 Top of a Star-Studded field! |
| Review Date: November 19, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Hiram Grant, |
It's a great time to be buying a 10 megapixel SLR, as all the top manufacturer's have new, 5-star models. So let's examine: What do we want most? Great photos, a well made camera, and features that will let us achieve our photographic goals. The K10D delivers.
All the top contenders will deliver excellent results that can be made into poster size prints with great color and detail. Although we can point so some shortcomings (like the poor performance of the Sony Alpha 100 at ISO 1600), image quality is something that is still in the eye of the beholder.
However, features are features, and the K10D has loads. The first thing you'll notice is the solid feel in your hands. It feels robust, and the shutter has been tested to 100,000 shots (same as Canon's bigger brother 30D). But to this, we add something else not found in any other camera in the class: weather-proofing. The body contains 72 seals to help keep dust, dirt and moisture on the outside (the optional grip has 38 seals).
When you put on the optional grip, it really does feel like a part of the camera, not a wiggly thing that might come off.
To get those great photos, the K10D has all the standard feature set, plus a few new ones (like "sensitivity" mode), which will come in hand for some people, but of more partical use to many will be the ability to define what "Auto ISO" range the camera can use. Want the camera to be able to use 1600? Done. Pentax's metering systems have always been well thought of, but you'll get center-weighted and spot metering as options, too. Their "digital preview" can be very handy in setting up the proper white balance.
The viewfinder is the largest in it's class (although the D80 is the smallest fraction behind). When viewing through it, you'll see the 11-point autofocus. What you don't see is that the nine central segments are "cross basis" points, meaning they focus on both vertical and horizontal lines. The other competitors simply have one, the center segment, that is cross-basis. This may not help it focus faster, but it should improve accuracy. Additionally, the focusing mode is easy to change. A switch up front allows you to select manual, single or continuous autofocusing, while a dial on back allows you to change from spot focus (only the center zone), wide (allows the camera to select) or free-floating (you select any of the eleven zones, and can change it quickly with the key-pad on the back of the camera).
The choice of the SD/SDHC cards is great. This small cards avoid the dreaded "bent pin" issue of the compact flash cards, and the SD are compatible with a hugh number of compact cameras as well. Another nice touch is the optional remote control. It can trigger the camera from the front AND from BEHIND the camera, and can store inside the optional grip. I also love the fact they included the .dng standard for RAW images, as this is an open standard developed by Adobe.
And there is one feature that Pentax now leads: Shake Reduction (or VR, or IS, or SteadyShot). First, like the Sony, the SR is built into the camera. So for a modest cost up front, ALL your lenses get some stabalization...even older manual focus lenses! And as a side benefit, you get a slight benefit in keeping the sensor clean. But what most people don't understand about Pentax SR system is that it is a THREE AXIS anti-shake system, something that no other maker offers. In-lens, or the Sony rail system, compensate for you shaking left/right & up/done. By combine these two, it compensates for diagonally, too. What they do not compentate is for "rotational" shake. Imagine a line running through the camera lens to the subject, rotating the camera around this axis. The Pentax SR system uses magnets and bearings to allow the sensor to free float compared to the body. Tremendous technology.
Pentax has been a bit light on their lens selection, but keep in mind that this uses every Pentax 35mm lens ever made, and 3 exciting new lenses that they recently announced (16-50 f2.8; 50-135 f2.8; and 60-250 f4.0, all weather sealed with ultrasonic motors) make them very competitive. For a first lens, the 18-55 is hard to beat. It's well made, featuring a metal lens mount, and the internal focusing allows for easier use of filters and a more efficient, included, lens hood.
Buy the Canon XTi, Nikon D80 or Sony Alpha 100, and you'll get a terrific camera. But for my money (yes, I did buy one), the Pentax K10D is the best. |
very good camera !
|
| Review Date: February 1, 2007 |
| Reviewer: J. Skilton, Portland, OR USA |
A million words have been written about this thing, and this is not an attempt at a comprehensive review, so look above or on dpreview-com for complete info.
