« Back to product pricing

You are viewing User reviews for...

Pentax K100D 6.1 Megapixel Digital SLR Camera Body with Lens Kit - 0.71"-2.17"

Avg User Rating
13 User Reviews

Price Range
$ (0 sellers)

Compare Prices

Specs | Add Your Review

• Reviewed by: crazy4laptops

  Updated: 06-15-08

  Overall Rating: 4 Star Review

  Duration of ownership:2 Weeks

  Strengths: Anti-shake, compatibility with all pentax lenses, nil shutter lag, great pictures, small filesize.

  Weaknesses: noisy mirror slap and AF motor(kit lens) Pentax image software is hard to use and no batch converter for raw files. No slow-sync with built- in flash. Has focus trouble in low light.

  Overall Evaluation: For a noob, you have to read the whole instruction manual to understand the advanced how 2.0 on using this cam. This is just my personal nuisance, my fingers are long and the body is a little short to accommodate my right hand, so after an extended time of shooting, my hand cramps up. I do wish this camera shot in a true 16:9 aspect and in raw+jpeg. I wish it was tiff though Overall, I really, really like this camera. I was able to get this cam with the standard 18-55mm kit lens for $515

• Reviewed by: remf

  Updated: 04-29-08

  Overall Rating: 5 Star Review

  Duration of ownership:3 Days

  Strengths: Fit and Finish - build quality is pretty nice, the price, it fits comfortably in my hand, and the fact that it uses AA batteries.

  Weaknesses: The menus system is a little tough on my middle aged noggin. Instruction booklet confusing.

  Overall Evaluation: I have been quite pleased with my purchase thus far. I did a lot of online research prior to making my decision and generally most comments about the Pentax K100D Super are favorable. I had previously owned a Pentax ME Super 35mm SLR camera so I had no aversion to trying a Pentax product. I had limited access to DSLR cameras when I was shopping but I did handle the Sony A100 and the new A200, the Nikon D40 and D200 (to far outside of my price range but really nice) and one of the Cannon Rebel models. So when I made the decision to buy the Pentax K100D Super sight unseen I can not begin to tell you how relieved and pleased I was when I first took it out of the box and set it up. It felt and looked much better than any of the cameras I had seen (alibi the Nikon D200). I would call myself a novice with some experience as far as being a photographer, in the distant past (before autofocus) I had used two different 35mm SLR cameras for general picture taking and more recently a very modest point and shoot digital camera. I was never that happy with any of my equipment setups, with film I hated to spend good money on development and prints only to discover that a large percentage of my pictures stunk and with the digital point and shoot it really was not that much fun taking pictures. I want to take pictures as a hobby not just collect images. I waited literally years to buy a camera (probably should not have waited so long) and I am very happy with my choice. Opening the box I smiled at what I saw, I read the directions a couple of times (they are not that clear), set the camera up easily enough though, and started taking pictures. I took 397 pictures before I stopped (my 1GB SD card was full). I had left everything set to factory defaults and auto program mode, all I played with was the focal length with the zoom ring. I know this is kind of cheap but it has been awhile, I am pretty rusty. Everything worked great and I am happy to say most of pictures looked great too (my composition needs some work). I have not seen anything that would lead me to believe that there is a better camera anywhere even remotely near this price point. In the end it all comes down to personal preference.

• Reviewed by: sadderbutwiser

  Updated: 03-21-08

  Overall Rating: 2 Star Review

  Duration of ownership:

  Strengths: does all I want at low price

  Weaknesses: non-existant customer service, camera menus hard to understand at first

  Overall Evaluation: This comment is for beginners to DSLR photography. I bought this k100d super because of the good reviews and due to having used a Pentax K1000 35mm film camera for 30 years. The k100d super takes beautiful photos.I love using the pict-bridge feature with my Canon printer. Its a real luxury to simply delete the photos I dont want and then print the good ones. My problem is with Pentax customer no service. Pentax advertised a $100 rebate on all the online sellers. I filled out the rebate info properly, sent the info thru US mail. After 10 weeks with no response I called Pentax customer service and was told they never recieved my rebate info. I could not find my copies of the rebate forms. I was then told Pentax would not supply me with a new rebate form so no rebate. My fault for misplacing the rebate copies. However, this is where any company customer should step in and help. I am more disappointed than angry. Buyer beware !

