Going to give the Pentax *ist a try!..

Sean · Dec 21, 2005

Just another "I bought a new camera" post
Well, I was using my little mjuII for some 'lunch break' street snaps but found a few shots per roll were letting me down from a quality standpoint and lack of DOF control. I began the hunt for a similar type of point and shoot (prefer slr) with more functionality but also very small in size and small in price.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...s&Q=&sku=303657&is=REG&addedTroughType=search

I came close to getting a used leicaR with a prime lens but it was about 4x more than I wanted to spend. I then handled a Pentax *ist with the 28-80lens at a local camera shop and found it a pretty neat little camera. It is amazingly tiny for an slr (apparently the world's smallest slr). I ordered one up from BH since they ship to NZ, also saved over 600NZ by getting it from the US (if it doesn't work out I can always sell it for a profit). I'm looking forward to taking it for a spin and since I do not print over 8x10 the quality should be fairly good. I also ordered 4 rolls of fp4 plus in my bid to start supporting Ilford more. It seems people like rating this film at 200.. I have not settled on a developer yet so open to suggestions for a nice contrasty look with controlled highlights..

Kevin Caulfield · Dec 21, 2005

Hey, Sean, can you let us know how the name *ist is supposed to be pronounced?

Sean · Dec 21, 2005

no idea why they named it that, pretty odd...

eric · Dec 21, 2005

Kevin Caulfield said:
Hey, Sean, can you let us know how the name *ist is supposed to be pronounced?

Just like the Hasselblad * on the lenses.

Or Pentax Star (*) ist or Star'ist

I know, pretty dumb eh.

mgb74 · Dec 21, 2005

I'll be curious to see what you think about the optical quality as well as the build quality.

Piqued my interest, so I wanted to compare to my OM-2 (body for body). Not necessarily apples-to-apples in functionality (esp autofocus, autowind, and integrated flash), but both small, light SLRs of their respective eras.

*ist (per B&H site):
Dimensions 4.8 x 3.3 x 2.5" (122.0 x 84.0 x 63.5mm) WxHxD
Weight 11.8 oz (335g)

My OM-2 (per www.mir.com):
Dimensions: 5.35"x3.27"x1.97" (136 x 83 x 50mm)
Weight: 18.3 oz (520g)

So the *ist is a perhaps a bit more compact (depending on whether you favor width over depth or not), but much lighter.

Andy K · Dec 21, 2005

I nearly choked on my Baileys just then Sean!! I thought you meant the 'other' *ist!

waynecrider · Dec 21, 2005

I found that Xtol was good with FP4+; per the Film Developing Cookbook rec.

Bob F. · Dec 21, 2005

Kevin Caulfield said:
Hey, Sean, can you let us know how the name *ist is supposed to be pronounced?

Holy (there was a url link here which no longer exists) Batman... Donkeybotherer-Smythe rides again. I don't think we ever managed to answer the question though...

FP4+ @ 200? I rate it at 80 in ID-11 1+1 (HP5+ at 320 in ditto).

Cheers, Bob.

rbarker · Dec 21, 2005

Being an old UNIX guy, I'd call it the splat-ist, but my bet is Pentax prefers "star".

Nige · Dec 21, 2005

I drop the * bit and just think "ist" Funky names are good for product recognition when their easy to pronounce, I'm not sure pentax hit the mark with this one!

I rate FP4 in most concoctions at 100. I do like my shadow details though, others may not. You want faster, try some HP5 @ 320, or Delta 400 @ 320-400

gnashings · Dec 21, 2005

I love FP4+ - my favourite film for most things. I tried it in D76 1:1... but, I like it best in Rodinal 1:50, shot at box speed or 100 (such tiny difference). I find I love the texture of the images and the tones.

Sean · Dec 21, 2005

i've seen some interesting results with ilfosol-s so might try that first...

Jerry Thirsty · Dec 21, 2005

Hi Sean,

You may already know this, but the *ist has the crippled Kaf mount, meaning that it can only use lenses from the SMC-A series or later (or 3rd party lenses with an "A" setting). SMC, SMC-M, and screwmount lenses can only be used wide open. Something to keep in mind if you decide to expand your kit.

Jerry

rbarker · Dec 22, 2005

FWIW, Sean, FP4+ is my "standard" film in 35mm and 120. I like it souped in Ilford DD-X, which (to me) provides a nice balance between sharpness, tonality and grain, while still retaining the "character" of the film. I rate it at 125 and develop at 1:4 for Ilford's recommended times.

Nick Zentena · Dec 22, 2005

rbarker said:
Being an old UNIX guy, I'd call it the splat-ist, but my bet is Pentax prefers "star".

Considering the stories that supposedly came out of Pentax I think an old Unix command line guy came up with the name -)

What would *ist match if you typed it in?

BTW is the *ist discontinued?

Sean · Dec 29, 2005

ok finally the *ist is in hand

I'll be taking it out in about an hour on my lunch break for a little street photo action. I think I am going to like this little cam quite a lot. If all goes well I'll post some print scans this Sunday.

pentaxuser · Dec 30, 2005

Sean said:
ok finally the *ist is in hand

I'll be taking it out in about an hour on my lunch break for a little street photo action. I think I am going to like this little cam quite a lot. If all goes well I'll post some print scans this Sunday.

I saw an article comparing the *ist with its Nikon and Canon counterparts. Can't recall what the counterparts were. The conclusion was that the *ist had the edge and judging by the pictures, this did seem to be borne out. As these pictures were magasine quality only, I'd expect the real difference to be even greater.

As the only mag I normally look at is Amateur Photographer, I think it must have been that one.

Pentaxuser

mawz · Dec 31, 2005

The *ist isn't really compatible with K/M lenses, only Screwmount lenses and KA and later lenses (With the A position on the Aperture ring). Unfortunately Pentax never put the stop-down metering capability from the Digital *ists into the film *ist.

It's a nice little camera, but it pales in comparison to the MZ-S it essentially replaced.

Going to give the Pentax *ist a try!..

Sean

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