[ecce38]

..about buying the K10D. I'll be making the purchase this week. However, I've been reading comments to the effect that the K100 has better sharpness than the K10; the K10 flash is not reliable, and that there might be frontal focus issues as well. Not comforting to say the least. Should I reconsider? I realize that people here have brand loyality, and this camera really interests me (per reviews at dpreview.com, cnet, etc...), but I don't want to make the wrong choice. After all, it's a very new camera model from Pentax and may have some technical issue left to work out. Anyone?

ecce out....

[Wethphotography]

DSLR are big investments; you are wise to be nervous. I have owned the K10d for a little over a month and taken about 500 pictures. I have been delighted with the cameras performance. I have an external flashgun so I have not used the built in flash more than a handful of times. I have noticed no front focussing issues on mine; but that has clearly been an issue for some users. From my experience, the camera is everything I hoped it would be. That said, protect yourself, and buy the camera from a store that has a long return period, like 20-30 days. This will give you the chance to put the camera through its paces and make sure you do not have one with a faulty flash. I bought mine in the US from amazon.com and they had a 30 day return period, I believe.

Good luck,
Erl

[brett]

At first I was looking at either the Canon Rebel XTi, or the Nikon D80 (leaning toward the D80). Then I started reading all these wonderful reviews about the K10D. I came to the conclusion that all cameras have "issues," but many of these issues are so beyond my current level of expertise that they are largely meaningless to me. After making that leap in logic, the K10D represented the best bang for buck to me. I've only had the camera for a few weeks, I've taken a number of flash shots, and so far I'm quite pleased with my decision.

[-=JoN=-]

all the issues seem to be very isolated, and even more, seem to be happening with the very first shipments.

shot close to 3000 photos with mine, and bought it first day of availability here in the east coast, couldn't be more happier

[ecce38]

Yes, any technological device has issues, thus we have to learn to live with them. Good point. I'm not after perfection by any means. I guess I'm getting "cold feet" before throwing down $1200 for it and the accessories for it. Thanks for your input. Anyone else?

[Sailor]

You are asking us a question that none of us can answer. Nobody - not even Pentax - knows the long-term reliability of these early K10D's at this stage. Anecdotal data on reliability that you pick up from forums like this one are always suspect, particularly since folks have a tendency to believe that their anecdotal experience (good or bad) can be translated to the general population and often couch their positive or negative descriptions in that light.

In the US, only Consumer Reports provides statistically meaningful information on camera reliability based on a survey of a large population of owners. Unfortunately, CU shows no data for Pentax DSLR's - presumably because the sample size is too small. Pentax P&S cameras have had a failure rate of 5% over the last 3 years - the industry average, which says that the chance of having a defective camera is small but certainly not negligible (BTW, Canon and Nikon DSLR's show a failure rate of 4% - statistically, according to CU, the same as the industry average). How this relates to early production K10D's is anybody's guess at this point - and that's all it is . . . . a guess.

Jerry

[roscot]

All I can do is tell you my experiences with the camera.

Mine was one of the first batch. First, it is an incredible instrument, with some unique exposure modes that have proved most useful.

Build quality and feel are superb.

Exposure is much more consistent than my DS.

The supposed jpeg sharpness issue is not really an issue at all. Jpegs are sharp, but different than what you get with other brands. There is slightly less edge sharpness that even the originator of the statement says is only noticeable at above print size A3. The file is designed to be sharpened in post processing. I've found I can apply more unsharpen mask with less artifacts with a K10D file than I can with ist DS file. In another forum, it was found that if you shoot jpeg in bright mode, the files are similar to the K100 look.

My on board flash has so far worked fine. However I rarely use it in favor of an external unit. I did have a flash failure on a DS though.

Front focus. I tested 5 of my lenses and found 2 (FA35 f2.0, and FA50 f1.4) to front focus in a focus chart test. In real world shooting, I've yet to see any evidence of FF with either lens. For me, it seems to be a non-issue.

My overall experience with the K10D has been very positive. I'm very comfortable with the cameras abilities.

Hope this helps
-Alan

[Teko]

I almost bought XTi before I got my K100d yestaurday, since I only got it yestaurday, I couldn't say much about the performance~

However, I did a lot of research b4 I made up my mind. Main weakness for me as a SLR noob of K100d compare to XTi are 1. six megaplxels comare to 10, 2. Small buffer...

Main advantages are 1. much cheaper, 2. quality kit lens, 3. it feels better in my hand...

K100d is my first SLR, but I've been shooting with digital camera for at least 6~7 years. I have never print anything bigger than 5x7, therefore 10 megapixels are not that important factor to me (another main reason I didn't consider K10d) Also I can get two quality lens for cheap (18-55 and 50-200), that's perfect for a noob like me to practice on...

