[magnum1]

I am hoping this soon to be able to spend a year in Europe and will be upgrading to the K20D.

I'm envious! Oh well, at least I got the upgrade part.

[explr1]

I owned a K10d for a short period of time. I was able to take a few good pictures with it, but 90% of them came out like crap. I thought the poor quality was due to the lenses I was using so I did a lot of buying and selling to try and find one that would take good pictures. The lenses weren't the problem. I then thought it was operator error on my part, but when I borrowed a family members Nikon D200 and took the same pics as with the K10d, the Nikon always came out on top. In my opinion the K10d and Pentax systems as a whole have crappy metering and in camera jpeg processing. Plus Pentax's lens line up is lacking when it comes to USM and IS lenses. I can't even find a camera store within 100 miles that actually stock a Pentax lens. I sold my K10d a few weeks ago and am the happy owner of a Canon XTi which takes excellent high quality pictures everytime I push the shutter button. It such a release to know all my pictures will come out great with the Canon.

"Of course, this is just MY opionion and I'm sure many Pentax users will say I'm wrong.........."

[ManuH]

"Of course, this is just MY opionion and I'm sure many Pentax users will say I'm wrong.........."

I think you are and I'm not sure you even had a K10D or was able to operate it correctly. There is no IS lens in the entire Pentax line-up because the IS is in the body not the lenses. But seriously, comparing the K10D to a XTi... this must be a troll, right?

[dylansalt]

I owned a K10d for a short period of time. I was able to take a few good pictures with it, but 90% of them came out like crap. I thought the poor quality was due to the lenses I was using so I did a lot of buying and selling to try and find one that would take good pictures. The lenses weren't the problem. I then thought it was operator error on my part, but when I borrowed a family members Nikon D200 and took the same pics as with the K10d, the Nikon always came out on top. In my opinion the K10d and Pentax systems as a whole have crappy metering and in camera jpeg processing. Plus Pentax's lens line up is lacking when it comes to USM and IS lenses. I can't even find a camera store within 100 miles that actually stock a Pentax lens. I sold my K10d a few weeks ago and am the happy owner of a Canon XTi which takes excellent high quality pictures everytime I push the shutter button. It such a release to know all my pictures will come out great with the Canon.

"Of course, this is just MY opionion and I'm sure many Pentax users will say I'm wrong.........."

I beg to differ.

I have taken stacks of photos alongside with a 350D, 400D, 450D and my Pentax K10D have asked my 21 yr old son to choose (without him knowing which camera took the shot) and he chose the K10D output time and time again.

The main reason was for the color alone.

My good friend shoots with the 400D and says he HAS to shoot raw to get anything really decent from pp - not so with K10D-jpeg output can be stunning.

I let my 21yr & 14 yr old son shoot in P mode & matrix metering on a game farm a little while ago and the results were excellent.

There are many many features which make the K10D superior then any Canon even up to the now Canon 50D.

Attached are 2 pics - both taken at the same time alongside with the 400D with kit lens (400D pic was taken in raw and pp'd) Pentax in jpeg and levels,WB slightly adjusted. Each picture has its merits but I prefer the K10D (as all others who judged it) - Can you choose which one is the Canon (after raw conversion).

D

Attached Images

View Picture EXIF

File Date

   

[ukbluetooth]

I prefer the one on the left - it is much more natural to me.


Oh dear - I now see that that is the Canon. No doubt I will be shot.




I meant the one on the top when using IE. I normally use Opera which puts them side by side.

[raider]

I prefer the bottom pic. looks more punchy.

[MPrince]

... Plus Pentax's lens line up is lacking when it comes to USM and IS lenses. ...

This statement causes me to question the veracity of your entire post. If you had owned a k10d, you would have known that ALL Pentax lenses are IS because the shake reduction is in-body, not in-lens.

[MPrince]

I have been a Pentax owner for about 2 years. First with the K10D and now I have added the K20D. I am constantly amazed at the amount of threads dealing with problem concerning Pentax camera's.

So, are the majority of problems camera related or operator misunderstanding?

I am not trying to be a smart ass here. I'm just trying to understand all of questionable Pentax issues.

I think this has more to do with human psychology than anything else. People who are satisfied with the goods/services they purchase rarely sing the praises of the product/service unless they are asked to provide a testimonial.

People who are dissatisfied are rarely shy about vocalizing their discontent. Some even start blogs and devote their entire lives to spreading the news about their unhappiness.

So it is no surprise to me that the nattering nabobs of negativity bombard forum boards with their complaints. It's what makes them happy.

[explr1]

I think you are and I'm not sure you even had a K10D or was able to operate it correctly. There is no IS lens in the entire Pentax line-up because the IS is in the body not the lenses. But seriously, comparing the K10D to a XTi... this must be a troll, right?

