[stevebrot]

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*

Well put...

Steve

[stevebrot]

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???

Sorry you were so disappointed with the K10D. I, for one, chose it over the XTI (surprised?) based on build quality and image quality. I participate in a local club where I am the ONLY non-Canon/Nikon user. Do I feel outclassed? Usually not. Do I feel smug? Sometimes. The only time I feel even remotely inadequate is when we are in a group shooting fast moving objects like sports, BIF, and small children. The other people seem to be making a heck of a lot more exposures. On the other hand, I have not noticed that my compatriots have better images when we do showtime. What I see projected by the group are pictures with about the same amount of blurriness, marginal focus and exposure problems that characterize so many of the "defective equipment" rants on this forum.

Will I ever switch to Canon or Nikon? I might when my K10D dies. It all depends on what the offerings are at that time, where the price points are, and how much money I will have sunk into legacy glass (Canon adapts well to the M42 stuff). If anything, I am an independent shopper. I think that is how I ended up with Pentax in the first place.

Steve

(Never much for "spray 'n pray"...)

[dylansalt]

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.

Of course I did say each pic has it's merits - my friend and myself had many hours of enjoyment sharing pics.

He recently sent me pics from Ireland and many of the pics were winners.

I simply love photography and good pics and have seen many from p&s's that simply astound me and personally feel that Canon p&s's output has a definate creamy quality which I love and use a Canon A640 WHICH blows me away at 100 ISO with its ability

Below is a jpeg shot from the Oly - please note the chain links and the girls eyelashes even though this image has been downsized to 24Kb proving any camera in the right hands .........

[alvane]

Regarding the discussion above about image quality; the first thing i ask myself if I get bad pictures is "What did I do wrong?"

I use a GX-10 / DA50-135 combo and i love it! It fits perfect in my hand and I weathersealing in both camera and lense is really important for me (since its raining pretty much all winter here).

I've never had a single problem with either, and the camera likes rain better than I do.

[explr1]

I would change "defective equipment" with "inferior" or poor metering and in image processing.

[Marc Langille]

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 would change "defective equipment" with "inferior" or poor metering and in image processing.

Hi Chris,

The rest of your top post I agree with... except they don't have IS lenses, since it's SR in body. The marketing dept. dictates to a degree the presence of the company on the shelves at a retailer. You are comparing companies that are vastly different in size, so your statement makes perfect sense.

BTW, I know a new (and now somewhat disgruntled) XTI owner. He was very excited about getting his first DSLR. Now he is not so sure - he stated that the Powershot takes better images. He has an IS lens, BTW, but dislikes the blurriness. Is that ability or the camera? I suspect it's both, and I explained this to him that DSLR's are a different animal (that's the short story).

However, I disagree about the JPEGs - are you are speaking solely from your experience or a multitude of others? (Note: I normally shoot RAW for printing requirements.) Do I need to post sample JPEGs that I've taken to show how good they can be? I am willing to back up my claim...

Regards,
Marc

[ManuH]

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.

Funny, I still have an FZ-8 and can compare easily. No way an FZ8 can approach the quality of a K10D even if the K10D was put at ISO400. The colors on the FZ8 always look dirty due to the inherent sensor noise.

When I got my K10D in september'07 I was comparing it to the FZ8 and the FZ8 seemed to produce sharper pics. But when I put the K10D in bright mode I had the same kind of punchy overprocessed JPEGs that people like in their P&S or entry-level DSLR. In this respect, the output of the K10D in this bright mode made many jaws dropping, Nikon and Canon shooters included. The colors coming through a CCD at iso 100 is IMHO unmatched.

Now I shoot only RAW, it gives you much more control anyway. I would do it with any camera that supports it.

As for AF, yes it's a weakness particularly in low-light and tracking. In normal light it's as fast or faster than anything else IMHO.

Metering. That's something very complex and you should be careful before saying this camera or that camera has better metering, particularly in JPEG mode where the camera can just push the raw data to make it look better than it really is. Also, you should learn the basics of exposure and know for example why a snowy scene will often be underexposed by the camera.

IS. Learn to use that one too. Did you for example wait for the IS to be ready (you know the hand indicator in the viewfinder)? All tests show that in-body IS really works and is very similar in performace to in-lens IS (sometimes better, sometimes worse).

But I agree that the K10D is not for people who don't take the time to learn a tool and prefer auto-everything. In the right hands though, it's a magnificent camera.

