Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 

Reply
Show Printable Version Search this Thread
01-16-2009, 06:48 AM   #1
Senior Member




Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 255
A minor thing that I much prefer on the K10/20D over other brands.

Just a minor thought, I was trying to figure out what was bothering me about my friends Canon camera bodies, a 20D and a 5D.

There is nothing obvious wrong with the build quality, I don't like the Canon big wheel at the back, that's annoying ergonomics to me, but ergonomics is a personal thing. I'd get accustomed to it after a bit of use, I sure wouldn't turn down a 5D if someone gave it to me.

After a bit, it hit me. It's the frickin cheap rubber bungs they use to cover the various connection ports on the side.

I mean, you make a lovely camera body, out of the touted magnesium alloy, then go whack a 10 cent rubber bung to cover the rest?

Rubber bungs to me are what you get on a $20 mp3 player, not a camera body worth 4 digits.

01-16-2009, 10:58 AM   #2
Veteran Member




Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Durban, South Africa
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 1,052
QuoteOriginally posted by Maxington Quote
Just a minor thought, I was trying to figure out what was bothering me about my friends Canon camera bodies, a 20D and a 5D.

There is nothing obvious wrong with the build quality, I don't like the Canon big wheel at the back, that's annoying ergonomics to me, but ergonomics is a personal thing. I'd get accustomed to it after a bit of use, I sure wouldn't turn down a 5D if someone gave it to me.

After a bit, it hit me. It's the frickin cheap rubber bungs they use to cover the various connection ports on the side.

I mean, you make a lovely camera body, out of the touted magnesium alloy, then go whack a 10 cent rubber bung to cover the rest?

Rubber bungs to me are what you get on a $20 mp3 player, not a camera body worth 4 digits.
When handling all the diff cams before my final purchase I definitely felt that the K10D was built better than any semi-pro Canon and the closest in build quality was the Nikon D200 (it's not fully weather sealed, nor has OIS) YET it was 3 times the price!
01-16-2009, 11:33 AM   #3
Senior Member




Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: New York
Posts: 168
QuoteOriginally posted by Maxington Quote
....I mean, you make a lovely camera body, out of the touted magnesium alloy, then go whack a 10 cent rubber bung to cover the rest?.....
Good point. But as someone who has suffered the infamous base plate crack on my older K10D (Pentax replaced the base plate but I recently checked and the crack, actually a chip, is back), I can say that I wish Pentax made a camera body with magnesium alloy or some other metal. Both of my K10D bodies work fine and I love the pancake lenses (I have all three). But no more plastic cameras for me. Even my old Olympus P&S cameras have magnesium alloy bodies.

Richard
01-16-2009, 11:35 AM   #4
Veteran Member
Gooshin's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Toronto, the one in Canada.
Posts: 5,610
i'll opt for rubber plugs over plastic doors anyday

01-16-2009, 01:03 PM   #5
Veteran Member




Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Seattle
Posts: 659
Said with a little tongue in cheek

My, my, what a little love-in fest this is.

Careful folks, we wouldn't want this to become a cult. :-)

All cameras have their advantages and disadvantages.

Just a quick summary:

Pentax - access to thousands of compatible lenses, better 'bang for buck' then many, relatively great build quality (but darn it, each camera has one or more Achilles heals)

Canon - one of the most respected brands, superior to all others in low light/low noise photography, top quality lenses, good selection of professional accessories.

Nikon - the most respected brand, with few exceptions - usually the most rugged cameras but at a cost, superior Nikor lenses, best selection of professional accessories.

It's good to love your camera but be realistic and understand both its goodness and its many flaws.

I own the K20D but I also feel that the Canon 50D is superior in many ways; that's okay with me! I purchased the Pentax because I have several thousand dollars in accessories and lenses. The live preview on the K20D sucks, noise is much greater when compared to even the older Canon 40D, I dislike the fact that there is no AA battery grip, there is no GPS location to EXIF attachment (like both the Canon and Nikon have), and as someone else already pointed out... those doors on the Pentax are nice - EXCEPT they are made of cheap PLASTIC. I would suggest that rubber may last longer than plastic.
01-16-2009, 01:52 PM   #6
Veteran Member




Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Borås, Sweden
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 3,169
I am a Canon user, but I would say that Nikon has the edge when it comes to low light work for the prosumer line. Full pro line though, it's probably neck and neck.

