Pentax K100D SLR Digital Camera w/18-55mm Lens Kit (6.1MP, 3008x2008, SD Slot )

Pentax K100D

K100D SLR Digital Camera w/18-55mm Lens Kit (6.1MP, 3008x2008, SD Slot ) Review, by Ben Long November 17, 2006

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• Reviewed by: thelooti

  Strengths: Robust, Beautiful, Kit lens is great, Shake-reduction, user-friendly, AA batteries, 2.5inch LCD, lens compatibility

  Weaknesses: battery life when shake-reduction on

  Overall: I would like to start by saying that this camera is definitely worth buying. If photography is your main occupation, you may want to go with other camera. But if you need an SLR for hobby and general photo needs, than freely go with Pentax K100D.

• Reviewed by:

  Strengths: Price, Size, AF, Lenses, LCD, Wireless Remote

  Weaknesses: White Balance

  Overall: I have had this camera for a couple of months and love it! It's a great price for a SLR and sure beats Canon and Nikon! The Pentax lenses are excellent due to the realitivly low prices for high quality product. Great buy! Will buy from Pentax again!

• Reviewed by: Cullman0001

  Strengths: o Ease of useo Shake Reduction for blurr-free imageso Feature packed automated settingso Flexible manual control (when desired)o Sharp, crisp, true-color imageso Multiple battery choices

  Weaknesses: o NONE

  Overall: This camera is a great way to transition from SLRs to DSLRs. It has wonderful pre-programmed modes to help the novice photographer get great shots, and also gives the experienced photographer the creativity of many manual settings/combinations (when desired). I've had my K100d for eight weeks and couldn't be happier. You also get a wide choice of lens options since it will allow the use of older (non-digital) lenses, which means you are spared the expense of restocking with all new lenses (if you already own pentax equipment). The best feature is the "shake reduction". Other vendors charge big bucks to get this kind of technology, but PENTAX made it affordable to the "regular joes" of the world. You will not be disappointed if you purchase this product !

• Reviewed by: leesep

  Strengths: Low noise, shake reduction, backward lens compatibilty, lovely images, best value for money

  Weaknesses: Same as all DSLR's - too big and heavy, too expensive for what they are

  Overall: IMAGE QUALITYMy original plan was to buy the K100D body and use my old lenses until I had saved up for a top quality 18-200 zoom. However, I could get the package with the Pentax 18-55mm for only £20 more than the body only, a no brainer. So how good is this bundled lens. My main concern was that it might provide a resolution lower than the sensor could capture. I also tested my manual 50mm Chinon and 80-200mm Vivitar. The review sites generally agreed that around 1500 lines per picture height was available and that ?s what I got with all three lenses. In other words all 3 lenses are capable of resolving detail to the sensor?s limit. The 6mp sensor in this camera delivers far more lph than either the Fuji or Samsung 6mp compacts.I have left the camera at the delivered settings except for image tone which I set to natural rather than bright. I shot using raw and jpeg with no difference between the level of detail resolved. However, the jpegs do display some very minor colour moiré which isn?t there in raw-until you apply the camera settings. I haven?t had time to check out what causes this but suspect it could be the sharpening. In any case this is so minor it won?t impact on ?real? pictures.I?ve tried the multi segment and centre weighted metering and found both to be good although I think the centre weighting area is too small. My only other comment would be that there is the occasional slight under exposure from both which was hard to predict. I thought maybe half a stop compensation might cure it but it?s not consistent. This camera uses the same sensor as the Nikon D40 which I checked out before buying the Pentax. Image samples from the Nikon I found on the web were very good but there was the occasional burn out of highlights. The Pentax is maybe geared to avoiding burn out, the darker detail can be recovered using editing software. The dynamic range of the sensor could be a factor but you have to pay considerably more to go to the next level.What pleases me the most about the images from this camera is it?s very low noise. It seems as though the camera doesn?t have to apply much noise reduction or sharpening. This leaves pictures which are detailed and natural. Compared to say a 10mp Olympus I?d take the Pentax every time.If you submit pictures to agencies then the images respond well to interpolation (although of course this doesn?t pull out any extra detail). I don?t know what algorithm is used but the Pentax Raw converter software will save at larger image sizes and produce really good results. I?ve also tried interpolating jpegs using various algorithms (cubic etc) and the results are ok.The RAW processing software seems pretty good but I haven?t used it much to be honest as the jpeg?s are really good straight from the camera (natural image tone setting). Contrast is very realistic and adjusting with levels or curves isn?t really needed in most pictures.If you are taking a serious set of pictures use RAW, it leaves your options open but as a default the conversion software will apply the camera jpeg settings if you want it to. It?s a good base point to compare against. However, jpeg?s from this camera are really natural (use the natural image tone setting) and don?t lose any detail as far as I can tell.In my view if you have shot jpeg?s you shouldn?t have to do much processing on the PC. They should be right first time and that?s pretty much how they are from the K100D. Beyond all the measurements you still have to make a subjective judgement and I like pictures taken on this camera, they look as good as you can get at this price.CONCLUSIONPro?s Uses AA batteriesCompatible with most K mount lenses ever madeWorks with dedicated and basic flash guns Controls are easy to learnCan be used in many modes from full manual to point and shootShake reduction is very effectiveImage noise is very lowMinimal in camera processing (my guess) ensures fine detail is retained.Tough body.Good inbuilt flashGreat value compared to the competion. Nothing at the price offers better images, then add shake reduction, a good bundled lens and backward lens compatabilty for a well thought out SLR. Con?sSmall to medium for a digital SLR but (in my view) all digital SLR?s are a tad too big and heavy.Comparatively speaking a good buy but digital SLR?s should not cost this much.That?s it..Phil Leese

• Reviewed by: Kmare

  Strengths: Price, compatible with older Pentax lenses, AA batterries

  Weaknesses: Only 6M

  Overall: I've been using this for 2 months now and have no complaints. My main usage is pictures of a grandbaby so the need for 8 - 10 Meg is not high on my list. The pictures have been outstanding. Even better is that I have an old K1000 35 mm and all my old lenses work with the K100D with no problem. That was the main reason I went with the Pentax. To top that off my old lenses get the benefit of the anti shake that is in the body of the Pentax. I use rechargeable 2700 NIMH batteries and have been exceptionally pleased with the results. I took over 500 pictures without recharging over about a 2 week period. So battery life is excellent. I also use a 4 GB SD card so the large capacity SD card does not appear to be an issue either.