Pentax K10D (1 Viewer)

doug_newman · Sep 28, 2006

Has anyone heard anything about the new Pentax K10D? I hear it looks awesome and they are releasing some new supersonic motor lenses for ultr fast focusing and ED glass? Also I believe the built in Image Stabaliser give up to 4 additional shutter speeds of stabalization and the body only costs about $920.
For 10MP that sounds like a good deal to me.

Any thoughts?

RAH · Sep 29, 2006

There's a preview on dpreview:
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/pentaxk10d/

Keith Reeder · Oct 1, 2006

Does look interesting, doesn't it?

I look forward to seeing full review so we can see what the image quality and noise performance are like.

Looks like the UK price is about £650 - very cheap for a camera that's apparently to compete with the Canon 30D and Nikon D200.

It has an Auto ISO implemented, which I think is a great feature (the one thing I miss from when I used a Nikon).

Long lens availability might be a worry though. It looks like it only does 3 fps (the 30D and D200 do 5 fps), it uses SD rather than CF cards (which might or might not be an issue depending on the user) and - if I understand the spec - a small (9 RAW shot) buffer.

Speaking personally I'd rather do without the anti dust feature if it meant a bigger buffer and 5 fps, and the jury is still out on whether (at the current state of the art) 10mp is a good thing or a bad thing

rka · Oct 9, 2006

Yes, the K10d and smaller sibling K100d both seem to provide tremendous value. While reviews of the K10d are pending, the K100d has gotten very good feedback mainly due to SR.

When the K100d came out, I lamented - 'if only it had sensor cleaning'. So I'm tickled pink about the possibilities of the K10d too.

bkrownd · Jan 6, 2007

Can anyone suggest good zoom bird lenses for this camera, or a good portable birding setup? (handheld/monopod use, around "300mm") Something that will autofocus fast at the long end. Are all the good ones 3rd party? (sigma, tokina, tamron, etc...)

impotentspider · Jan 7, 2007

Santa Clause brought me the K10D for xmas, but the weather here has been appaling so I've not had chance to use it to its best potential, otherwise I would have allready posted a report, I did take it along to a new years eve party and got some stunning shots with it and the AF360FGZ flashgun, that was using best quality jpeg setting, have not tried the camera on RAW yet but others have.

Have posted this link before (somewhere) but do come and join us at the Pentax User forum, several members have allready put the K10D through its paces. http://www.pentaxuser.co.uk/

PS: bkrownd, I bought the Sigma 50-500 with the K10D, tried it with a Benbo Monopod but just couldn't get a decent shutter speed due to the weather, I think I was shooting at 1/30sec with lens wide open, even the K10Ds shake reduction couldn't cope with that! ROLL ON SUMMER!!!!!!

doug_newman · Jan 7, 2007

Pentax is launching a 60 - 250mm F4 lense with a new supersonic motor for highspeed autofocus.
If your budget is limitless you can get a 600mm F4 for $6995 and even go as high as their 800mm.

I thnk though that the new lenses they are bringing out should finally be updated to go with their new cameras.

bkrownd · Jan 7, 2007

Has there been any good guesses the probable ship dates and prices of the new Pentax lenses? I guess the current crop of 3rd party lenses don't focus particularly fast?

impotentspider · Jan 7, 2007

I heard the first were due around March, but given the delay of the K10D anything is possible.
Personally I dont think I will be buying anymore new Pentax glass just yet, the Sigma will see my telephoto needs ok and I have enough Pentax lenses anyway, unless any nice KA primes present themselves at a reasonable price.

Think I might wait and see what Hoya produce when they get hold of Pentax next year.

impotentspider · Jan 10, 2007

Hi guys, just a quick update.

Lens availability, read this thread; http://www.pentaxuser.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3592

K10D my first bird pic. Finally got out with some decent weather.
This is a 1/8th crop from the original, shot in strong winds at 400ISO 1/250th f6.7 at 500mm shake reduction on and camera on monopod.
Image "a" is straight from the camera using default settings for saturation/sharpness etc ie un-enhanced in camera.
http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j168/impotentspider/?action=view&current=IMGP0225a.jpg
Image "b" is processed in photoshop saturation, contrast and brightness all inreased by a value of +5 each, image was sharpened slightly with unsharp mask 75%, radius 2 pixels, threshold 2.
http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j168/impotentspider/?action=view&current=IMGP0225b.jpg

Hoping for another good day tomorrow for some more tests.