For same price, you can get 2 lenses with K100d, if you have never touched DSLR before and you don't really need that 10 megapixels. I would recommand K100d over XTi or K10d, just my .02~

Anyways, so far so good for me and I am just a beginner... good luck...

[roscot]

However, I did a lot of research b4 I made up my mind. Main weakness for me as a SLR noob of K100d compare to XTi are 1. six megaplxels comare to 10, 2. Small buffer...

Teko,
Don't think of 6MP as a disadvantage. In some cases it can be an advantage, for example in high ISO situations your K100 will generate less noise than a K10.

Just as an aside, I did a little experiment yesterday. I took an older shot from my DS (6MP) and printed it out at 11x14. This is shot is also cropped to about 2/3 the original size. It turned out extremely well. You would never know it was "only" 6 MP.

Enjoy your K100, It is a really nice camera in it's own right. I don't think you will be disappointed.

Cheers
-Alan

[WMBP]

However, I did a lot of research b4 I made up my mind. Main weakness for me as a SLR noob of K100d compare to XTi are 1. six megaplxels comare to 10, 2. Small buffer...

I did my research, too. I haven't found any problems or limitations in the camera that I was not aware of before I bought it. So no disappointments at all - just pleasant surprises.

I don't regard the K100D's 6 MP sensor as a disadvantage or a weakness. It's already more than I really need in the way of resolution, so to have more would just take up more disk space. I suppose my next camera will probably have more MP - seems to be the way things are going. But I would not pay extra money for that.

The small buffer, on the other hand, is a bit of an annoyance, as I like to shoot continuous. I'm learning to live with it and I'm happy with the camera. If I really need to shoot more than two pictures at once, I switch from Raw to JPEG.

Main advantages (of the K100D over the Rebel XTi) are 1. much cheaper, 2. quality kit lens, 3. it feels better in my hand...

Does the Rebel XTi have shake reduction/image stabilization? That's a big plus for the Pentax cameras, indeed, that's almost in itself the thing that sold me on the K100D.

Will

[Teko]

Hi Alan and Will,

10MP is always an advantage for me, because you'll need it if you try to print bigger than let's say 11x14, right? However, it's not necessary for me as I stated that I will probably never print photos that big...

No, XTi don't have IS or SR, you can only buy lens that come with IS which is very expensive. I forgot to mention it as K100d's advantage... The SR is also the main reason I got K100d...

Teko

[WMBP]

10MP is always an advantage for me, because you'll need it if you try to print bigger than let's say 11x14, right? However, it's not necessary for me as I stated that I will probably never print photos that big...

After reading this a couple of times, I think you must be trying to make a distinction between an ADVANTAGE and a NECESSITY. Okay, I can see that. The downside of having 10 MP photos rather than 6 MP photos is not very great; if the K100D were the same price and shot at 10 MP, I would still have purchased it. But I would not spend very much money to get those extra 4 MP because I truly do not expect to need them. Somewhere around 5-6 MP, I get what I want and cease to be willing to pay very much for higher resolutions. A print photographer might really want 10 MP or 12 MP - but nobody would want 90 MP photos, even if such a thing were possible and even if it didn't add to the cost of the camera.

If the only difference between one camera and another were that one had a max resolution of 6 MP and the other had a max res of 10 MP, and the price difference between them were, oh, $50 - I'd probably pay $50 for the higher res. But when the price difference is, say, $400 - the cost of a decent additional lens - well, I know it might be worth it to someone else and that's great, but it's not worth it to me personally, given what I do with my pictures.

Will

[PeterAM]

I have a DS (6mp) and a K10D. I have been printing up to 10X15 from the DS (full frame or close to it) with great results, so I don't think that the sensor size/resoultion is an issue. I bought the K10D so as to get the extra resoultion to give me some cropping latitude when printing and to get the advantage of the anti-shake mechanism. The rest of the goodies in the K10D are pluses (haven't even figured out some yet).
I think that if you are a beginner to photography, the K100 is pefectly adequate. If you are further up the learning curve, then the K10D is the way to go. Don't think that you can wrong either way.

[ecce38]

Thanks to all...good info. here. I'm sticking with the K10 b/c I want a camera I can grow into and learn more about digital photography with. Like Tim "the tool man" Taylor, I want the power, haha. Again, thanks.

ecce out...

[Marc Langille]

Hi,

I've covered this topic in another forum, so I'll copy and paste my findings here too:

I decided to print this image at 20x30 inches (halfway between A2 and A1) as a leap of faith for my mom's Christmas gift. The frame and border is part of the picture, so it's closer to A2 in actual picture size.

I cannot find any evidence of pixelation, and this was printed on an Epson Stylus Pro 9800 wide format photo printer.

Full frame shot with Pentax SMC FA* 80-200/2.8, courtesy of my K100D. The printer interpolates the image, so that's part of the equation...

Taken at F/3.5, 1/180 sec., ISO 200, 80mm: