[bx6768]

How about K100D as my first Pentax DSLR?

DA 40mm should be a good choose, if I only want one prime lens right now?

Welcome to the forum, any of the Pentax DSLRs would be a good camera to start with.
The DA 40 by all accounts is an excellent lens.

[dadipentak]

Love my K100D. Won't argue about the 40mm: the FA 50mm 1.4 would be a good alternative. I started out with the Tamron 18-250 which I think was a good choice--it's so freakin' versatile! I got this shot with the K100D/Tamron combo last week.

[RiceHigh]

How about K100D as my first Pentax DSLR?

DA 40mm should be a good choose, if I only want one prime lens right now?

The K-m should be a better choice. IMHO, the K100D is too old to be considered.

[Andi Lo]

The K-m should be a better choice. IMHO, the K100D is too old to be considered.

And that makes it outdated how? Other than the higher megapixel count and autofocus improvement I think K100D is still a powerful contender when compared with the K-M, unless you somehow get it for 300$ with the kit lens. If not for the autofocus I would consider buying K-M a trade-down for me (K100D owner).

On the other hand, there's a warranty to consider and it probably is a good idea to buy a camera with warranty.

[rfortson]

The K-m should be a better choice. IMHO, the K100D is too old to be considered.

Nah, that 6mp Sony CCD is a real beauty. I just picked up a *ist DL that uses that sensor and I'm (re)amazed at how nice it is. I love my K20D, but the smaller megapixel count really helps the K100D in the noise department.

I didn't really care for the 10mp sensor on the K10D, but I'm sure the K200D and K2000 have tweaked the sensor some, so I'm sure it's better.

BTW, I'm not saying the K10D is a slouch camera -far from it in fact. Ergonomics and handling are great. Image quality isn't better than the 6mp cameras, IMHO, though.

[bx6768]

The K-m should be a better choice. IMHO, the K100D is too old to be considered.

For K-m, i read it is only 5-focus points. And K-m will not let you let which one is working. is that true?

[lendur2]

How about K100D as my first Pentax DSLR?

DA 40mm should be a good choose, if I only want one prime lens right now?

In just one week we'll begin to get results from PMA. Some tidbits get aired even before that.

[Venturi]

If 6MP is enough and the features are plentiful enough for your needs and the price suits your budget then by all means, why not. I don't think any of the DSLR offerings from Pentax have sucked.

If you want to do some online side-by-side comparisons hop your browser over to Pentax K-Series Digital Bodies and Pentax *ist-Series Digital Bodies

And welcome to the forums!

[Saaby]

I picked up a K100D when they were selling for like $245 on Woot before Christmas.

I couldn't be happier.

The body is older and such, but it's better than what I was shooting with (Canon A95). Because the body was so cheap, I had a little money left over to play with some accessories. Thanks in part to he Pentax Forums "Photographers Marketplace" I've quickly grown my little Camera ecosystem, and currently have:

• K100D Body ($245)
• 8 Gig Sandisk SD card ($10 on special)
• The excellent-value of a kit-lens ($89 from B&H)
• Old School Sears f4.0 70-200 Zoom lens, it's in mint condition. Got lucky and found it at a local thrift store. ($10)
• SMC Pentax 50mm 1.7 lens ($50)
• LensBaby 3G ($140 from Keh)
• B&W Circular Polarizer, and some ND filters. (Used, $40 total probably)
• Enough Step up and step down rings to make my filters work with any of my lenses. ($20)
•*LowePro Slingshot bag ($60)
and some Eneloops ($12)


So grand total I'm only into it about $700. That is a chunk of change, but not bad when you consider that, by going with a slightly older body, I was able to get a camera and a whole bunch of accessories. If I'd gone with a newer body I'd only have been able to afford the body, and maybe a used kit lens from an old Pentax film body.

[Marc Sabatella]

For K-m, i read it is only 5-focus points. And K-m will not let you let which one is working. is that true?

True. If you're not content with giving the camera complete control over the focus, you can force it center point only and use focus-recompose, but there are no other alternatives.

[RiceHigh]

For K-m, i read it is only 5-focus points. And K-m will not let you let which one is working. is that true?

Practically, the 5-point AF or a 11-point AF won't make much a difference. The 5-point AF of the K-m has the advantage of more concentrated points within the central region. The missing red illumination is not a big deal to me neither as you either let yourself choose the focus (using the central AF point and recompose) or let the camera decides - then which point is not that important then).

To me (or many others as well), the AF speed and accuracy are the real two most important things to consider, which I think the K-m is better.

[RiceHigh]

If 6MP is enough and the features are plentiful enough for your needs and the price suits your budget then by all means, why not. I don't think any of the DSLR offerings from Pentax have sucked.

6MP is just too little by today's minimum standard, frankly - even most P&S DCs start from 10MP. In fact, the resolution difference can be clearly seen on a full screen (not full sized) picture displayed on a 19" monitor or larger. Furthermore, with such a low resolution, the user will have no room for further cropping.

So, my opinion is that if this is the first DSLR you will get, just do it right on the first time for at least going for 10MP! K-m with the DAL kit(s) are not very expensive, are they? Maybe the K100D can be very cheap, but they are not worth to invest *now*.

[jct us101]

6 megapixels is plenty.

[Marc Sabatella]

6MP is just too little by today's minimum standard, frankly - even most P&S DCs start from 10MP.

And that's why they are noisier. You *are* aware that more pixels means more noise for the same sensor size & technology, aren't you? That's not to say the K200D is worse than the K100D - it isn't, really, by the time you view the images the same size. But it's also true that very few high pixel count camera produce cleaner images than the 6MP DSLR's.