but the photographer was not using the kit len.

I wonder if DS's kit len can out perform the one from D50 because D50 is using a ED len.

[wklouis]

http://digital.sina.com.hk/cgi-bin/nw.cgi?action=view&type=dc&topid=617&total=2&page=2

[dleung000]

After more research, I feel that D50 is not cool & blue but warm. D70 is cool one instead.

Can any D50 / DS owner post some of their works for comparison? It would be much appreciated.

And for DS owners, may I know if you are using the RAW mode or JPEG mode? Dpreview say that DS's JPEG mode is not so good. Any comment? Is the JPEG mode significantly better?

[mrskyhook]

hi! I'm a *istDS user for long time. I'm not a Pro user and I only use JPEG (highest quality), default levels of sharpness, contrast and saturation, and bright mode. Never postprocess. All the lenses I used are old MF prime lenses. All but one (20mm/4) are under HK$1000. Recently i opened an album, which can store full size photos. Here for your reference:

http://ec-photo.com/jabbar

[Simonkklo]

這是我的 D50+kit lens 相簿：

http://ec-photo.com/simonkklo

沒有執相，直出Jpeg．風景相加了CPL鏡．多多指教！

[dleung000]

Hi mrskyhood & Simonkklo, thanks for your picture sharing.

mrskyhood, may I know which lenses you were using?

Simonkklo, have you tried using RAW? Do you think it's much better when using RAW on D50?

Thanks again.

[Simonkklo]

dleung000,

客氣！聽聞用Raw會好些，不過我還未試過．由於我是新手，新機還未掌握得好，我本身屬家庭用家，又沒有時間執相，所以都不打算用Raw了．我感覺用了DSRL後，影的相較以前用DC的好．

今早途經一些花槽，隨意拍了幾幅花朶相，有興趣請登入看看．請多多指教！

http://ec-photo.com/simonkklo

[ee_ykk]

i'm a Ds user and i'd highly recommend that,

great built body and yet compact, feeling like a realy SLR,

and you can get cheap manual lens, they're all compatible!

and very very good color rendition, taking photos is not only measuring or sharpness and noise level,

and actually *istDs is quite popular in taiwan and japan as well, not in HK due to bad marketing and advertising.........

my album (just few photos, w/ kit lens): http://www.ec-photo.com/ed213

[mrskyhook]

dleung000:

Most of my lenses Pentax smc-m series. Most of them around $500 - $1000. I also use a Tamron 90/2.5 macro a lot (52B, a very old version MF macro lens). Did I answer your question? Or you want to know the exact name of the lens for a specific photo??

[mrskyhook]

yes, agree with ee_ykk!

For built quality, for sure *istDS is better than all other entry-level dslrs, because of the metal frame inside. The biggest selling point of *istDS i think is the VF. True pentaprism and 0.95x. And as ee_ykk said it's truely backward compatable (with exposure metering and in-focus indicator) with even the 1st version of K mount lenses! You can also use even older m42 lenses, but manual diaphragm. These are the objective advantages of *istDS. For the color and tune, I enjoy it very much even no postprocess.