[-spam-]

Ok, here is a little review by myself after spending today shooting a once a year event with the k100d instead of my 400d.

I shot the whole thing in AV mode (a first for me) and i mostly used the DA 50-200.

Firstly, what i liked most about using the pentax and that lens.

- The spot metering. You have no idea how many times this saved me today. Yeah the sky got blown out, but at least the main subjects of the photo are correctly exposed.

- The command dial on the back. So much easier to use than the wheel on the top of the 400d. Changing the EC with the button and the dial was a breeze too.

- The Viewfinder. It may be a little darker than on the canon, but it is so much larger. Always a pleasure to look through.

- The 50-200 covered pretty much all my zoom needs. Havnt noticed any fringing on any of the photos either.

Now what i didnt like as much.

- the lens is extremely noisy when focusing and it did miss focus a few times.

- the light meter in the camera seems to be a bit more unreliable than in the canon.

- The mirror slap. I cringed every time i squeezed the shutter button during quiet moments.

- and lastly, the menu system. Changing metering modes or changing from AF-C to AF-S and back again was a pain in the rear. I had to look at the screen each time i wanted to change something. With the canon, its just a push of a button and its done.

So there you have it, probably a pointless post but one i felt i needed to make. Just to show that there are good and bad sides about both cameras. I still love using both of them though

[silverbullet]

Thanks for the comparison. It is always good to hear real-world comaprisons. I have only used Canons in passing, but have to agree that Canon does make it easier to change some of the settings. The focusing and mirror are definitely louder, but after a while I realized that they are not that noisy to anyone other than the user. After all, you are litterally in contact with the noise. From more than a foot or 2 away they are not loud at all.

[SupremeMoFo]

Both problems are resolved on the K10D, which is a closer price match - the 3 metering modes (full frame, centre weighted, centre point) have a dial of their own and the AF switch has AF-S, AF-C and MF settings.

[-spam-]

The focusing and mirror are definitely louder, but after a while I realized that they are not that noisy to anyone other than the user. After all, you are litterally in contact with the noise. From more than a foot or 2 away they are not loud at all.

Let me just say, that even though i said that the mirror slap was loud, it is still almost silent compared to a 20d. That thing is like a gun being fired, its so loud.

Both problems are resolved on the K10D, which is a closer price match - the 3 metering modes (full frame, centre weighted, centre point) have a dial of their own and the AF switch has AF-S, AF-C and MF settings.

I realise that. But if i am going to upgrade bodies, Ill go to a 20d/30d. The quality and range of the lenses that i can go out and buy tomorrow is just so much better compared to pentax. For example, i cant go to the local camera store and buy a FA* 200m f2.8 where i can get the equivalent canon lens quite easily (the 200mm f2.8L)

But then again, the k100d is enough of a camera to make best use of the older manual lenses that people keep digging out of their closets and giving to us.

[carpents]

Now what i didnt like as much.
- the light meter in the camera seems to be a bit more unreliable than in the canon.

Were your complaints about metering while in spot mode? It uses a *very* small spot with which to meter, so could some of the problems have been caused by that?

[-spam-]

Were your complaints about metering while in spot mode? It uses a *very* small spot with which to meter, so could some of the problems have been caused by that?

Not as far as i know. Before the parade, i had a quick moment to get accustomed with the camera again. One thing i did was shoot the same scene 3 times in Av mode. 2 out of the 3 times, the camera got the exposure spot on, but the 3rd was somewhat underexposed.

After speaking to my dad about it (he uses the camera nearly every day), he said that he had noticed the same thing. If it was consistent it wouldnt be a problem, but because it was all over the place every now and then, it was. My 400d consistently underexposes by 2/3 of a stop, so i can compensate for that easily.

[*isteve]

Ok, here is a little review by myself after spending today shooting a once a year event with the k100d instead of my 400d.

I shot the whole thing in AV mode (a first for me) and i mostly used the DA 50-200.

Firstly, what i liked most about using the pentax and that lens.

- The spot metering. You have no idea how many times this saved me today. Yeah the sky got blown out, but at least the main subjects of the photo are correctly exposed.

- The command dial on the back. So much easier to use than the wheel on the top of the 400d. Changing the EC with the button and the dial was a breeze too.

- The Viewfinder. It may be a little darker than on the canon, but it is so much larger. Always a pleasure to look through.

- The 50-200 covered pretty much all my zoom needs. Havnt noticed any fringing on any of the photos either.

Now what i didnt like as much.

- the lens is extremely noisy when focusing and it did miss focus a few times.

- the light meter in the camera seems to be a bit more unreliable than in the canon.

- The mirror slap. I cringed every time i squeezed the shutter button during quiet moments.

- and lastly, the menu system. Changing metering modes or changing from AF-C to AF-S and back again was a pain in the rear. I had to look at the screen each time i wanted to change something. With the canon, its just a push of a button and its done.

So there you have it, probably a pointless post but one i felt i needed to make. Just to show that there are good and bad sides about both cameras. I still love using both of them though

On the 400D you would have needed to buy a 70-200 L F4 IS lens to get image stabilisation which costs more than the camera.