Pros | Excellent IQ, compact, lightweight, shake reduction, SDM contacts |
Cons | Not weather sealed, small memory buffer |
Rating | 9 |
Price | about $220 USD |
Years Owned | 3 months |
I can recommend this camera: Yes
Value, Features, Performance & Size
Excellent bang for the buck!
Excellent resolution from a 6.1 MP camera that will give some higher pixel count camera's a run for the money!
SR in the K100 series
SDM compatible
Focus point indicators
AA batteries
Small/compact size
Rather light weight
Rather quick focusing (on par with my fiance's Nikon D3000, kit lenses compared)
RAW file write speed a little slow, helps to have fastest SDHC card possible (Extreme III in my case)
Camera Review
I bought this camera as a replacement for my Samsung Gx- 20 (Pentax K20D clone) which was stolen on a vacation. I was kinda skeptical about the lower pixel count and with my budget I really couldn't afford much else
. When my K100D Super arrived, I was really shocked at the IQ that this little camera could achieve with a 6.1 MP sensor!
It had me pulling up my Gx-20 pictures and pixel peeping! I have to say that especially when shooting in RAW the K100D Super rivals my fiance's Nikon D3000 with a 10 MP sensor in terms of IQ.
I like having AA batteries as a power source because they are readily available at almost any shop and I like not being stuck with proprietary batteries. The down side to this is that the AA batteries add to weight and are a little bulkier then a proprietary battery.
The overall size of the K100D Super makes it a rather compact camera, much much smaller and lighter than my Gx-20. That in turn makes it much easier to carry all day long, especially if equipped with a DA limited or FA limited lenses.
ISO performance is good and I would have to say that it is a little better than my Gx-20 especially at the 800-1600 ISO range. It's base ISO is only 200. Before the K-x The K100D Super was the high ISO camera for Pentax.
Auto WB is blah at best. WB should be sent manually as the camera gets confused easily in changing light situations and in situations where incandescent lights and fluorescent lights are used.
The memory buffer is rather small limiting the amount of continuous RAW shots to 3 shots. If you have a fast writing SD card such as the SanDisk Extreme III with a 20mb/s read/write time or the newer 30 mb/s versions then it shouldn't be too big of a problem. I would not recommend the use of SD or SDHC cards slower than 20mb/s read/write speeds as the memory buffer's performance will hinder the rate at which photos can be taken. This is my only one real complaint about the camera.
I miss having the weather sealing of the Gx-20. Though, I have taken my K100D Super into light mist and it did fine. Though without the sealing I'm rather hesitant to push my luck.
In conclusion, I really have to recommend the K100D Super to anyone on the market for a great first time camera, back-up camera, even as a replacement camera (in my case) to pick up the K100D Super. It's a fantastic little camera with a compact size, shake reduction, readily available power source (AA batteries), SDM compatibility, and excellent IQ to boot! It's not a perfect camera though as it does have a small memory buffer that can hinder it's performance. It's of course much more noticeable when slower SD/SDHC cards are used. Stick to the faster memory cards to mitigate the problem
.
I have no regrets picking this camera up and in fact I sure am glad I did
A rather excellent all around camera!