[Jonson PL]

Get the D80, a great camera. And a deal can probably be had, now that the D90 has been announced.
The D300 would be overkill, it is a Pro feature camera; where the K10 is a semi-pro.
But check out the lenses that you have. On Nikon, sometimes you need the upper bodies, to take full advantage of older glass.

What Nikon bodies does she have.??
I would look at the D200/300 or the D80.
If she wants a big body, lots of used D2H's out there. I'm still partial to the earlier models, D1 and D1H as well as the D2H.
Dave

Why do you prefer these older models ?

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Last edited by Jonson PL; 09-12-2008 at 07:32 AM.

[ftpaddict]

The D300 would be overkill, it is a Pro feature camera; where the K10 is a semi-pro.

What makes a camera Pro?

Is it the number of buttons or tight build? The ease of operation and versatility?

As far as I can tell, the only difference between the D300 and K10D are AF and burst speed.

[GaryML]

As far as I can tell, the only difference between the D300 and K10D are AF and burst speed.

You're joking, right? Well, the D300 has (at least) these advantages over the K10D:

1. Higher resolution.
2. Superior noise characteristics at high ISO.
3. Higher max ISO.
4. All metal magnesium body (K10D is plastic over steel).
5. 51 sensor AF system with true predictive focus, true 3D image tracking, MUCH FASTER AF speed, and MUCH BETTER AF performance in LOW LIGHT. Fine AF adjustment of individual lenses available (without some old firmware hack).
6. More sophisticated light metering.
7. More sophisticated flash metering.
8. Much broader selection of both new lenses available.
9. Better compatibility with older lenses: all "AI" lenses (1976) or later work in all supported modes with full matrix metering. Older lenses can usually be converted to AI for a modest cost. Pentax only allows manual mode with pre-A lenses, and metering is somewhat dicey at best.
10. Better range of system accessories from both the manufacturer and 3rd party sources (flashes, teleconverters, hot shoe GPS, etc.).
11. Better battery life.
12. Better viewfinder showing 100% of image area.
13. DOUBLE the frame rate of the K10D.
14. Bigger rear LCD with THREE TIMES THE RESOLUTION.
15. Full 14 bit RAW files.

I could go on, but I think I made my point. A fairer comparison would be the D300 versus the K20D, but most of the points above would still apply.

[Nico]

Hock the Nikon gear and buy another K10D with the money. Then you can share lenses - which means more new lenses for you!

c[_]

You should consider it seriously if image quality is an issue. I sold my Nikon D70s because I was not happy with color balance in the shadow. It always had an cyan cast. It worked ok with bright daylight but lacked overall contrast/crispiness compared to Pentax K200d.

My friend brought his Nikon D200 to my house last week. He was impressed by IQ of Pentax. I have used the D200/D100 in the past. Looking at D200's images reaffirmed Nikon's image processing deficiency.

Take your K10d and compare to IQ of Nikon before you buy. Pay attention to the shadow areas. Look at the neutral colors (concrete, asphalt or wood). You might not notice the cyan cast now but it is definitely there compared to Pentax.

Human eye is very sensitive to red (opposite of cyan) colors. Lack of it can make dirt, sand, wood look very uninteresting.

Good luck.

[GaryML]

You should consider it seriously if image quality is an issue. I sold my Nikon D70s because I was not happy with color balance in the shadow. It always had an cyan cast. It worked ok with bright daylight but lacked overall contrast/crispiness compared to Pentax K200d.

The image quality of my D80 is just fine, and just as good as the K10D that it replaced. Certainly nothing like a cyan cast in shadows or dark areas. The K10D auto white balance was fine for outdoors, but often wrong in artificial light. The D80 does a better (but not perfect) job with the white balance in artificial light. Of course, you should do a custom white balance for artificial light if you care. And always shoot RAW for critical applications so you can adjust the white balance with ease later. Capture NX gives the best color balance for Nikon .NEF files; better than the Adobe RAW converter.

Color balance can be easily adjusted with digital SLRs. If you have color balance problems, then the first thing to check is the color balance of your monitor. Unless you use a good monitor adjusted with an external calibration device, you have no idea of the color balance in the image file.

[ftpaddict]

One of my friends admires the output of my K100D and is thoroughly displeased with how her D80 performs.

[stevewig]

Hello everyone - I get to make my 'maiden' input!

I own the D80 and am also a new (but used) K10D owner. I am still becoming acquainted with the K10D but have used the D80 for a couple of years now. I used all of my current manual lenses on the D80 (including Takumar and Russian M42 mount) but without any metering and by using adapters.

That is why I bought the Pentax - and I am enjoying the experience very much. I intend to use the Pentax for my manual lenses only and use only the Nikon lenses with the D80.

I love both cameras very much and consider myself lucky to have them. My advice would be to own both camera's if you intend to use manual lenses.

[KungPOW]

Did you notice this thread is 15 months old?