• Reviewed by: syen2003

  Updated: 03-09-08

  Overall Rating: 2 Star Review

  Duration of ownership:6 Days

  Strengths: Crisp photos, many options on settings for a novice, on-body lcd meter, image stablization, built-in auto focus

  Weaknesses: No video caputre (like all DSLRs), stopped working when I needed it the most!

  Overall Evaluation: The camera was great up until it stopped working, about 5 months after purchase. When it was working I've compared it to the Nikon D40 and I think it's far superior, more features for the same price. The added plus to a Pentax, so I've been told, is that this unit is backward compatible with ALL Pentax lenses ever made, even for old 35mm SLRs. Now on to the problem: the shutter gets stuck after a shot. To fix I need to remove the lens which "resets" the trigger on the shutter and then I can take another shot. I've sent it back to Pentax and giving what I thought was proper time for shipping and diagnostic (1 week) I called for the status only to find that the unit was already on its way back to me. Pentax says "the unit is within company standards and limits". However, the problem still exists which makes me question the due diligence process of Pentax's repair team. Now the unit is pretty much non-operational because who wants to have to take off the lens after every shot?!?!

• Reviewed by: cardoffer

  Updated: 01-18-08

  Overall Rating: 5 Star Review

  Duration of ownership:1 Days

  Strengths: price, easy of use, dust removal system, shake reduction

  Weaknesses: picture quality

  Overall Evaluation: I like this camera. It's easy to use, especially for newbies. This is my first SLR camera, and I would recommend it to everyone. I'm glad I made the right decision after thorough consideration and comparison. The dust removal system and shake reduction are really helpful. The function of this camera is kind of simple but easy to use---best fit for beginners who want to learn photography. The picture quality is great for this price. It will also give great low-light pictures. The weight of this camera is just OK. If you are new to photography, this camera is highly recommended. And you can easily upgrade to other Pentax cameras and lenses in the future.

• Reviewed by: kangkangtu

  Updated: 01-14-08

  Overall Rating: 4 Star Review

  Duration of ownership:2 Weeks

  Strengths: Price, useful features (such as Shack Reduction, Dust remove), compatible with old manual lense.

  Weaknesses: Auto focus in low light is not that good, lense selection is still limited, high ISO is not good.

  Overall Evaluation: I bought this just because that's the best bang for the money. For people who doesn't want to spend a lot of money, still want the feeling of SLR instead of P&S, that's a good choice. Overall, build quality is OK, the kit lens is a good one to start with. One thing, I hope Pentax will introduce a FA or DA 50/1.7 or 1.8, like canon 50/1.8 II, in the future.

• Reviewed by: asb002

  Updated: 12-31-07

  Overall Rating: 5 Star Review

  Duration of ownership:

  Strengths: Inexpensive, high image quality, easy to use, powerful, Image Stabilization

  Weaknesses: Small buffer, no focus screen, no wireless flash, no vertical grip

  Overall Evaluation: I love this camera! This is my first dSLR after years of using film ones, mostly a Praktica LTL3, a fully manual, no automatic anything camera. This camera was certainly a quantum leap forward. I love the ability to switch between automatic and manual modes, and the outstanding image quality available. I find the camera reasonably easy to use, now I need to get better at photography!

• Reviewed by: ahuai01

  Updated: 11-30-07

  Overall Rating: 5 Star Review

  Duration of ownership:10 Days

  Strengths: easy to master/shake reduction in the body/price

  Weaknesses: There is no weekness at this price level

  Overall Evaluation: As a beginner to SLR camer, I am very glad to come across pentax K100D Super after many comparisions and consulations to other professional photographiers. pentax K100DS is very sutible for beginners who would like to learn photography as it is easy to master and affordable to purchase.What's more,it has a good compatability with many lens,which provides an express way to upgrade it in the future. Also, the K100D Super has a shake reduction in the body,you can use it without mastering on photography. Generally speaking, in my view, it's very suitable for a beginner at this price.

