[ak_kiwi]

I've bought and lost 2 of them.. This one fitted a little more snugly, how could I possible loose it?
and 45mins into my walk it was gone :P

Do you use a sling strap mounting on the base of the body? I have lost a couple of eye pieces jogging round the sports field whilst shooting with a K5iis fitted with a sling strap and a short lens.

[tromboads]

Yeah my strap keeps rubbing / knocking it free. Having said that, I've been a year without out, might wait another year until I buy another :P

Here, have a piece of a tree from my yard. Click.

55mm Super Tak full of sand and a AF200s off to the right. I recently worked out that setting it to MAX POWER, you can adjust the output by placing pieces of white a4 paper in front of it. Roughly, 2 pieces of Reflex 80GSM is about a stop. 4 pieces is 2 stops, 8 pieces is a little over 3 stops. Crude, but has been fun. Anyway I have some AF200t's coming with that magical manual output control on the back that will retire my pieces of white a4 paper :P

[rayallen]

Today was a "show & shine" day for MAD (Motorists Appreciation Day). The K10D and DA 35mm F2.4 AL performed very well.
There was a huge crowd and lots of cars and motor bikes.

[tromboads]

Oh goodness! That blue 351. Beautiful!

[rayallen]

Oh goodness! That blue 351. Beautiful!

There were many beautiful cars there. I took heaps of shots. More here (many taken with K-3): https://www.flickr.com/photos/rayallen/sets/72157650515968856/

[drypenn]

Based on many of the posts here, the K10 and the ist DS are two of the best vintage Pentax DSLRs. I'm actually smitten and planning to get one.

Without going into the list of features, are the K10 and ist DS at par with each other, based on IQ alone?

[Dartmoor Dave]

There were many beautiful cars there. I took heaps of shots. More here (many taken with K-3):

I've been thinking of getting the 35mm/2.4, and you've just convinced me that it works very well indeed on the K10D. There's a lovely slide film like look to these shots that beautifully complements the classic cars. And looking through the full set on Flickr I'm astonished at how much I prefer the K10D shots. The K-3 results seem surprisingly flat and dull in comparison.

Without going into the list of features, are the K10 and ist DS at par with each other, based on IQ alone?

The *ist DS was my first DSLR for a short time, before it died and I replaced it with a K100D (same 6MP CCD sensor). Now I'm using the Samsung GX-10 version of the K10D.

My feeling is that the 6MP CCD in the *ist delivers even richer colours than the 10MP CCD in the K10D. I think the K10D colour rendering is rich but natural, while the *ist/K100D is very rich and slightly painterly -- less natural but quite beautiful. If sharpness is your main goal, the 10MP CCD has a much less aggressive anti-aliasing filter and of course higher resolution, so it needs much less sharpening in post processing. But with careful input sharpening the 6MP sensor can still deliver sharp enough results for me to happily have 12"x18" prints from it on my wall.

With these cameras being so reasonably priced these days, I think there's a strong argument for having one of each. In good light the extra sharpness and resolution of the 10MP sensor are a big bonus. But when the light isn't so great, the old 6MP CCD sensor has an almost magical ability to make things look better than they really are.

[drypenn]

...My feeling is that the 6MP CCD in the *ist delivers even richer colours than the 10MP CCD in the K10D...

... while the *ist/K100D is very rich and slightly painterly -- less natural but quite beautiful. If sharpness is your main goal, the 10MP CCD has a much less aggressive anti-aliasing filter and of course higher resolution, so it needs much less sharpening in post processing...

...But when the light isn't so great, the old 6MP CCD sensor has an almost magical ability to make things look better than they really are.

Thank you for the invaluable input. Just a question, what's the cause of demise of your ist DS? I saw several threads about DS having problems with their wheels. Anything else I should be aware of? Or would it be still safer to get a K10D seeing that they're relatively newer and supposedly more robust with body sealing?

