jth, let me say first that almost without exception this is a very friendly forum. There are some excellent shooters here and until the thread 2 above mine you have gotten some good advice. I own and like my K110D which is almost the same as the K100D (missing the Shake reduction) and I have used it many times to shoot weddings successfully as my second body. As for white balance, it has not been an issue as I almost always manually set the white balance for indoor lighting and it has done a very good job of that.
Everyone has a right to their opinions and posters here often disagree on many aspects of the gear and the craft. I've learned a lot from new members and long time camera owners, both. Here comes the 'but'.....
Now It is not my style to flame another poster but I will make an exception in this case. Rice High is a nit picker that has trashed everything Pentax. He tears the cameras and gear down and really has no clue about most of what he says. He NEVER posts pictures or truly verifiable proof of his issues and problems with the gear. Those that have been around this and other forums have for the most part learned to ignore his rants. I don't believe I stand alone in these comments. He has some personal agenda with Pentax and as I said, he never posts images on his blog so has no credibility in my book.
Want a much better opinion of the camera? Have a look at the threads from Tom Lusk ( I hope Tom you don't mind me using you as an example, if so I apologize in advance and will delete this response) and Tom is only one of many excellent shooters here that get great results from this camera.
See his post here:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/post-your-photos/12875-fog-frog.html
and to see others, look here:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/search.php?searchid=189819
You could also spend some time browsing the Pentax Gallery here that has photos specific to the model:
PENTAX Photo Gallery
I'm not saying it's the perfect camera for everyone. No camera ever could be. But it can stand on it's own and produce excellent results in the right hands. It's a tool, that once you learn how to use it, can do most everything you want. It's more about your skill, vision and technique than anything else.
BTW Keith, the AF system needs contrast in order to focus on something. That is true for many brands I think (I may be wrong of course). So unless there is some contrasting colour in the FOV the system can't lock. Very similar to a split screen on a film camera that you need a defined edge of something in the FOV to bring the top and bottom together to be sure that the picture is in sharpest focus. Also the AF can hunt with certain lenses when it is dark if they are slower at max aperture and so on. It may hunt a bit more on my Sigma 50-500 @500mm f6.3 but not on the 43mm ltd f1.9 etc.
Last edited by Peter Zack; 10-08-2007 at 07:51 AM.