[magnum1]

But I agree that the K10D is not for people who don't take the time to learn a tool and prefer auto-everything. In the right hands though, it's a magnificent camera.

Hense this entire thread and why some people leave to buy camera's with presets on the dial.

Owning a K10 / 20D is like buying a compound miter saw to cut a 2x4 to lenth. It's meant for much more.

[Stratman]

Yes I know but many people overlook that. What I am trying to say is no one will make a post and say there camera works because it is something that is expected.

I have two Pentax DSLRs, K110D with close to 9000 shots, and a K10D with close to 7300 shots. Not 1 problem with either one so far !! ( lots of problems with the thing BEHIND the camera though )

[jeffkrol]

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???

Those statements are so stupid on so many levels.... People buy "things" for hundreds of reasons. 100 car models, 100 toaster models ect... you can always find a market.
As to metering and straight jpg rendering, I always fail to see the point w/ ANY camera. Why throw the negative away?, why process, even so slightly, in 8 bit?
Why turn your camera into a glorified Polaroid Instamatic, because that is pretty much what you are doing. I'm sorry you found Pentax not to your liking but I could give a r%ts a$$ about your "opinions".
All brands make REALLY GOOD CAMERAS..... and to each their own... Every brand can blow their horn for something.
I guess at least here Pentax "beat them all"
PENTAX K10D Wins TIPA Best D-SLR Expert Award - Press Releases - Photoxels
Or how about these???
Pentax K10D AWARD List
I guess your "opinion" is much more important then others, my mistake... yeesh get a life. They are all good cameras and capable of great images...
My opinion get a Nikon, there much better than Canon......

[jeffkrol]

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'm trying to understand your "research" here. Like anything certain models can have certain flaws. this is for any brand at any pricepoint. Nikon had some banding issues in one model. The Canon MKIII had focus issues that, to be honest, have been mostly just patched for many, fixed for some. Pentax had some bad flash components. Recent studies lead to the fact that failure rates are definitely not ZERO and 3% is godly. As economies get tighter this rate will increase most likely.
Case in point:
SquareTrade doesn't seem convinced that the issues are over, and CEO Steve Abernethy is even claiming that the percentage could go up. He also told Ars that these numbers aren't surprising in the world of consumer electronics. "16 percent is high for Xbox if comparing to our data for Wii and PS where we are seeing closer to 3 percent so far," he told us. "However, as an industry, consumer electronic failure rates over 3 years commonly exceed 15 percent. Like others, we have read the failure rate for Xbox is 30 percent or higher. We haven't seen that yet, but it is clearly plausible that this 16 percent failure rate we see will increase with claims over time."
Xbox 360 failure rates worse than most consumer electronics
I'm sure you can find the same in cameras ect....

How about this for China???
http://www.chinatechnews.com/2008/10/29/7851-digital-camera-failure-rate-as-...-129-in-china/
Then again maybe it's only 4%:
There is a 4% industry wide camera failure rate if you can believe manufacturer stats and that aligns with CR's survey of readership who have had or needed to have repairs made. 4% of Canon camera failures amounts to a lot more failed cameras because they are the top dog in sales.
http://discussions.consumerreports.org/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=3&nav=messages&w...hcamr&tid=2743

[Marc Sabatella]

I would change "defective equipment" with "inferior" or poor metering and in image processing.

If by "inferior" you mean, "adhering to ISO standards while also managing not to blow out highlights by default", I would agree that this is something Pentax does more than most. Most photographers with any experience would consider both of these good things, but I can see how a point&shooter might find correct metering to be a bit confusing.

[magnum1]

If by "inferior" you mean, "adhering to ISO standards while also managing not to blow out highlights by default", I would agree that this is something Pentax does more than most. Most photographers with any experience would consider both of these good things, but I can see how a point&shooter might find correct metering to be a bit confusing.

That last part made my pepsi shoot out my nose. Good one Marc!!

[Stratman]

Sounds like a kid trying to get our ire up....

[jmc7104]

Hey Pentaxians cut this guy some slack, can't you see that he is an "EXPERT". With his Cannon xti he gets a perfect shot every time he presses the shutter button. If I had a camera this good I would expect it to even push its own button and save a dummy like me the effort.
Actually the best way to discourage these kind of posters is to totally ignore them and their post. Nothing to be gained by arguying with a fence post. jim

Ps. I have a Cannon P&S S1IS and I cannot get better than 60% good shots and very few perfect shots. Pentax ist, K100D, K10D, Spottie, and K1000.