HIGHTECH-COMPUTER GADGETS MORE THAN TECHNOLOGY

Housed in one of the world's smallest, lightest SLR camera bodies, the *ist D comes equipped with an array of advanced functions and user-friendly features, including an APS-sized CCD with impressive 6.1 effective megapixels, a responsive SAFOX VIII autofocus system with 11-point AF sensor, a sophisticated 16-segment multi-pattern metering system, a bright viewfinder with a newly developed compact glass pentaprism, an innovative Hyper operating system and 22 user-adjustable custom functions. The *ist D is compatible with existing PENTAX 35mm-format interchangeable lenses and accessories. The *ist D features a user-friendly direct-access operation system so users may adjust many digital camera functions, such as white balance control, with pushbutton ease to eliminate the trouble of recalling the menu settings each time the camera is used. Offering a combination of high-resolution digital images with SLR photography, PENTAX suggests the *ist D will outperform competitive digital SLR camera models currently on the market. This high-performance PENTAX digital SLR camera will have tremendous appeal for a wide range of photographers, both compact digital and conventional 35mm SLR users, looking for superior image quality and SLR versatility and the convenience and benefits of the advanced digital format. With a newly developed SAFOX VIII phase-matching autofocus system, the camera's 11-point AF sensor covers a wide area of both horizontal and vertical image fields with exceptional speed and precision even under poor lighting conditions. Nine of the 11 AF sensors are a horizontally extended, cross-shaped type, improving focusing accuracy and aligned to effectively cover the middle section, while two additional sensors are positioned at each side of this section. In addition to the versatile Auto mode and the pinpoint SPOT mode, the *ist D offers the innovative SELECT mode, which allows the photographer to select one of the 11 AF sensor points using the four-way controller on the back panel. The user-selected sensor point is superimposed in the viewfinder with a red LED indicator. The *ist D's sophisticated 16-segment multi-pattern metering system solves even the most complicated lighting conditions efficiently and instantly to produce beautifully exposed images frame after frame. Spot and center-weighted metering modes are also available to accommodate specialized applications. In the continuous AF mode, the *ist D is capable of successively recording up to nine images at the speed of 2.6 frames per second, making it possible to capture the flow of the subject's motion.