For the money, One of the Best SLR Digitals!

I have owned the camera for 4 months and have yet to be disappointed by the camera. The camera does a wonderful job all around with capturing sharp images in many different modes. The quality of the photo, even in JPEG mode, is beautiful, resulting in images that can be easily printed for stunning results. One particularly flattering feature is the user-selection of ISO speed. While the 3200 ISO rating does show noticeable grain, it still will take great photos and allows you to take so many indoor shots without flash that you would normally miss or have serious shadowing using a flash. Bump it down to 1600 ISO rating and the grain has all but disappeared and you only lose one f-stop! This ability makes the camera stand out among the rest of the SLR digitals. I took some pictures inside a temple in Japan, where flash photography is prohibited, and amazed my friends who were with me at the quality of the image. All other features work wonderfully and have made me a believer again in Pentax. I used to own the PZ-1P 35mm SLR and now can use all my lenses to the full potential with the *ist DS. Did I mention that on the first round of batteries I took 1380 photos (2 Li Ion Batteries supplied)! Granted, most of those were without flash, and the ones that included flash I used my off camera flash and hotshoe. Still, almost 1400 photos on one set of batteries!!!! I will continue to buy the Lithium batteries as long as this performance continues, and still keep my NiMH AA batteries as a backup, another plus feature. Overall, it is a phenomenal camera, and if you have ANY Pentax equipment from a previous camera, a choice you can't pass up! Thank you Pentax!