Pentax K100D Reviews

"First off I'm an amateur photographer and just started getting back into photography. I started with a digital camera with manual controls, other lenes, etc... and then moved off to a simple point and shoot camera. This is the first SLR type camera that I have owned and the difference is huge between quality of photos and being able to take certain shots ( Arguable, but manual controls and different lenses on SLR do help )

Physical:

The body feels very solid and has a good weight. It doesn't feel like a plastic toy and feels like a very sold build quality. Even the flaps for batteries and SD Memory Card are very well made.

Button placement at first feels odd but once you've learned the menu system and how to use them it works well.

The kit lenses works very well in most situations. The only time you may want to use a different lens is in indoors with poor/dim lighting. It also feels as solid as the camera body and the manual focus/zoom wheels all turn smoothly and stay put when set.

Using the Camera:

At first like most things there is a learning curve but you can be up and taking photos as soon as the batteries are in and putting it on AUTO PICT mode. Before I purchased the camera I had read complaints on how the menu's wording of items was a bit strange, but honestly they are not hard to figure out and it is spelled out in the manual as to what they are. In fact it's easer just to go ahead and click it and see what it does. There are few of these in the menu but everything else is very clear.

Taking photos is easy and similar to any other digital camera. Depending on the mode you are in you can adjust Exposure/Shutter Speed/Aper/ISO/etc...

Another large complaint against the camera is the burst mode only allows you to take no more than 5 JPEGS ( Highest Quality ) or 3 RAW images before slowing down significantly. This is true, however, depending on your needs this may not matter. If you need to be able to take more than 5 shots at a time then you may want to look at another camera. I took a risk and found that it more than meets my needs.l I was able to take multiple shots of pets/bees/etc just fine with 5 high quality photos or 3 RAW images without any problems.

The viewfinder contains information that is listed on the top LCD and can also be viewed on the LCD on the back of the camera. All very easy to read and see once you understand where each item is placed.


Quality of Photos

Excellent. That's it. One exception though is in the AUTO PICT mode. It works well but I found that you get better photos in either the P ( Program Mode ) or by going to SCENE mode and picking out a scene type like pets, sunset, etc...

Other issues

Everything about the camera has far exceeded my expectations and all my photos have very crisp, sharp detail and color. To help shoot indoors I purchased the Pentax 50mm f1.4 lenses which is around $200 at the time of this writing. Excellent lens which makes indoor/low light photography/fast action shots a breeze. It will allow you to take more light in which will allow you to shoot at a faster shutter speed ( The faster the shutter speed -> less light into camera -> darker photo ). I highly recommend purchasing this lens if you plan on doing portraits or indoor photos with low lighting.



Summary:

Pros:

Excellent photos, build quality, easy to use controls, can be used by beginner to advanced. Remember, no matter how great the camera, the person still should know some photography basics like how to set exposure, this will help anyone get great shots from any camera.

Cons:

Burst mode only allows 5 Jpegs or 3 RAW, but may depend on person if this matters."

 

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Pentax K100D Camera Pentax K100D

 

Image Stabilization (IS)

The K100D's most impressive feature is its image stabilization system. Pentax's IS system (Pentax calls this SR -- shake reduction) neutralizes camera shake by stabilizing the CCD sensor. The K100D analyzes input from motion detectors embedded in the camera body and then produces a precisely equal and opposite shift in the CCD to counteract camera shake. Most camera manufacturers (including Canon and Nikon) accomplish IS by shifting lens elements to counteract camera shake. The greatest benefit of camera body IS systems is that they work with every lens mounted, not just with (more expensive) IS or VR lenses.

With image stabilization enabled, K100D users can shoot at shutter speeds up to 3 stops slower. For example if a shutter speed of 1/125th of a second is required to avoid the effects of camera shake - the K100D can capture a sharp picture at 1/15th of a second. K100D purchasers will immediately notice the benefits of Pentax's nifty (Minolta like) IS system - sharp handheld action-sports/low light images can be captured even with long telephoto zooms. The K100D's IS system produces dependably sharp images at shutter speeds that would normally generate blurry pictures, but IS is not a magic bullet - it won't neutralize sharp camera movements or reduce blur caused by rapidly moving subjects or too fast panning. There is no free lunch - IS is a very power hungry feature and appreciably shortens battery life and IS is NOT instantaneous - the IS process adds to the time interval that passes between pushing the shutter button and the moment when the shutter actually fires.

 

 

Review

"I grew up using the Pentax K1000 film cameras, so it was natural for me to move up to the Pentax K100D SLR Digital cameras. I bought the Pentax K100D Super, and it is truly .... "Super"!!!

Not only does it accept all my old K series lenses from my old film camera (saving me thousands of dollars), but it's easy to use. No sooner do you pull this out of the box do you immediately begin to realize how it works. The settings are intutitive, and photos are professional-grade.