(FWIW, my EOS-1 body has the inferior rubber plugs )
01-16-2009, 02:50 PM   #7
Veteran Member




Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Boston, PRofMA
Photos: Albums
Posts: 3,026
QuoteOriginally posted by pentaxmz Quote
those doors on the Pentax are nice - EXCEPT they are made of cheap PLASTIC. I would suggest that rubber may last longer than plastic.
Look carefully at the doors...notice they have gaskets (those black rubber strips that go around it).

They're kinda useful in wet weather.......I like the doors

01-17-2009, 05:29 AM   #8
Veteran Member




Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Melb. Aust
Posts: 840
Santa gave my son a Canon A590IS for Christmas and it's got the most annoying rubber bung over the USB port... you need three hands... hold camera, pull bung back far enough (need to keep pressure on it) to plug in the USB with your 3rd hand! Really ugly design.
01-17-2009, 07:33 PM   #9
Senior Member




Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 255
Original Poster
QuoteOriginally posted by Gooshin Quote
i'll opt for rubber plugs over plastic doors anyday
You'd opt for rubber bungs that slowly get worse and worse and won't snap back into place, over a tight fitting plastic door?

Wow. The whole reason I noticed the rubber bung on my friends bodies, the rubber parts were bending away from the body due to use. Same with any other gadget I own with rubber plugs, inevitably they get warped away from their original position.

And can people stop bringing up all the image quality/noise/blah blah things in this thread, there are plenty of other threads about that already. All I was doing was mulling on the relative cheapness of those plugs vs a nicer looking doors on expensive cameras.
01-20-2009, 04:43 PM   #10
Pentaxian
Arpe's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: New Zealand
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 4,449
Yep, playing around with a Nikon D50 yesterday. Took a while to get the rubber thingy back in correectly. The doors are great, and reviewers seem to like them too!
01-20-2009, 06:06 PM   #11
Inactive Account




Join Date: May 2008
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 301
I love the weather sealed body of the Pnetax K20D. Everything is sturdy and well designed.

ALL Pentax have to do to be on par with Canon is have the same range of quality lenses.
01-20-2009, 06:29 PM   #12
Veteran Member




Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Seattle
Posts: 659
QuoteOriginally posted by kenyee Quote
Look carefully at the doors...notice they have gaskets (those black rubber strips that go around it).

They're kinda useful in wet weather.......I like the doors
Okay, truthfully I do prefer the doors too. Much better than my Pentax MZ-S which used rubber plugs that could (and did) get lost!
Reply

Bookmarks
  • Submit Thread to Facebook Facebook
  • Submit Thread to Twitter Twitter
  • Submit Thread to Digg Digg
Tags - Make this thread easier to find by adding keywords to it!
5d, bit, body, camera, canon, dslr, ergonomics, photography, rubber
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
K10/20D owners question jamesm007 Pentax DSLR Discussion 7 06-10-2010 11:13 AM
Remote shutter release for K10/20D? tlwyse Pentax DSLR Discussion 15 09-09-2008 07:28 PM
A minor less then positive thing about my wife's k100 slip Pentax DSLR Discussion 7 12-13-2006 04:35 PM



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 09:55 PM. | See also: NikonForums.com, CanonForums.com part of our network of photo forums!
  • Red (Default)
  • Green
  • Gray
  • Dark
  • Dark Yellow
  • Dark Blue
  • Old Red
  • Old Green
  • Old Gray
  • Dial-Up Style
Hello! It's great to see you back on the forum! Have you considered joining the community?
register
Creating a FREE ACCOUNT takes under a minute, removes ads, and lets you post! [Dismiss]
Top