Not a troll my friend!!! Look at my previous posts. I was lured by the Pentax K10d because it had body seals, anti dust sensor cleaning and shake reduction. But all those selling points doesn't make up for poor jpeg image quality and slow auto focus. As for the XTi, well, it owns the K10d when it comes to image quality due to having better metering and better processing. But don't take my word for it, go do a Google such on how it compares to the K10d. The auto focus is also a lot faster, which may be due to the Canon USM and Sigma HSM lenses that are available for it. While were on the subject of lenses, I've found that the lens based IS is much better than the K10d's in body SR, yes you pay more for the lenses, but it's worth it. I can also buy lenses and accessories for my XTi at no less than 20 stores that are within a 30 minute drive from my house. Don't get me wrong, I loved the feel of the K10d in my hands, it's built like a little tank, but the image quality wasn't that good and I couldn't buy the lenses that I wanted because Pentax doesn't make them. If they were to add SDM to the DA 18-250mm lens I might have kept it. Look at Canon or Nikon, they have the 18-200mm USM IS/VR lens, Sigma even makes one (that I own) as does Tamron with there 28-300mm and 18-270mm VC lenses. I'm not bashing the K10d or Pentax, I'm just expressing my displeasure that I experienced with the K10d.

[explr1]

400D with kit lens

D

Why use the kit lens? Throw on the Canon $80 wonder 50mm 1.8 or the 1.4 usm lens. And shooting RAW seems to always be the answer from the Pentax crowd. You shouldn't have to shoot RAW to get good pictures. Hell, I could shoot raw with a Lumix FZ-8 and get better results than a jpeg from a K10d.

[magnum1]

I owned a K10d for a short period of time. I was able to take a few good pictures with it, but 90% of them came out like crap.

This is why I had this (No. People don't take the time to learn.) as one of the answers


And...I am sorry, but anyone who now uses another brand and still hangs around a Pentax site is simply here to cause trouble. There is no other reason,.... except to maybe learn what they did wrong. *rant over*

[explr1]

This is why I had this (No. People don't take the time to learn.) as one of the answers


And...I am sorry, but anyone who now uses another brand and still hangs around a Pentax site is simply here to cause trouble. There is no other reason,.... except to maybe learn what they did wrong. *rant over*

We're just here to enlighten. You will leave Pentax for Canon or Nikon eventually. Doesn't the new Nikon D90 make your mouth water??? Lastly, how do you explain all of the tests and reviews that place Canons and Nikons as being better than Pentax? Show me one test where a K10d or K20d for that matter won over a Nikon or Canon???

[Marc Sabatella]

Hell, I could shoot raw with a Lumix FZ-8 and get better results than a jpeg from a K10d.

No doubt if you're all you're going to do is point and shoot rather than learn to take full advantage of the capabilities of the camera, you will indeed get better pictures from a P&S camera.

[dylansalt]

Why use the kit lens? Throw on the Canon $80 wonder 50mm 1.8 or the 1.4 usm lens. And shooting RAW seems to always be the answer from the Pentax crowd. You shouldn't have to shoot RAW to get good pictures. Hell, I could shoot raw with a Lumix FZ-8 and get better results than a jpeg from a K10d.

What a lot of crap - I have also the Oly 5060 prosumer digital - this camera has one of the best resolving lens in the business and I put many many pics through it - jpeg and raw - trust me I would not have bought the Pentax if it didn't offer me more in jpeg mode - I am a 90% jpg shooter

Also have used a lot of p & s's from Canon, Sony.

Anyway I have used the Nikon D80 and D40 and all the Canons run the raws and jpegs through pp and I just liked the output better from Pentax- fortunately I have 28 years of experience and to be quite frank could get an excellent photo from any camera you give me

With the photo's, I compared like to like - Pentax K10D kit lens vs 400D kit lens.

Obviously (duh) I could choose any number of primes to plonk on my camera to give even more superior output.

Most of the chaps on this forum could purchase any damn brand but chose a Pentax - gee we must all be idiots

All digital slrs made today are amazing and I certainly don't dis my friends who own Nikon's or Canon'sor Sony's - cos I know they are all capable picture taking machines

Please don't be angry with your loss - you have now purchased a far superior camera and we all wait with baited breath to see your superior jpegs

Go well

Dylan

[stevebrot]

I voted for option 2, though it does not really fully express my opinion. So, for those who care to read it, here it is:

• I am very happy with the automated features (exposure and focus) on my K10D. They have actually exceeded my initial expectations.
• I think that most people with complaints have excessive expectations. How someone can expect perfect focus of a particular spot on some 3D object in low light at f/1.4 is beyond me. The idea that I should be able to hand-hold a 300mm lens and shoot an approaching flock of ducks in burst mode and have every bird in every frame sharp, in focus, and perfectly exposed is ridiculous. Regardless of what you see on TV, Art Wolfe (public television "Travels to the Edge") has just as many images destined for the recycle bin as you do despite his Canon sponsorship.
• Ditto for people who complain of underexposure from high contrast subjects. I'm sorry, but there is no way for the camera to know that you want it to attenuate the sky and boost your nephew's face for that outdoors graduation picture.
• These same complaints exist for the other camera brands, you just don't read them here.

Steve