I was considering it's older brother, the K10, but I feel I've made the right choice. The learning curve on the K10 would have been too steep for me. I am halfway between a pro and an amatuer, and this camera suits my skill level perfectly.

This camera makes photography fun again! "

 

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PROS:
*Excellent size--not too big, not too small. Fantastic grip and shutter-button placement.
*Very solid build. Feels much better in your hand than the Rebel XT/XTi.
*In-body IS. This, to me, is the trump card for this camera. It works, and instantly any lens you have is stabilized. Even if some people argue a lens-based IS regime is better, what good is it when you can't afford the expensive IS lenses anyway? Fact is, in-body IS works--shots taken even at 1/8 to 1/10 have a much higher hit-rate with than without it.
*Can use any Pentax lens ever made. If you're like me and are on a budget, scouring eBay for deals can be fun and educational.
*Solid kit lens. Comes with the standard 18-55 but has a metal mount and is quite good, apparently, as far as kit lenses are concerned.
*Prime lenses. I can't believe how much of a difference a fast prime lens can make, and Pentax is probably the leader with these. With an f/1.7 or so lens, you just can' believe the kind of shutter speeds you can get even in low light. 1/10 on a normal lens can easily transform into 1/50 with a fast prime. It makes a huge difference.
*AA batteries. When I was in Europe with my P&S and I fried my AA NiMH charger, the fact my camera took AA's saved my butt. You can get them anywhere in a pinch, and a small investment in some good NiMH's get excellent results with this camera.
*Comes bundled with RAW software. I'm not a huge RAW shooter, but it's nice to know it's there if I want/need it. Some cameras come with RAW capibility but no software to harness it. Not this one.

CONS:
*Weak buffer/continuous shooting mode. You only get about 4-5 continuous JPG shots. If you're like me and don't shoot sports or action much, it's not so much of a big deal. If you do, you might want to look elsewhere.
*WB a little spotty. AWB is worthless in low light, but the tungsten preset is good. But it stinks that when you pop the flash it doesn't revert to flash WB, so you have to do it manually every time. It's the little things like this where Nikon and Canon probably beat Pentax.
*Slow read/write time. It just isn't very speedy, even with a fast card.
*Exposure compensation deactivates Auto-ISO. Basically, you can select your ISO range (e.g., 200-800). But if you use +/- compensation, it turns that feature off, reverting you to 200 and forcing you to change. A little annoying.

Overall, this is a great camera. There are a few annoyances and its overall operation isn't the fastest. But the images are excellent, and the in-body IS and prime lenses are a treat. Highly recommended.

 

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K. Gittins CA. USA:
Although I like my Canon A620 (replacing an A95) it is a bit limited on focal length, and even Canon's conversion lenses degrade the image and make the zoom into a fixed focal length lens. So, after much deliberation, I began shopping for a DSLR.

The Olympus E-500 with 2 lenses and dust-cleaning is a low-priced option, but the 2X multiplier on the focal length makes really wide angle lenses a bit rare. And, ergonomically it was not quite right for my hands.

The Canon Digital Rebel XTi (my original first choice) and the Nikon D80 are very nice, with more resolution, but they are too pricey for me. The Nikon D50 is about the same price as the K100D, but has no shake reduction in the body, though that is available in some more-expensive lenses. The Nikons were a bit large for my hands as well.

So, I went with the K100D. Its medium size feels solid, the buttons and general layout are good, and it has all the basic features most people will need.

The viewfinder is nice and bright, but very shiney and a bit reflective in bright light. However, the camera displays the basic settings on the top panel, so you may not need to use the LCD much unless you review all your pictures or make frequent menu/setup changes. I use a stick-on flip-up LCD protector that slides off if desired, leaving a glass cover over the screen.

As with all manufacturers, the kit lens is OK but not great for one reason or another, so I got the body only. Pentax makes a decent selection of basic lenses, and Sigma or Tamron, among others, should fill any other needs. I opted for the Pentax 10-17 fisheye (reasonably priced with [...]), a Sigma 18-50 2.8 EX (kind of pricey but supposedly a great lens) for the mid-range stuff, and a Sigma 70-300 APO DG 4.5/5.6 (also reasonably priced) for the long end.

Pentax include 2 software packages. First is "Photo Browser 3", which handles directories and thumbnails, slideshows, basic image manipulation such as crop and rotate, and a variety of printing options. You can print photos only, Exif info only, or combinations in various sizes. You can also save an "index print" of thumbnails as a jpg, which makes a handy contact sheet. Just about every manufacturer includes something similar. However, Pentax also includes "Photo Laboratory 3" which is used to process RAW image data that the camera can produce instead of a jpg. With it you can change individual parameters of the unprocessed image data, such as color balance, contrast, or even lens distortion, without degrading the image quality, then save as a jpg or tiff.

I've only had the camera a little while, but I'm confident I made good choices. I've posted some photos in the Amazon collection.

 

Source - Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com