Pentax K10D 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with Shake Reduction and 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens

I have owned this camera for 18 months or so, and have used it in a variety of settings, indoor, outdoor, sunny, low light, action, stills, portraits, etc. It absolutely excels when there is enough light. Beautiful pictures, quick focus, solidly made, excellent camera.

The problem I have is with low light situations. Not dark, but something less than bright sun. This camera has significant trouble focusing if the subject isn't well lit. Since I bought this camera to take action shots of my son's wrestling team (think about how poorly lit gyms are for taking pictures) and playing football (Friday night lights aren't always so bright), it has been a challenge to get the shots I want. Another problem is that above an ISO sensitivity of 800, the pictures are grainy and ugly, which is pretty much impossible to Phtoshop out, making low-light photography even more difficult. To compensate, I bought a fairly nice 28-200 Tamron for the wrestling mat, which allows me to keep the aperture and ISO relatively low and take some pretty nice pictures with my hot shoe flash (Pentax AF360-FGZ). I also bought the 50-500 "Bigma" from Sigma for football - it doesn't cover the whole field, but as I walk the sidelines, I can get some decent shots while avoiding ISO settings over 800.

Bottom line: if your main purpose is to take low-light action shots, spend the extra 300-500 on a mid-level Nikon. If you're taking family vacation photos, nature photos, etc., this is a great camera and an excellent value.

Pentax K10D 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with Shake Reduction and 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens

Last year, when on assignment in Switzerland, I used several models of digital still cameras. I carried along the K10D, carefully testing the
first "shake reduction" I was ever to try.

Usually, I am a stickler for steadiness. Since my first days as a working
professional, it was always a must to employ the use of a tripod - not
only for longer exposures - but also for general shooting. Humans holding
cameras can almost never be quite as steady as a tripod or other camera stand. Think about it, our heartbeat causing pulse and cafeine shake in
our hands is nonexistent in a tripod. People do not always stand steadily
and firm.

My tests included handheld images with the shake reduction, tripodded
images without the shake reduction, and even handheld images without the
shake reduction, all cases using manual exposure settings ranging from
1/60th to 1/1000th sec., making notes as the images were casted on the
23.5x15.7mm CCD.

There is not enough room here to detail the hundreds of exposures made
during the three-days testing. Therefore, it shall suffice to say that
the K10D with its CCD-shifting shake reduction system allowed me to make
sharper pistures with three different lenses. Comparing the images made
on the tripod with those handheld using shake reduction there is not any
notable difference at 16X. Of course, one 6MP camera I tested, which did not have image-stabilization was used solely on the tripod, and images from it were as sharp as the handheld 10MP camera (not deploying shake
reduction and in similar lighting with auto-exposure.)

Other characteristics observed: The AF points on the viewfinder are red
and illuminated for easy visibility. The LCD display is large and sharp
and visible from a wide viewing angle. The DUST REMOVAL syatem is quite
effective. It actually shakes the CCD for dust removal.

The menu is not difficult to understand. The controls are splash and dust resistant and the cabinet parts and retractable seem to be nicely fitted
together.

The K10D had a good feel in my hands. The dials and buttons are all just
about exactly where they should be for ergonomic placement.

In the final analysis, the camera, in my judgement deserves five stars.

Robert Caselnova, photographer and owner of Cas Photo Studio & Camera Shop

This was my first DSLR and it's been a great experience. It uses the same Sony sensor as the Nikon D80/D200 and if you shoot RAW, you get effectively the same results for much less cost.
On top of that, you get weathersealing so you can use it in the rain or snow or dust w/o issues.
The body feels solid unlike the plasticky XTi/XSi/D40/D60, and even the D80 to some degree.
Only nits are I wish it had a faster flash sync speed and predictive AF (the AF-C is really AF-S run continously).

I have had this camera for over one year and each day learn more about the power of this camera. Recently took photo course and many in class had high powered Nikons and Canon DSLR's. My camera kept right up and in many cases had features their cameras did not, such as built in image stablization, and raw button. Just saw new DXO website that ranks K10D above many DSLR's and higher than some more expensive DSLR's. This is a great camera but not for the novice.

When this model was initially introduced, it was the best bang for the buck:

-Takes all Pentax lenses (including screw mounts with an adaptor) and adds its anti-shake mechanism to each

-Picture quality great

-V - e - r - y sturdy feel

-All the unique Pentax options (especially hyper) plus driving the ISO

Note - some of the quibbles have been fixed with the later, 40% more megapixel, K20D:

-Picture quality at higher ISO

-Easier definition of picture style

-"Live" view (sort of)

I've had it for two years and only qualm I have is that it's larger and heavier than my *istD