| Picked up my new K10D after tennis yesterday from Samy's in Los Angeles on Fairfax. But then, I ordered and paid for it on September 15th, the day after it was officially announced by Pentax. Also ordered the DA70. At that time, was told by the Pentax reps that the DA70 would be available in middle to late October and the K10D early to mid November. In spite of all the delay talk about the K10D, they only missed their original date by a few days. Still haven't seen the DA70. No word on when.
Charged the battery last night and played with menu setting this morning. Haven't had a chance to shoot anything yet. I want that first image to be something special. But, can give a few initial impressions.
1.) It is a lot heavier than the Ds and K100D (both of which I also have).
2.) It's a lot more 'capable' camera, meaning that it can do a whole lot more than previous models (maybe not the D, of which I have no experience).
3.) Other than the weight, it is very ergonomic and easy to hold. Very much like the Ds. The K100D has a weird sharp edge on the front of the battery grip that is somewhat uncomfortable (compared to the previous Ds). They dumped that 'sharp' ridge on the K10D, and the grip is more like the Ds.
4.) The flash pop-up has a mechanical release, not electrical like the Ds or K100D. The camera can be off (no power) and you can press the flash release button and the flash will pop up. Something to be aware of. An accidental press will pop up the flash, such as if the camera were in a bag of some type.
5.) Some of the commonly used functions have been removed from the menu and placed on buttons. Specifically, the focus point selector is now part of an outer ring around the four-way toggle switch. The metering mode is now a turn lever under the exposure mode selector switch (spot, center-weighted, or matrix), focus mode AF.S, AF.C, or M is now on the front where the AF/MF switch used to be (previous, the AF.S and AF.C were menu options and only AF and MF were on the switch).
6.) An infrared receiver for the wireless remote is now located on the rear of the camera as well as retaining the receiver on the front of the camera. No longer do we need to contort our arm around to the front to trigger the shutter release. Nice touch, Pentax.
7.) a few other cosmetic changes, none of which is really important. Such as, the only thing chrome on the body is the shutter release. All else is black, such as the hot shoe bracket.
8.) The top lcd display is lighted, ala *istD. This is a nice touch that was lacking on all bodies since the D, but has now been restored.
Overall, it will take a few weeks to really get accustomed to the new body. It only took a few minutes to switch from the Ds to the K100D. Will take a lot longer to get used to the K10D.
By the way, I really like that K100D and am definitely keeping it as a backup to the K10D. I'll go ahead and dump the Ds bodies. There is something special about that Shake Reduction. Worth every penny above the cost of a non-Shake Reduction body. |