[rrsell]

Less than a week ago I bought my first DSLR--a Pentax K10D mainly because I already had several Pentax M lens used on a Pentax ME Super. In between I've owned several point and shoot Canon digitals and have taken 1000s of acceptable but mostly trite snapshots. The K10D manual is not all that friendly to users of the old M lens since it concentrates on improvements added since the lenses were built, but after I figured it out and started shooting, my old joy of photography quickly returned.
I felt I was in charge of taking pictures again. I can only repeat what has been noted above. The camera's controls are where they should be, the software menu's are far more intuitive than most, the shake reduction is fantastic, the in-focus indicator in effect makes all my old lenses auto focus--there is even a way to have the camera shoot when my focusing hits the sweet spot. Great experience at a great price.
And the people in this forum helped. Thanks.

[PentaxPZ]

Well what can I say...

QUALITY!

I mean I started with a Pentax ME, and having had tried two other brands...
guess what?
Im back where I started Pentax! ok now digital...

I went from ME to Fuji S6500fd digital to Canon EOS 300D to a Pentax K100D super.

[pichygrue]

I think the pictures are very film like in their colors.

Yes! They are like flesh and blood!

[NicholasN]

I purchased a Pentax K100D originally because everyone else told me to buy a C***n.

I thought to myself, if these peple were stupid enough to buy their cameras because someone else told them to, then they are just telling me the same thing to make themselves feel better that they bought a piece of s**t and have another idiot follower join the club.

Pentax had the specs I wanted for the right price and it felt way more solid than the equivalent C***n or N***n.

When I wanted to upgrade all I wanted was the K20D. All those weather seals and rugged construction, with the functionality it has at the great price it was a no brainer.

Having the inbuilt SR was a bonus because had I purchased a 400D or 450D I would have foked out a tonne for the IS lenses.

Best of all, the K20D dumps all over the 450D in terms of function, and also in terms of sensor quality. The 14.6 Pentax (Samsung) sensor has alot more going for it than the C***n sensor in the 450D.

Pentax users are Rebels. And we all know chicks dig bad boys right?

Nick

[aleonx3]

I purchased a Pentax K100D originally because everyone else told me to buy a C***n.

I thought to myself, if these peple were stupid enough to buy their cameras because someone else told them to, then they are just telling me the same thing to make themselves feel better that they bought a piece of s**t and have another idiot follower join the club.

Pentax had the specs I wanted for the right price and it felt way more solid than the equivalent C***n or N***n.

Nick

I felt the same way; I really could care less about how great the other C**n and N**n cameras are (maybe they are), but I just want to get one that provides me with the right tool to get the PQ that I want at the right price (both K10D and K20D now, and K100D then).

A friend of mine who bought the D200 before I got my K10D (owned the K100D first) now finds out the VR does not work when you tilt the lens up. He is frustrated and admitted that he is seriously consider switching to Pentax system (Sony and Olympus for that matter) since VR is on the camera not in the lens.

Just hold one, you won't want to give it back.
Gary

[Confused]

Hi aleonx3

Re your findings:

A friend of mine who bought the D200.......now finds out the VR does not work when you tilt the lens up.

I hadn't the faintest idea about this particular anomaly, so would you care to elaborate on this a little ? Does it also happen in the case of C***n IS lenses as well ? I'm afraid I've become so reliant upon using the Pentax's SR technology that the thought hadn't even occurred to me that N***n's VR wouldn't function under similar
circumstances !

Best regards
Richard

---

Last edited by Confused; 06-30-2008 at 04:57 AM.

[aleonx3]

Hi aleonx3

Re your findings:



I'm afraid I hadn't the faintest idea about this particular anomaly, so would you care to elaborate on this ? Does it also happen with C***n IS lenses as well ?

Best regards
Richard

Hi, Richard,
I don't know whether it is N***n specific, but I gather it is probably because of in-lens VR (or IS). He has the 18-200mm VR lens and said it works perfectly fine when he is shooting in a horizontal position but he was not able to get clean shot when he aims up (about 20-30 degree) to a building or tree. I don't know if it is true or not nor do I know how the VR/IS works in the lens (physics). I have not seen any scientific report about this anomaly either, so perhaps this is just his personal experience.

