[k10dbook]

Finally they are comming to their senses. Anyone seen this? Is this old news? I just picked up the magazine.

[*isteve]

This camera devides opinion like nothing else. Either you whine about it or love it to bits. Glad some of the (more respectable) press seem to be falling on the latter side.

[Eaglerapids]

I love this camera. Is it easy? No. But what other maker allows you to use every lens made nowadays? Do the old lens work with every function on the new bodies? Of course not. The N and C guys wish they could use all their old lens but we can. We may have to jump through some hoops and we may gripe about how some things work but we can do it. It may not be perfect but few things are in my experience. This camera makes me think. It's there and says "Here I am, use me to your advantage."
I have a Nikon Coolpix 995 and it takes very nice pictures and it does a lot of stuff but my goodness the menus you have to drill through to change anything and on top of that, to me they are not intuitive at all. I had a devil of a time learning that camera and once I did, it was so slow and cumbersome to actually do I basically just used it as a point and shoot.
Thats what I love about the K10D, it's a great tool that's laid out in a sweet way, it kind of molds itself to you. That's what great tools do.
I wish I was a more creative person because I don't know if I can use this camera to it's full potential.

[k10dbook]

I wish I was a more creative person because I don't know if I can use this camera to it's full potential.

"Toot - toot" that was my own horn. There is a book out called" Pentax K10D - Everything you need to know...and then some". It helps using the camera to its full potential, in plain english, .....and then some. Check the website and download some of the book pages free. k10dbook home

[little laker]

k10dbook, are you ever going to make a book for the K100D?

I do plan on getting a K10 as well, or in my case it'll probably be a future model, however it would be nice to explore some of the features in my K100 that I haven't discovered yet.

[rhermans]

Slowly, very slowly Pentax is coming back - for most of us it hasn't left but ... for the world.

It took till last week before I saw pentax in a folder. (one of the 2 large camera shops we have in Belgium) and they even just discovered the Samsung GX-10, 2 months ago they looked at me as a freak when I told them I had a Pentax

I'm sure the rise of Pentax hasn't come to an end yet, I'm loving it.

[Photo Tramp]

There are a few pros who use this camera. Most have come over because of the many features Pentax offers. Thursday Last week a Pro picked our back yard beach to do a promotional photo shoot for a client and his Adirondack chair sale. Seems this chair (A poly resin with glow in the dark feature) is going on sale world wide. the customer wanted 4 different settings for the promotion. (our place being the first). the Pro (a long time friend) was shooting with a Canon 5D when for some reason the camera stopped responding. The Pro (Steve Cicero) was greatly upset. We had just been talking about Pentax and the advantages this camera has. He turned to me and ask where in the world was he going to get another camera with the qualities of his 5D I took him to our local camera shop to see if he could get the 5D fixed right away. well that answer came quickly, with It has to go to Canon for repair. there was a K10D in the show case. He ask to see it. He walked out of the store with his new Pentax K10D and 3 new lenses to finish the shoot. The more he used this camera the more he loved it. The shoot finished several hours later. I asked him if it (the K10D) was all I had said it would be, and his remark to me was, At first It was just something to get me through this shoot, but after using it for the day it will be his main camera from now on. He love the camera and can't say enough good things about it.

Looks like we have another Pro on board and a Canon convert to boot.

Heres to you Pentax.

[k10dbook]

k10dbook, are you ever going to make a book for the K100D?

I do plan on getting a K10 as well, or in my case it'll probably be a future model, however it would be nice to explore some of the features in my K100 that I haven't discovered yet.

In fact, I am working on the book right now. It will be out at the end of June / beginning of July. You can put your name on a list and I will send you an email when the books are ready. Look at this website, you can see the cover for the new book for the K100D / K110D. k10dbook home

I had to purchase a k100D three weeks ago so that I could be certain of the functions, etc. I convinced my wife that I was buying it for her.

It's working. I like the camera a lot and it is a good alternative to the K10D for trecking for instance.

Thanks for asking,

Yvon Bourque

[benjikan]

In fact, I am working on the book right now. It will be out at the end of June / beginning of July. You can put your name on a list and I will send you an email when the books are ready. Look at this website, you can see the cover for the new book for the K111D / K110D. k10dbook home

I had to purchase a k100D three weeks ago so that I could be certain of the functions, etc. I convinced my wife that I was buying it for her.

It's working. I like the camera a lot and it is a good alternative to the K10D for trecking for instance.

Thanks for asking,

Yvon Bourque

Best wishes with your book and hope you sell thousands of them!

[bazzie]

k10dbook, are you ever going to make a book for the K100D?

I do plan on getting a K10 as well, or in my case it'll probably be a future model, however it would be nice to explore some of the features in my K100 that I haven't discovered yet.

I'm finding this book very useful. I'm using it instead of the manual- it's much more readable:

Amazon.com: Magic Lantern Guides: Pentax K100D / K110D (Magic Lantern Guides): Books: Joe Farace

[davemdsn]

I have always liked American Photo. Several years ago they did a review of the upper-mid-level/serious shooter SLRs. The Pentax MZ-S beat out the Nikon F100. They seem to have no biases for any particular equipment, but they do have a bias towards scantily clad women. I guess I can't fault them for that.

[bjsmith]

Slowly, very slowly Pentax is coming back - for most of us it hasn't left but ... for the world.

Just six (6) months ago, Pentax was just ramping up sales -- after having a largely stagnant start in the dSLR arena. I might be a SLR noob, but I understand business. I'm sure Hoya was salivating over buying Pentax and dropping the camera division.

Fast forward six (6) months and it's a whole different ballgame! You have the K100D and K10D combination selling extremely well. The K100D because -- let's face it -- it's dirty-cheap entry with SR, the best-of-"kits" DA 18-55mm lens and the current 50-200mm with rebate offer (that makes it less than $100 additional) for around $500 after rebate. And then you have the K10D -- weather-proof (with * lenses, of course), expert-grade with TIPA, Japanese Camera Grand Prix and now American Photo titles to boot -- in a sub-$1,000, and quickly dropping to $750 -- price-point.

Hoya has to deal with that now. I think that's why the merger was back-on, because Hoya will keep the SLR division. The Point'n Shoots will (and should) go. I'm sure Hoya won't do much with the camera bodies other than keep 1-2 current options at any time (I'll probably hand my K100D down to my wife when they come out with their next APS-C sized option, hopefully 12MP just as affordable as the K100D was in, say, 12+ months), and focus more on the glass and lenses (at least that's what I'd do from a business standpoint). So even if the merger doesn't raise Pentax in profile, they will continue, and they will have just as good of a chance to be #3 as before. After all, they made an outstanding, entry-level product that even noobs like myself are constantly out there promoting as a better $400 solution that a "bridge" Point'n Shoot -- by far!

Looks like we have another Pro on board and a Canon convert to boot.

On the Pro end, you guys will know more than myself.

But for the general "common folk," including myself, people go Canon and Nikon because that's what they assume are all there is, or all that will be sustainable. It's not uncommon for this to happen in many industries. I'm an engineer and they are all Canon and Nikon owners here at work -- people who have had SLRs before, unlike myself. Yet when I show them my K100D, and the price I paid for the options, they are shocked.

Take the "kit" lenses quality, plus what the DA 50-200mm gave me for $70 additional after $150 rebate, and they drool. Sure, they have probably a better solution overall -- and they paid $1,000 for their body, and just $500 for one image-stabilized lens. They didn't pay $500 like I did. Now for pros, that's nothing, and $3K+ is a starting point. But for engineers who just have it for the few times they travel, or go to sporting events, it's quite an investment for little usage.

Which is why even these Canon and Nikon owners at my work tell anyone else looking to enter the dSLR arena to talk to me. Not because I necessarily have the best solution, but I have the ideal price-performance solution. The cost of a "bridge" level Point'n Shoot, with a crapload better quality. The near-performance of a stabilized lens, but camera + 2 lenses for just the price of that image-stabilized lens alone!

In fact, I am working on the book right now. It will be out at the end of June / beginning of July. You can put your name on a list and I will send you an email when the books are ready. Look at this website, you can see the cover for the new book for the K100D / K110D. k10dbook home
I had to purchase a k100D three weeks ago so that I could be certain of the functions, etc. I convinced my wife that I was buying it for her.
It's working. I like the camera a lot and it is a good alternative to the K10D for trecking for instance.
Thanks for asking,
Yvon Bourque

I'm finding this book very useful. I'm using it instead of the manual- it's much more readable:
Amazon.com: Magic Lantern Guides: Pentax K100D / K110D (Magic Lantern Guides): Books: Joe Farace

I just finished the Magic Latern Guide and it's 10x better than the manual read. But it's also quite a limited book on its own. It's literally the "For Dummies" book I needed, being a total noob to the SLR terminology, let alone the K100D -- teaching me about EV and bracketing and other, basic tips that I wouldn't normally have any idea about. But I'm ready to go beyond that.

Yvon -- if you go well beyond the manual and the Magic Latern Guide, I'm definitely interested -- especially if you can help bring a noob like myself up to at least the novice approaching near-amateur level. And while I haven't used the K10D, I have to agree that the K100D is great for trecking with!

I was out in New York for Fleet Week a few weeks ago and my K100D was a much smaller body, but far more capable, than most of the Canon and Nikon users I saw. In fact, despite having the larger models (I think at least one was a full-frame) most of them were just using their "kit" 18-55mm lens -- what a waste! I even got to show off the DA 50-200mm and Zenitar 16mm fisheye to one person, and he was shocked that my K100D + kit DA 18-55mm and DA 50-200mm cost me only $500!

Especially after I took a long-distance, impromptu shot at 200mm long -- completely hand-held and free-standing -- of this Coast Guard chopper (of which I totally forgot to put the 52mm circular polarizing filter on, and increase the shutter speed to completely stop the blades) showing off what SR in the body can give you, even with a cheap lens like the DA 50-200 at the longest end:
Flickr Photo Download: CoastGuard_200mm_1920x1080

It's great to be a noob and utterly ignorant of metering and other things and still be able to get some quality shots, despite my own ignorance. I want to change that, but it's nice to have something like the Pentax K100D that is so forgiving, so cheap, so capable, etc..., etc..., etc... And to think I almost dropped $400 on a "bridge" Point'n Shoot -- man, I'm so glad I didn't!

If I wasn't so busy with work right now (working 7 days/week), I would put up a few more blog articles than I already have. For now, I only have my hastily written (virtually non-edited) first entry here targeting those who maybe know what "Optical Zoom" means in Point'n Shoot (and I haven't gotten to really write about my K100D and experiences with it yet):
BS' Blog: Digital Photo: Beyond Pixels and Zoom