Swissboy · Jan 10, 2007

impotentspider said:
Hi guys, just a quick update.

Lens availability, read this thread; http://www.pentaxuser.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3592

K10D my first bird pic. Finally got out with some decent weather.
This is a 1/8th crop from the original, shot in strong winds at 400ISO 1/250th f6.7 at 500mm shake reduction on and camera on monopod.
Image "a" is straight from the camera using default settings for saturation/sharpness etc ie un-enhanced in camera.
http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j168/impotentspider/?action=view&current=IMGP0225a.jpg
Image "b" is processed in photoshop saturation, contrast and brightness all inreased by a value of +5 each, image was sharpened slightly with unsharp mask 75%, radius 2 pixels, threshold 2.
http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j168/impotentspider/?action=view&current=IMGP0225b.jpg

Hoping for another good day tomorrow for some more tests.

Interesting, interesting! Particularly what you can reach with the improvements. I hope you'll continue to share your experiences.

Geoff Brown · Jan 12, 2007

K10d gets an excellent review in February Practical Photography. Best digital Pentax SLR so far.

impotentspider · Jan 12, 2007

Geoff Brown said:
K10d gets an excellent review in February Practical Photography. Best digital Pentax SLR so far.

HeHe!

We dont need PP to tell us that, we all know.
The question is, Do they criticise the camera in any way, or is it a glowing report?, I must buy a copy and find out.

Ian Mc1 · Jan 15, 2007

Pentax K10D & 400 Sigma

Here is a bird shot of a juvenile NZ Black-fronted Tern.
Need a fair bit of luck when panning these on their way back up the river.
Ian Mc

mickg · Jan 31, 2007

Hi. I'm considering the Samsung gx-10 which seems to be more or less the same camera. £600 with 2 lenses from Argos (a lot cheaper than K10d). Any thoughts on this?
Please keep posting k10d bird shots to help me make up my mind. Ta.

impotentspider · Jan 31, 2007

Cant remember where I saw this but a recent review said the Samsung produced better images than the Pentax....but that could be down to any number of reasons.

Dont know what the spec is on the Samsung or how it compares with the K10 as far as functions or file processing etc (there ARE differances between the two) so cant comment on that.

I do know that the Samsung branded lenses are top notch and every bit as good as the Pentax, a recent lens comparison test in a leading UK photo mag, rated both the Pentax and Samsung 50-200 as the best for build quality, a Tamron won overall but it was interesting to see the Canon lens recieve a very poor ratings compared to the Pentax/Samsung.

IMHO, if your not snobish about brand name then go for the Samsung, had I not allready had a Pentax istD then I would certainly have considered the Samsung as a second body.

Len Morris · Feb 28, 2007

correction to magazine title.

Digital Camera has reviewed the 10d in the March issue. It looks to be a good review. awarded 90% and ranked with the Nikon D80 and better than the Cannon EOS 400D (they awarded that 85%) I have been wondering whether to change at great expense to Canon but this looks as if it might have saved the day. I have quite a wide investment in lenses. warehouse express in the uk have it for £600 body only by the way.

Len Morris · Feb 28, 2007

mickg said:
Hi. I'm considering the Samsung gx-10 which seems to be more or less the same camera. £600 with 2 lenses from Argos (a lot cheaper than K10d). Any thoughts on this?
Please keep posting k10d bird shots to help me make up my mind. Ta.

Look at the price in warehouse express - £599 for the body only.

impotentspider · Feb 28, 2007

Just thought of a good reason to go for the Pentax, they allready have a firmware update out for the K10D (adds wireless flash capability and a few other improvements) There is no signs that Samsung will follow suit or even release and firmware updates at all.

Alkip · Oct 25, 2007

I'm seriously thinking of getting a K10D, is the kit lens (18 to 50 iirc) okay or would you advise something different?

I'll be using it for wildlife, nature and motorsport pictures.

I've had Pentax in the past and loved them but then switched to compact digitals (a Canon A60 which I loved and now a Nikon Coolpix S4 which I hate). I'm now at the stage where I want some quality pictures rather than just snaps.

Is everybody pleased with theirs, are their any major drawbacks that I should be aware of before laying out £500?

Pentax K10D (1 Viewer)

Well-known member

Well-known member

Watch the birdie...

ttbirds

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Sempach, Switzerland

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Attachments

Well-known member

Well-known member

Len

Len

Well-known member

Well-known member

Similar threads

Users who are viewing this thread