I looked at Canon, Nikon, Pentax and Sony DSLRs. The Sony makes sense if you already have a bag full of Minolta lenses, which I don't. Canon and Nikon put their image stabilization in the lens, which makes their 'good' lenses significantly more expensive. Canon EOS is not backward-compatible with their old FD lenses, of which I -do- have a bagful. Pentax is backward-compatible with all K-mount lenses made since the 1970s, and will even take 645 and 6x7 lenses, with adapters.
Sooo, I set out to ease into DSLR ownership with a K100D, then started reading the reviews, and it was a bunch of little things that made me want the K10D. The viewfinder has an actual prism, not a mirror cage like cheaper cameras, the displays are backlit, and the low-res mode (1800 x 1200px) is exactly what I want for certain applications. With 10 Mpx, I can point & shoot if I have to, and crop (somewhat) more later. And the controls are more 'classic' camera-like than the 'scene modes' on beginner cameras. Not to say this would be worth the price difference to everyone, but I bought the K10D, and the Pentax 12-24mm / 4.0 lens, and am very happy with both.
Digital cameras use less of the image projected by the lens, so your lenses are 'longer' than they would be on a film camera. Downside: for a 'journalist lens', had to buy the 12-24mm, which is equivalent of 18-36mm on a film camera. Upside: my old 50mm / 1.4 is now equivalent of that top-of-the-line portrait lens I never felt I could afford. Pentax plans to introduce in 2007 a 16-50mm / 2.8 and a 50-135mm / 2.8, which sound fantastic - but let's see what they cost before we get too excited. Meanwhile, Sigma, Tokina, and Tamron offer some very adequate alternatives.
Camera and lens together are pretty heavy, just like an older SLR, and the LED screen cannot be used as a live viewfinder - no image gets to the sensor while the mirror is down - so you have to hoist the camera to your eye to compose a shot. No problem, I'm used to it, and it's common to all DSLRs.
((My personal feeling is that the SLR platform is just about done. It's hard to see the need for the mirror box in a digital camera, which can use the actual sensor to compose the shot through the lens and display it on the back. Future top-end digital cams will probably be a lot flatter, like the old rangefinder cameras. Look at the Olympus E330 or Panasonic DMC-L1 to see what direction I think we should be headed.))
Having said, I am very happy with the Pentax K10D, it behaves as it's supposed to, and an affordable (barely) 12-24mm rectilinear lens was unthinkable just a few years ago. This camera has a ton and a half of features and capabilities, and I am still sorting them out. There is definitely a learning curve if you are to get the most out of the camera, but there are also two full program modes, including 'green zone', so you can start shooting right away with good results. Pictuers come out great. Colors, brightness, and contrast need almost no adjustment or photoshop-ing, which has not been true of any other digi-cam I have ever owned. Happy with this, until the next big thing comes along. |
Innovative features rocket K10D to front ranks in prosumer DSLR race
|
| Review Date: December 18, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Rudy, Columbia, SC USA |
The marriage of Pentax camera expertise, and Samsung's bottomless R&D war chest ("SamTax"), has spawned the great-leap-forward K10D DSLR that promises well-earned laudits for a camera maker inexorably squeezed by wealthier competitors. Pentax' first entry into the DSLR world (the oddly-named *istD), although a fine performer, failed to compete pricewise with comparable Canon or Nikon entries. The smaller and better market-positioned 6MP *istD-S (which I own) arrived too late to give the hugely successful Canon Rebel a serious run for its money; and Pentax eventually retrenched with cheaper penta-mirror products just to keep a foot in the US market (ironically, the digital Rebel series had cut costs from the start with a seldom-mentioned penta-mirror).
The tradeoff for any low cost DSLR, as against the costlier pro models, was the substitution of menu-driven operations for the latter's simpler and faster buttons and dials -- a maddeningly tedious and unintuitive cost-cutter, made all the more frustrating in bright light on small LCD displays. Even selecting the focus point (grid, spot or select) meant a trip through pages of menus, not aided at all by the infamous penchant for inscrutable abbreviations. In effect, the time lost in flipping the camera to scroll through on-screen menus all too often meant either photo opportunities lost, or just reverting to a digicam's one focus mode fits all. Moreover, adequate as 6MP might be for most, the megapixel race to 8 (then 10) MP sensors left Pentax bringing up the rear of the pack.