[creampuff]

Failing VR mechanism is a known issue with the Nikon 18-200mm VR. Quite a number of Singapore Nikon owners have had to send their lenses in to Nikon for repair. The failure can happen at any time without warning.

[rparmar]

Does this have something to do with the fact that the VR works only in two dimensions but the SR in all three? Or is this some claptrap I have picked up along the way?

[Confused]

Hi aleonx3

He has the 18-200mm VR lens and said it works perfectly fine when he is shooting in a horizontal position but he was not able to get clean shot when he aims up (about 20-30 degree) to a building or tree.

In which case that's pretty much guaranteed to p**s-off plenty of astronomical photographers or plane-spotters who enjoy attending air-shows etc !

N***N photographer:

"Darn it, my damned VR lens is playing up again. I'm afraid you'll have to deal with all those unrepeatable overhead action shots using your Pentax, whilst I concentrate on taking pictures at ground level"........lol !

Best regards
Richard

[aleonx3]

Failing VR mechanism is a known issue with the Nikon 18-200mm VR. Quite a number of Singapore Nikon owners have had to send their lenses in to Nikon for repair. The failure can happen at any time without warning.

Hi, Creampuff,
Didn't know that there were quite a number of issues with this lens perhaps, I better let him know that it could be just his lens needs to be repaired.

Does this have something to do with the fact that the VR works only in two dimensions but the SR in all three? Or is this some claptrap I have picked up along the way?

Hi, rparmar,
I hope it is not the case for his sake; he has paid a lot of dough for that lens (a really hot item when it first came out). He is now taking a lot of interest in the Pentax system (envying my 77mm ltd both in the build and quality of pictures taken with this lens).

[Confused]

Hi aleonx3

Envy can be a very dangerous thing, especially when you're a disgruntled N***n follower......lol ! The fact remains if you purchase 10 different VR / IS lenses, you're simply multiplying the chance of something major going wrong further down the line. That's why it made both technical and financial sense for me to invest in the SR body-mechanism of the Pentax K10D. In-lens stability supposedly improves as the focal length of a lens increases, but as I'm not especially interested in extreme telephoto photography, this issue is naturally of no consequence to me whatsoever. In my opinion, the durability of today's electro-mechanical devices is somewhat limited, especially when you consider how many of the older lenses still continue to function perfectly well without any problem.

Best regards
Richard

[aleonx3]

Hi aleonx3

Envy can be a very dangerous thing, especially when you're a disgruntled N***n follower......lol ! The fact remains that if you purchase say 10 different VR / IS lenses, that's 10 potential opportunities for something else to go wrong further down the line. That's why it made both technical and financial sense to invest in the Pentax K10D. In my opinion, the durability of today's electro-mechanical devices is somewhat limited, especially when you consider how many of the older lenses still continue to function without any problem.

Best regards
Richard

Hi, Richard,
That is very true, if SR on the camera fails I just need to replace the broken camera not the entire suite of lens - just basic economics. However, most in the C***n and N***n camp still believe (or rather led to believe) that in-lens VR/IS is superior than in-camera SR. He was so proud that occassionally (sometimes) he can get sharp pictures with less than 1/5 sec shutter speed handheld. Depending on focal length and lighting, I think my percentage of clean shots like that is much higher with SR; but I guess I didn't really want to spoil his fun (not nice to make people unhappy).

Regards,
Alfred

[gingerburn]

There is a great deal of knowledge kicking around this forum that, were I even to attempt to add to it, would be nothing more than vanity on my part. However, I would say that what sold me comprehensively on the Pentax K200d which I have owned for the past month or so, was the feel of the thing in my hand. As one or two other posters have said, the best thing you can possibly do is get off the internet (where no two sites will ever agree), get down to a camera store and see which camera feels best. I was close to getting a S**y A300, but when I had one in my hand I hated it: the viewfinder was tiny and the kit lens felt awful. With the Pentax I knew I was holding something I would enjoy working with for years to come. And what's more, everyone else I know who's held the thing has commented on how well it sits in the hand, from people with tiny, slender fingers to ham-fisted monsters like me.

Oh, and Pentaxians are way cooler than anyone else!