[Leica] looking at Pentax *ist D

[mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner)]

> I too have some wonderful old Pentax
> lenses..hence the Pentax ist DS is of
> some (limited) interest. I assume that
> you use the old screw mount lenses with
> an adapter,   does this give you with
> these lenses...auto exposure?   manual
> focus?
> 
> thanks,  Steve
> 
> 
We took a look at that Canon XT compact At Pro Photo down the street which
just came out two days ago to compete with the Pentax *ist D (formally known
as Spotmatic). I handled the camera.
I had done the math last week and will show it here but the Canon XT came
with a monster zoom which negated the compactness of this camera. It was
really front heavy.
What the Pentax has going for it other than the smallest size and
compatibility with the largest lens system in the history of photography
certainly in terms of bounce for the buck...  The M42. Contax; Praktica.
And " Ricoh, Chinon, Contax, Pentacon, Exa,  Voigtl?nder Icarex, Mamiya,
Olympus, Yashica, Zenit : to quote Karen from her always handy website:
http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/index-frameset.html?Lens-PSM.
html~mainFrame

Is the new pancake Pentax came out with which is the mother of all pancakes.
I have lens caps fatter than this lens. Its a sweetie even for my fat
fingers. Makes my 45 2.8 Nikkor pancake look like chubbies.

I'd thought the Canon would really not be competitive with the Pentax for
some reason but it is.
The dimensions of the  Pentax *st D
129 x 95 x 60 mm (5.0 x 3.7 x 2.3 in)
129 * 95 * 60= 735300

The dimensions of the rebel xt
127 x 94 x 64 mm (5.0 x 3.7 x 2.5 in)
127 * 94 * 64= 764032

764032 - 735300= 28732 difference in size
764032 / 28732 = 26.59

So the Rebel is one twenty-sixth and a half bigger. No biggy. All they need
is to come out with an ultra compact lens like the Pentax Pancake.

So this is like when the Olympus OM 1 came out and Nikon responded with the
FM and Canon I think responded with the AE-1 around 1975.
All phenomenally successful for all concerned the whole photo industry
seemed to have a surge.

So the D100 digital I've been using a lot of more the past two years is one
of the the more compact digital bodies out there right now with out the
vertical grip which I took off after a month. Most bodies people are making
an effort to carry around are twice the size. Hence the point and shoot
digital market.

My Nikon d100:
144 x 116 x 81 mm (5.7 x 4.6 x 3.2 in)
144 * 116 * 81= 1353024

1353024 / 735300
= 1.84  (Pentax over Nikon)
The Pentax is about HALF THE SIZE of the Nikon.

The Pentax being in my mind about the size of a box of 4x5 paper.
My Nikon being the size of a box of 5x7 paper.

What will happen?

Nikons compact APS-2 format digital dslr camera I'm sure is already off the
drawing board and into the final stages of starting to be made.

And Leica, should it survive, will when it comes out with it's digital body
have its eye on compactness.
Not an R8/9 based life form. They'll aim more at the CL.

It's the mid 70's folks. Only digital.



Mark Rabiner
Photography
Portland Oregon
http://rabinergroup.com/