But no more! The K10D is an altogether different beast, a handsome sturdy 10MP workhorse, with enough racing blood to lead the current (Dec 2006) DSLR pack. I shan't repeat here the praise for its fine quality pictures, but instead focus on the more arcane issues that affect purchasing choice between 2 or 3 finalists such as sensor dust removal, image stabilization, solid glass pentaprism, and retrograde lens and accessory compatibility. The exposure mode dial now is all professional, with just a single intelligent automatic setting - gone are the smiley face and jogger icons - while adding a novel mode selection for ISO-sensitivity priority.
Pentax has tackled the bugaboo of dust attracted by the electrostatically charged CCD sensor -- a gotcha when changing DSLR lenses -- on 3 fronts: a new dust-repellant sensor coating; sensor vibration at startup (employing the sensor stabilization mechanism) to shake off dust; and -- a laudable first in the prosumer field -- a fully dust and splash sealed body that lets you take `clean' pictures in the desert as readily as in the rain forest [just don't change lenses in the open!].
Image Stabilization (IS) counteracts the problem of muscle tremors and pulsatile blood flow that destabilize the hand-held platform, by moving either a lens element or the camera sensor mount in the opposite direction -- allowing longer exposures (extra `stops') without incurring motion blur -- an impressive advantage when shooting fast action or in low light. There are two approaches to IS: In-the-lens IS (as used by Nikon and Canon) builds a gyroscopic element into the lens assembly, offering speed and specificity, but adding front-end weight, expense and complexity; the pro is that in-lens stabilization is fast and can be transferred to same-make camera bodies (with matching power contacts), the con is that you pay dearly for the IS mechanism each time you purchase a new lens. In-camera IS (as used in the K10D and Sony alpha), conversely, moves the sensor so as to counteract platform instability -- once you purchase the camera body, you'll always have IS, whatever lens is mounted. This makes for full backward compatibility so that you can attain IS with your older lenses. The con is that the sensor's counter-movement must be matched to the lens characteristics, thus is slightly slower than the in-lens system. The in-camera sensor-moving mechanism, moreover, performs double duty as a sensor-shaking dust removal feature. The K10D further refines IS by floating the sensor electromagnetically, adding rotational to linear stabilization. Oversimplifying: if you need to shoot sports, races, or wildlife for a living, go for the Canon/Nikon in-the-lens stabilization; if your requirements are less extreme, stick to in-camera stabilization for a wider choice of less-expensive lenses to expand your system.
On paper at least, the K10D's 22-bit A/D converter sounds attractive, but realize that even RAW images still remain at 12-bit depth; the claim of enhanced color rendition remains to be proven by benchmark testing. Contacts are in place to accommodate forthcoming lenses with hypersonic focusing motors, speeding autofocusing towards the Canon/Nikon range. Indeed, other than for slightly slower auto-focusing, PopPhoto benchmarking rates the K10D's resolution and image quality as Excellent, and noise from Very Low to Low at ISO 800-1600.
In sum: The Pentax K10D (and its GX-10 Samsung sibling) emerges as a company breakthrough, in that it offers outstanding image quality, very low digital noise, and image stabilization inside a dust & splash sealed body -- all that with some of the highest-rating metal-mount kit lenses around. The well illustrated manual too has benefited from the new regime. Unless you require ultra-fast auto-focus in low light, the slightly slower autofocusing should not deter you; better yet, new USM lenses are on the way. In-camera IS makes the K10D a windfall for Pentax lens owners; its innovative features are a challenge to the "big guys".
ADDENDUM: I stick by my original review of "Great Leap Forward", except (as I learned) for quality control over suppliers. About 2 1/2 years, and several thousand clicks later the K10D, in the midst of a shoot suddenly showed straight horizontal lines that - on 1:1 inspection - proved to be very dead pixels. Out of warranty, service diagnosed malfunctioning logic board; total cost for labor and parts etc came close to three C-notes. Offered to pay for labor, but felt defective electronics ought to be Pentax' responsibility. Rather than fooling around got a K20D instead. |
I just can't put it down
|
| Review Date: December 24, 2006 |
| Reviewer: R. Schneir, |
This is my 3rd dSLR and will probably be my last. I can't see where it can be improved. I know, all cameras have flaws and can be improved, but this one is so near perfect it is hard to believe.
