[amstel78]

Picked up a "demo" K10D from Adorama yesterday along with a K30 for my daughter. The K30 was in excellent condition with only some very minor light scratches on the LCD monitor surface. Apart from that the camera looks new. As for the the demo K10D - that was a real shocker. The box still came wrapped in factory plastic. It was for all intents and purposes brand new. Never opened. Nothing inside was unwrapped and still had all the factory plastic bags and stickers around the camera and accessories.

Now I do have a few questions about the K10D. First, the shutter button is very, and I mean very sensitive. A normal half press that you'd expect on most cameras to achieve focus requires just a feather touch on the K10. Is that normal? Also, the LCD monitor is very dim at its '0' setting. Cranking it up to +3 or +4 makes it more bearable. Again, is that typical of the K10 series cameras?

I paid $200 dollars for the K10 and $230 for the K30. Seems like a decent price considering the condition they were both in. Yes, I probably could have gotten them cheaper elsewhere, but at least with Adorama, I can always return something should it malfunction within a certain time frame. FWIW, I bought the K30 to replace my daughters crappy Canon Rebel. Plus, she can use some of my Pentax lenses. The K10 was bought as a backup/travel/don't care if it gets beat up camera to my K1-II.

[pschlute]

My first K10D had a very sensitive shutter button. After one morning playing with it it was returned for a replacement. Sounds exactly like the problem you have. The replacement worked fine.

[amstel78]

Interesting. I can most certainly live with it although it just takes some getting used to.

What about the dim LCD screen? Is it typical for this era camera?

[Not a Number]

The shutter button on my K10D seems fine. The LCD at 0 is quite bright indoor and adequate outdoors except when bright sun is on the screen.

[stevebrot]

Now I do have a few questions about the K10D. First, the shutter button is very, and I mean very sensitive. A normal half press that you'd expect on most cameras to achieve focus requires just a feather touch on the K10. Is that normal?

I shot with the K10D for seven years and don't remember the shutter being particularly sensitive.

Also, the LCD monitor is very dim at its '0' setting. Cranking it up to +3 or +4 makes it more bearable. Again, is that typical of the K10 series cameras?

The state of the art for rear LCD has come a long way since 2006 with improvements to screen brightness, resolution, and contrast. In contrast to the K-1, the screen may appear more dim. I don't remember mine as being particularly dim except that it was pretty much useless for review in strong light.


Steve

[amstel78]

I shot with the K10D for seven years and don't remember the shutter being particularly sensitive.



The state of the art for rear LCD has come a long way since 2006 with improvements to screen brightness, resolution, and contrast. In contrast to the K-1, the screen may appear more dim. I don't remember mine as being particularly dim except that it was pretty much useless for review in strong light.


Steve

The shutter button itself is not overly sensitive in that it requires a firm press in order to actuate the shutter. A strong tactile response is the result. It's the half-press to achieve focus lock on the other hand that's very sensitive and doesn't really have a tactile response. Just slightly touching it with the tip of your finger will activate the focus mechanism. But I guess for a brand new body for $200, I really can't complain.

[pschlute]

The shutter button itself is not overly sensitive in that it requires a firm press in order to actuate the shutter. A strong tactile response is the result. It's the half-press to achieve focus lock on the other hand that's very sensitive and doesn't really have a tactile response. Just slightly touching it with the tip of your finger will activate the focus mechanism. But I guess for a brand new body for $200, I really can't complain.

With my original K10D bought in 2008 it was almost impossible to half -press without the shutter going off. As i said I gave it half a day before deciding it was a wrong-un and the camera store swapped it out. The new one had no such issues. I do not remember any problems viewing with the screen.

[LensBeginner]

200$ for a K10D seems expensive to me...

[paulh]

I have two K10D's, neither of which have the problems you describe. I use back-button AF, so I wouldn't notice an overly sensitive shutter button anyway. I would suggest using that as well, if the problem persists.

[mikesbike]

$200 is not expensive if being a new camera. Oftentimes a "demo" sold by a certified Pentax dealer, never having been sold to a customer, will qualify for a new camera warranty. Seems like a good deal. If you look way back through the archives, you can probably find the dpreview test review of the K10D. I remember its being very comprehensive. They were wowed by the simple ingeniousness of the Pentax Hyper System. I remember jpegs out of the camera shown to be soft, and sharpening adjustments being inadequate. So sharpening must be done in post.

I never owned the K10D, kept shooting with the K100D, but later went for the K200D new and having the same sensor, and then the K20D new at half price with a 5 year Pentax warranty, after the K-7 arrived.

[amstel78]

200$ for a K10D seems expensive to me...

Perhaps to you, but bear in mind that this was brand new still in Pentax shrink wrapping. 0 shutter actuations. I wonder if the warranty all applies?

I did check other places like eBay and KEH and while they could be had anywhere from 65 to 175 dollars, there was no knowing how used and abused it was.

Plus the salesman threw in a free 64gb card in for free and a knocked off 50 bucks on a new Tamron 17-50 f2.8 lens.

Off topic, but are most Tamron lenses now made in Vietnam and China? The 17-50 was made in Vietnam. All of my other Tamron glass was made in Japan.

[LensBeginner]

Then the deal was ok, if you factor in the SD and the discount on the lens... but we're still talking about a 12-y.o., 11MP CCD DSLR... that's archaeology in my book.

[demondata]

The K10D may be an oldie, but it's a goodie. That sensor makes very attractive film-like images. Archaeology it may be, but of the good kind. You can, if I remember this right (K20D works this way) avoid the shutter focus sensitivity by using back-button focusing - it's a recommended skill and practice by some rather knowledgeable forum members.

[stevebrot]

200$ for a K10D seems expensive to me...

New in box the price is about right, given the collector's potential. Market value has been variable on the marketplace over the year or so with the top "sold" being at $185 (good condition with $26K actuations) and the bottom being at $90 (good condition with over 65K actuations).


Steve

[amstel78]

Left the K1-II at home and decided to just walk around the city with the K10D and a Pentax 18-135 lens. For an old camera, it can still hold its own. Albeit, it takes a bit more concentration from the photographer to get a good shot but when it works, it works well. I have to admit, there's something about the CCD sensor in this camera that really gives a film-like impression that modern CMOS-based cameras can't really do. High ISO and matrix metering sucks, but that's why I always work with RAW.