Page 1 of Samsung GX-1L Digital SLR + 2 zooms @ £399.98

Samsung GX-1L 6.1mp Digital SLR with 18-55 & 50-200 zoom lenses, free software offer and 2 years warranty:

[url="http://www.bestcameras.co.uk/shop/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Samsung_GX_1L___18_55_lens_130.html"][/url]

This package is priced at £549.99 in the latest Argos catalogue.

The camera is identical to the Pentax *iST DL2 and will take all Pentax lenses and accessories.

:/

Doh!, the link seems to have disappeared....

It`s:

http://www.bestcameras.co.uk

This is it.

The Jackal

It looks like this is a rebadged Pentax *ist DL2. It seems it can take Pentax K and KA lenses (might need an adapter). If you`re used to 35mm cameras then multiply the lens range by 1.5 to get the 35mm equivalent e.g. the 18-55 is more like a 27-82mm lens and the 50-200 lens is equivalent to a 75-300 lens.

The Pentax is reviewed here and here

There`s a bit about the Samsung here

Also there is this epinions review here

Sounds like a good deal BTW.

Are digital SLRs comming down in price?

This item was edited on Wednesday, 9th August 2006, 14:26

I`ve had a Pentax DS for over a year now, and really like it. The DLs aren`t quite as nice, as the viewfinder isn`t as bright as the one in the DS (which uses a pentaprism rather than the cheaper and less bright pentamirror found on the DL2s - as well as the Canons and Nikons). Also the (relatively) small size made it a better choice for me over the Nikon D70.

I`m an "old school" photographer, and like to focus manually, so the viewfinder is a big issue for me - as well as the fact that I could put a 30 year old 50mm f1.7 Pentax manual lens on there, and get great results. Old manual Pentax prime lenses are fairly sought after on eBay these days, due to this backward compatability.

Any idea what the free zoom lense is, there have been some cheap kodak lenses thrown into deals lately that aren`t worth £50.

Both lenses are Samsung (Schneider-Kreuznach) D-Xenon 18-55 and 50-200, again identical to the Pentax branded optics.

Having received the kit yesterday I have been out taking some pics today and am seriously impressed with the quality of both the camera/lenses and the resulting images.

The viewfinder may not be as good as the more expensive Pentax DS/Samsung GX-1S, but it is very good non the less, and a VAST improvement over the `electronic viewfinder` of the Fujifilm camera I had before.

`electronic viewfinder`

[shudders]

Using a pseudo slr (Minolta Dimage thingy) with one of those was what convinced me to get a DSLR.

And take my comments re viewfinder with a pinch of salt - I`m particularly fussy about it - the viewfinder on the DL etc is perfectly fine, and as good as most of the DSLRs.