From the moment I handled it and played with the focus i was hooked. It locked on focus fast, very fast even in very dim light. You always (well almost always) knew exactly what was going on and how well the shot would be. Playback of just shot images is good, expecially with the ability to blow it up to 20x to check focus.
So lets look at a few of the cameras important features.
1. It has 11 point focusing, 9 of which are cross which means it easily grabs focus on difficult objects. And the viewfinder shows you what part of the scene is the focus point. With two adjustment wheels you can easily switch settings.
2. shot to shot time is fast and in JPEG you can shoot until you are out of memory without slowing up.
3. switch to RAW and back to JPEG without moving your eye from the viewfinder. And you can control how the button responds, i.e., just one shot or all the rest until you turn it off.
4. weatherproofing so that you can keep shooting even when it gets misty
5. solidy built, plastic over a stainless steel case. It will survive most hard knocks.
6. In camera shake reduction which means that any lens becomes image stabilized when mounted on the camera
7. the ability to set shutter and aperture and have the ISO automatically adjust for the shot
8. easily moves from a beginners camera (when in the "green" mode) to a pro camera with almost all the features a pro needs.
9. four channel histogram to better evaluate your shots
10. long battery life. 300+ on a charge.
11. very wide selection of lenses going back to the 1970s that are usable and are image stabilized when used on the camera.
12. wireless remote both front and back.
There are a lot more very nice features and a few that are not, but nothing that makes my question my purchase even the slightest. As is so typical, the manual is not the easiest to navigate. Even after a month there are some features I still haven't gotten comfortible with but am getting there. I like the backlight for the top LCD and would like the numbers in the viewfinder to be a little bigger or brighter or both.
Summary
During the 2 + years i have been teaching a digital photography course (Intro to Digital Photography at Emeritus college in Santa Monica, CA) I have owned 3 dSLR and at least 12 other digital cameras. This one is far superior to anything that I have tried, researched, or finally bought. It is hard to put it down, both figuritively and physically.
DoctorJerry |
Best value in pro-am DSLR cameras
|
| Review Date: March 15, 2007 |
| Reviewer: John Freeman, Vienna, VA United States |
| I bought my K10D in Dec 06 after owning a number of Pentax cameras over the years and being very pleased with the engineering. The combination of features, if executed properly, make this camera the best buy in 10MP DSLRs right now. I postponed my review because I wanted to get some real field experience. I just went to Mexico, and panicked because I left the camera instruction manual behind. I can now report on that trip. I did a little fumbling at first, mainly because I didn't have the manual, but I was soon able to find the combinations I wanted, and the camera performed both flexibly and intuitively. The AF button and the exposure compensation button are very well placed. I found myself in difficult lighting situations often, and both AF and exposure metering worked quite well. I also took some hand-held shots that I normally would use a tripod with (such as at 450mm), and very few came out fuzzy because of camera movement. In a few cases, I used bracketing, and was easily able to obtain a good balance of details in one or more of the bracketed shots. Exposure metering worked so well that I stopped bracketing. I particularly liked the display modes: I could boost the brightness to see the display even in bright daylight, and deep zooming gave me a good check of whether a shot was "soft" or not right at the scene. The rechargeable Li Ion batteries, although not readily available in stores, seem to last forever (even using power zoom, and full-bright display, and some fill flash). I believe that I could have shot all week (700 shots in RAW (DNG) + JPEG) with the battery grip attached. In summary, this camera was a pleasure to hold, very easy to use and manipulate, and resulted in a high percentage of crisp photos (even if the percentage of well-composed shots was lower because of the photographer). I bought it because of its compatibility with Pentax lenses, 10MP sensor, shake-reduction technology, larger display, and especially the dust and water seals. But what makes me quite happy about it is its overall ease of use and good results. I am still discovering its features, but I already know that this camera frees me to be creative in ways that other cameras have not in the past. Some of the features on this camera are unique (new program lines) and some are available only on cameras costing several hundred dollars more, making the K10D a good choice and a best buy. Once again for Pentax, the engineering is supurb. |
|
No video reviews found for this product.
No customer reviews were found for this product.