(Apologies for slightly veering away from the K10D)

[Dartmoor Dave]

Just a question, what's the cause of demise of your ist DS?

My DS developed the (apparently) common problem of showing a dead battery even with a set of brand new Lithiums installed. I believe it's something to do with the voltage regulator circuitry, and I think it's a known problem with the K100D as well. Although when my K100D finally died it was because the motor that flips the mirror failed.

If I had to choose only one camera to own, it would be the K10D any day. (Or in my case the Samsung GX-10, which is exactly the same camera but usually significantly cheaper on the auction site.)


EDIT: The K10D and GX-10 are mechanically and electronically identical, made on the same assembly line. There are very slight cosmetic differences in the outer body shells, but both are water resistant. The Samsung version has its own firmware with (in my opinion) a more modern looking interface. I've compared raw files output from my Samsung and my friend's K10D and they are identical as far as either of us could tell. I've read that the jpeg processing is slightly different in the two cameras, but I never shoot jpeg so I haven't bothered to compare.

[paulh]

Oh goodness! That blue 351. Beautiful!

That old Buick in the first photo does it for me - nice set of shots, Ray.

[paulh]

Based on many of the posts here, the K10 and the ist DS are two of the best vintage Pentax DSLRs. I'm actually smitten and planning to get one.

Without going into the list of features, are the K10 and ist DS at par with each other, based on IQ alone?

Count me as a big fan of the 6mp *ist series & the K100D. I actually own 2 copies of the *istD, and love them as much as my K10D. I agree with Dave's points about the differences in the output of the 6 & 10mp sensors. I wouldn't mind finding a good copy of the DS, although I prefer the original D. Two control wheels instead of one (no issues to report regarding those), no battery issues (been using eneloops for years), and one of the biggest & brightest viewfinders I've seen on a DSLR (which I believe is true of the DS as well). The D has it's quirks, and the LCD is tiny by today's standards, but I feel the construction of the D is a bit more robust than some of the others in the *ist line.

Sorry for the slight detour, now back to discussion of the K10D! Using the 18-55 kit lens:

[rayallen]

That old Buick in the first photo does it for me - nice set of shots, Ray.

Thank you, Paul. I shot that car with both the K-3 and the K10D but I preferred the K10D shot. So, that's why it is here!

[tromboads]

You know I was reading somewhere that the K10 on average tends to underexpose. Perhaps this too adds to it's mythical status? I would love for someone with a K5/3 test as much next to the K10?

But speaking of exposure. ISO1600, f3.5 (from memory) @ 1/30th from a Super Tak 35mm f3.5. A test of acceptable levels of sharpness, I should have stopped down more.

Click

[Dartmoor Dave]

You know I was reading somewhere that the K10 on average tends to underexpose

Lots of drama in that tree shot. Excellent stuff.

I don't know if the camera's meter tends to underexpose, because I usually incident meter. But I'm fairly sure that the stated ISO settings are somewhat on the. . . shall we say. . . optimistic side. If my incident meter (Sekonic L-308S) gives an exposure of 1/125 at f/8 at ISO 100, and I transfer those settings straight to the camera, I'll get a photograph that's at least half a stop underexposed. My guess is that ISO100 is actually more like ISO64 (aaah. . . Kodachrome. . . ).

In the real world it's no big deal: I just mentally compensate by half a stop when I transfer the meter reading to the camera. And you could argue that it's a good idea for the camera to tend towards underexposure, to avoid blowing the highlights.

[rayallen]

You know I was reading somewhere that the K10 on average tends to underexpose. Perhaps this too adds to it's mythical status? I would love for someone with a K5/3 test as much next to the K10?

Yes, you may be onto something there. I agree that the K10D tends towards underexposure and gives richer colours similar to underexposing slide film to achieve the same result. The K-3, on the other hand, produces a brighter image which is much closer to the actual scene. Just my opinion. Others may disagree.