Pentax K100D 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera Shake Reduction and 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens by Pentax
|
Our Price: $829.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $320.00 (click here) Category: Digital Camera See more digital camera details and other models |
|---|
Digital camera reviews of Pentax K100D 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera Shake Reduction and 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens
Digital camera Review: K100D+18-55mm zoom
Summary: 5 Stars
I finally added the K100D to my Pentax collection. I started with Pentax SLRs over 30 years ago. Spotmatic, then ME Super, then ZX-7, a IR focus Point and Shoot along with many lenses and accessories.
A few years ago I tried switching to digital and have not been really satisfied with the lack of the feel of a 35mm SLR. But liked the convenience of immediate download of pictures and ability to select, fix and manipulate the images prior to processing.
Along comes the K100D and I couldn't resist. It has the feel and sound of the 35mm. It's been fun dusting off my old equipment and putting it to use again. Best of all it's been great to look at photography as a creative hobby again versus just point and shoot pictures that I got myself into with the other small digitals. Got a few great shots during that time but not many. I know that is all in the mind but having a great set of tools tends to get the mind going better.
Anyway, the camera works absolutely wonderful. My old lenses, Sigma Auto Focus zooms from the ZX-7 work flawlessly with the K100. Have not tried the manual lenses yet. Image stabilizer feature is well worth it. Test shots handheld in low light conditions with slow shutter, over 400mm and macro are very stable.
Guess I'll need to seal my 35mm bodies in a bag and wait until they are antiques to sell them.
I do a lot of internet shopping, buying and investigations. Amazon had the best buy on the K100 with lense, shipping and Amazon VISA promo. It was delivered in 2 days. I was impressed with the product and service through Amazon.
Digital camera Review: Nice feel and features
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Digital camera Review: Opt for the "super" version if you regularly changes lenses and have the extra $
Summary: 5 Stars
My background with photography includes a 35mm Canon Rebel with a small collection of lenses and a Canon digital Elph point-and-shoot. I enjoyed both, the 35mm for more artistic shots and the Elph for capturing candid moment shots. This Pentax, for me, is the best of both of these worlds.
Bottom line, I absolutely love this camera. After half a day I was taking great photos in point-and-shoot mode. Two days later I was taking stunning photos in point-and-shoot, and a week later I was manually controlling the settings and using the various situation-specific modes to take better photos than I've ever taken before. I often take 500-600 photos of any occasion now and end up with a dozen killer shots. Friends think I'm a great amateur photographer, I really just keep the volume high enough that the percentages are in my favor, and this camera is perfect for this kind of volume.
My friend has a Nikon D40 that is equivalent to this camera in picture quality, and another friend has the digital Rebel. I'd say all of these cameras are on par with each other, the only major advantage of the Pentax is found in the "Super" version, which is capable of automatically removing dust from the sensor every time the camera is powered on, essential if you change lenses often in less-than-ideal environments. The Canon seems to have a better AF, the Nikon seems to be, overall, the easiest to use. Pentax is somewhere in between.
If the price of this camera is right for you and you enjoy a slight learning curve to capture those special shots, do not hesitate to purchase.
Digital camera Review: Pentax K100D - A Starter SLR Dream!
Summary: 5 Stars
I just received the K100D, an I love it! It is easy enough to use for beginners, just set it to auto, let the auto focus do its work, and click away! For more experienced users, this camera has a slew of manual modes to appease anyone. IT is simple to switch from auto to manual focus, with a switch within reach while holding the camera to your eye. It also has outstanding battery life. I have the sandisk extreme III 2 GB card for this baby (no write-time issues whatsoever), and it gives me 689 pictures to the card. As an experiment, I filled the card full, taking over 50 of those shots with the flash on (all with autofocus and shake-reduction on), and then formatted the card again, and it still showed FULL BATTERY! I use 4 Sony 2500mAH AA batteries. I also got approximately 200 shots from the alkaline batteries that came with the camera. From my experience with my old digicam, this is astounding! I was getting MAYBE 40 pictures @ 4MP from 2 AA batteries. Certainly no flash, shake reduction or focusing!
There are some drawbacks, however. I feel as though there is no perfect place to put my left hand on the camera, which feels odd to me, considering I am left-handed. The pictures become very grainy using auto mode in bright sunlight, even with the tulip shade on the lens, because of the camera trying to use a very high ISO. This can be rectified easily, though, by adjusting the ISO to a lower level manually (I use 800) in the Function button menu.
Overall, this camera is great and thus receives 5 stars from me. The fit and finish is wonderful, the pictures are crisp and clean when taken correctly, and the ease of use means that almost any computer- or electronics- illiterate person can use it perfectly well. Look no further for an entry level DSLR - this is as near perfect as I could imagine.
Digital camera Review: Pentax K100D 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera Shake Reduction
Summary: 5 Stars
Worth every penny. Outdoor results are outstanding. Indoor results are very good. Use the rebate and purchase the 50-200MM lens at the same time, making the extra lens basically free.
You will not be disappointed with this camera. It is extremely user friendly.