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By The Fat Monk (UK)
While most people buy Canon and Nikon because they are the 'big, professional' names they know, I've always been a Pentax fan since I learned to use an SLR through my dad's old metal body film camera of the 60s/70s.
That old film camera is still going strong today and still takes fantastic pictures - though why wouldn't it, it was built to last and built with precision.
When I bought my first SLR it was a Pentax, and when the time came to switch to digital Pentax were not ready for me.
I toyed with going down the Canon / Nikon route, and I'm sure I wouldn't have been disapointed, but I had a small collection of Pentax K lenses that it would be nice to carry on using.
When the K10D came out my wishes were granted and once I had the not inconsiderable money saved I went straight out and purchased. I have not been disapointed.
I bought the body with an 18-55mm 'digital' lens. That basically means that it is the equivalent of an 18-55mm lens on a 35mm camera, though the actual focal length is less as the sensor on the K10D is less than 35mm. (It's all to do with ratios and angles, remember).
From my film camera had two more zoom lenses to play with. A 28-80 and an 80-320. The 28-80 giving an effective 35-112mm range on the K10D and the 80-320 giving me a whopping 112-448mm telephoto. The ratio being approximately x1.4 for conversion.
The only thing you lose with the older lenses is ome of the aperture control - you can still control it through the full range of the lens, just not via the same controls as on a 'digital' lens.
Thsi gives me a pretty impressive range that would have cost me a small fortune to replace had the lenses not been compatible.
So, my decision was pretty easy to make, but if you are trying to chose between Pentax and the 'big names' then you should be aware that the K10D has consistently won prizes as best in class when pitted against the Nikons and Canons that compare with this model.
The K10D gives you as much creative control as you could need, but is simple to use at the same time.
It's a solid, weighty, well built piece of kit and I could not be happier that I supported Pentax with this purchase - and given the reviews and plaudits this camera has received I feel the world is beginning to agree.
By D. Walters (London, UK)
Finally Pentax has got its act together and produced an excellent camera for the enthusiast and semi professional markets. If you have been holding out for a quality digital body from Pentax and haven't been tempted to move to the other four major brands, now is definatley the time to make the switch to Pentax digital.
Almost all Pentax K mount fitting lenses from your old Pentax 35mm outfit will work well with this camera, despite some minor limitations in manual aperture selection and a focal length increase of x1.5 across the board. For example your 50mm lenses will become a useful 75mm portrait lens.
The camera is as solidly made as it's rivals from Nikon and Canon, built with over 70 weather seals against the elements. Not since the Pentax LX has this quality been present on a Pentax camera body. The current range of digital specific lenses is somewhat limited at present, though this is due to change over the course of the year as new lenses from Pentax, Sigma, Tokina and Tamron are all in the pipeline.
The ease of use, the build quality, features and performance make this a formidable challenger to the dominance of Nikon and Canon in the semi pro / enthusiast section of the market. Time will tell whether Pentax will now reassert the place it once held in the 1970s and 1980s as a class-leading manufacturer. With the K10D it has a very good chance indeed.
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