• Reviewed by: min0603

  Updated: 11-27-07

  Overall Rating: 5 Star Review

  Duration of ownership:

  Strengths: Shake reduction / Good viewfinder / Good grip / Features / Good LCD

  Weaknesses: No wireless flash function with Pentax flash / No vertical grip available

  Overall Evaluation: I purchased this little camera to back up my main (K10D). Soon I found out that this camera can do most of things that K10D does. Though it's outdated 6.1MP may disappoint you, but trust me, it's enough resolution for most weekend photograhper. I previously owned Pentax ist DL. Focusing speed was improved over DL. It's not the best in class though. The body design is almost identical with ist line-up. K100D super re-designed grip and it's much more comfortable to hold. Compared with other small DSLR, it's very satisfactory in my opinion. There's no vertical battery grip available from manufacturer. You may purchase third-party grip from ebay, but I'd not recommend them. It would've been nice if they offer battery grip as K10D does. Image quality in JPEG is excellent. Even compared to K10D, K100D super gives better JPEG result with good sharpness and saturation. K10D wins at RAW picture though. Settings are changed through menu due to the lack of buttons and dials. Once you get familiar with them, it wouldn't take much time to change settings. It has 11 focus sensors which is very useful. Not many entry-level DSLR has this many focus area. Super-impose is nice add-on too. Shake reduction (Image stabilization) works very well. I'm very happy with it's performance. Now I can shoot at 1/15 shutter speed in low light condition. It minimizes blur from hand shake. It's also very useful when the camera is paired with telephoto lenses. I've got very good result with Tamron 70-300mm. There are a few things to be improved. Dust reduction needs some improvement. It just mechanically shake image sensor at low frequency. It's not as effective as Olympus' ultrasonic dust removal system. Automatic white balance is not very good. It gives very inconsitent result. My recommendation is to carry gray card. I also noticed that once you use exposure compensation, ISO is set to 200 automatically regardless ISO setting you use. I hope Pentax fix this issue in the next firmware update. Included 18-55mm lens is the best in class I think. It's well made and give reasonably good result, considering it's price. However I prefer 16-45mm, which performs a lot better. Overall, this camera is very good entry-level DSLR. Though I use it as a back-up, it's packed with many features that other entry-level DSLRs don't offer.

• Reviewed by: yb2006

  Updated: 11-26-07

  Overall Rating: 5 Star Review

  Duration of ownership:3 Days

  Strengths: Build quality, picture quality, shake reduction in the body, price

  Weaknesses: Menu is a little awkward

  Overall Evaluation: The difference between k100d and k100d super is that the super one has a dust removal system and is compatible with SD high capacity cards. I believe that there is way to upgrade firmware for k100d to make it compatible with SDHC too. In terms of functions, features and performance two models are pretty much identical.In short, this is a great camera. The build quality, from my view, is better than Nikon d40 and Canon XT. The kit lens is very good and does not have cheap feel. It is a little bit heavier than Nikon but you can barely notice it. The shake reduction mechanism and autofocus motor are built into the body so the lenses tend to be cheaper than those for digital Nikons and Canons (both build image stabilization and autofocus motor into lenses which makes them very expensive). Besides, you can mount any old Pentax lenses ever produced. The picture quality is professional. Amazing sharpness, details, colors, and practically NO NOISE. Great low-light pictures. The auto mode handles well almost all shooting conditions. Some reviewers say that with default settings the photos are a little overexposed and oversaturated. But to my taste it is perfectly OK. You can easily adjust the settings to whatever you want before shooting as well as after, in image editing software (especially if you use RAW format). The menu is a little awkward and something that Pentax could have done a better job with. But it takes half an hour to get used to it. AA batteries last long enough. It is cheap to have a backup.The bottom line is that Pentax K100D Super is one of the best cameras in its class and probably the best in terms of price-features-quality.

« Back to product pricing for...

$ (0 sellers) | Avg User Rating | Specs