The folks over at Tom's Hardware recently compared the Nikon D50 and Pentax istDL digital cameras. After putting both through their paces, the verdict was:
The Nikon D50 seemed to us to be the model with the best overall performance. It was also the easiest to use, since the photos it produced in automatic mode (with no corrections made) were usually directly usable.
That said, the reviewer also felt that the Pentax "still offers certain very attractive features, such as depth-of-field preview, and the ability to use all kinds of lenses, including older ones that are available at low prices." Hence, if money is a concern, then you may want to favor the Pentax. Otherwise, the Nikon is the better choice.
Also of interest is a review of 19-inch LCD monitors. Included in the comparison are the Philips 190B6CS, Iiyama E481S, LG L1950S, Hyundai B90A, Sony SDM-HS95P, Samsung 930BF, Eizo FlexScan L778, ViewSonic VP191b, and Soyo DYLMO19A. Although they are very impressed by the Eizo's fantastic colors and amazing 1075:1 contrast level, they are left wondering about the $750USD price and the relatively slow response times (between 18ms to 30ms). So the overall recommendation? The ViewSonic. Even though the ViewSonic wasn't the fastest panel in the market, it is right up there while, at the same time, providing "performance [that] is clearly above that of the competition." They go on to point out the ViewSonic's superb color reproduction at a reasonable (for them - ed.) price of $520. YMMV. Insert disclaimer here.
Aloha!
Comments (2)
*grin* (see yesterday)
They would have chosen the Sony. But allas it only works with programs from Sony ...
Posted by sjon | November 9, 2005 1:28 AM
Posted on November 9, 2005 01:28
Interesting that Tom's would choose to pit Nikon against Pentax, omitting the Olympus (eVolt 300), Konica Minolta (5D) and (discontinued, but still available) Canon (Digital Rebel/300D) entries in the sub-800 price range. Since Pentax isn't a terribly aggressively-marketed digital model one has to wonder why they made the decision they did. This is especially interesting since they choose to use the superlative rather than the comprative in referring to "the best" rather than "the better" camera. Pushing for some quotes on Nikon fan sites, maybe? If they were serious, a comparison should have included at least one more camera line - three of the models that were left out offer features that aren't available from Nikon or Pentax ( Olympus - automatic sensor cleaning through vibration on start-up, K-M has built-in image stabilization, and Canon's DR has a slightly larger sensor and, at least compared to theNikon, better ISO range (100-1600 (3200 with hacked firmware) vs 200-1600 for Nikon) in spite of being close to 2 years old.
Posted by Jon | November 14, 2005 6:44 AM
Posted on November 14, 2005 06:44