Anti-shake system *really* works, great optics, great ergonomics

As a bit of an introduction, I have been an avid amateur photographer for 12 years now. I started with a Pentax K1000, which is a manual focus, manual exposure 35mm SLR. I've moved up from there to some very nice Nikon, Olympus, and Canon SLRs, dabbled in medium format, and have had a couple of digital cameras before this.

I'm finally back to SLRs now, having outgrown the capabilities of the ultrazoom digital cameras.

I considered Nikon & Canon first. They have more aftermarket lenses for them now than Pentax, Sony/Minolta, or Olympus. However, they were both lacking one feature that I really wanted: anti-shake or image stabilizer technology. How such big companies can overlook such an important feature is beyond me. They are hoping to sell their image-stabilized lenses, no doubt, which cost a pretty penny. Consider that when purchasing the body; it is a hidden cost down the road.

That leaves either the Sony A100, or a used Minolta 5D or 7D. Looking at the specs, the Sony A100 doesn't seem to offer much more for the extra $300. I didn't really want to buy used, so I skipped over the Minoltas.

The neat thing about the anti shake on the Pentaxes is that it works with ANY lens you put on it, and you can get a LOT of lenses. Any Pentax K mount lens will work. Manual focus, manual-exposure-only lenses work. A series auto exposure lenses work. Even Pentax, Takumar, and Carl Zeiss screw mount lenses work, though only with manual exposure and metering. The anti-shake will improve all hand-held shots. It is really the huge feature of this camera, and I can't see passing on that feature to save a few bucks with the K110D.

This camera is physically about the same size as the Canon XT, (350D) XTi, (400D) and Nikon D40. But unlike the Canons, it fits in a man's hand well.

Looking at the spec, some potential buyers will be put off by the fact that this camera "only" has 6 MP. Be honest now, how big are you going to print your photos? Bigger than 11x14? If not, there is no need for more resolution. It's just a numbers game.

In the reviews, the Pentax usually rates the highest in noise. At higher ISO settings, it has the least amount of noise. It also has among the highest color accuracy.

The Pentax kit lens that is sold with this camera, the 18-55, is really of outstanding quality. It is the only one in its class with a proper stainless steel lens mount. It also has the famous SMC Pentax coatings, which yield pictures with better contrast and less flare than much of the competition. Some makers, such as Canon & Nikon, really cut corners on this lens, and only include a good quality kit lens with their higher-end cameras. Since Pentax includes the same kit lens with their top of the line K10D, you know it is good. Here is a gallery of my photos taken with my K100D and the kit lens: http://s134.photobucket.com/albums/q112/jzorns/Chicago-21Jan2007/

Batteries - To help keep the cost of this kit down, Pentax didn't design it around a lithium ion battery pack, like the Canon & Nikon. It runs off of normal AA batteries. It should be noted that with alkalines, you will only get 50-70 shots on a set of batteries. However, alkalines should only be considered as a back-up power source. Nickel Metal Hydride rechargeables are what this camera was designed for. With NiMH batteries, you can expect around 400 shots per charge. They are cheap enough that you can have a second set ready, and another set for an accessory flash. Another back-up option is lithium AAs or the camera specific CRV3 (?) lithium batteries, which yield around 700 shots. I rather like the fact that this camera will run on AAs. This means that if I go on vacation somewhere and am caught with dead batteries, I can buy AAs anywhere and still be in business.

Ergonomics - For a man, it is about as small as it can be and still be comfortable. I am 5'8" tall and of average build. My right pinky finger fits on the grip, but is a little crowded. The Nikon D50 had a bit more room. The plus side is that this camera is comfortable for my wife AND I, where the Nikon would only be comfortable for me, and the Canon would only be comfortable for my wife. The full auto mode means that my wife can use this camera without having to educate herself of photography. Just twist the zoom ring and shoot.

The main selling points for this camera:

- Small, yet ergonomic grip for about everyone
- Anti-shake - do not underestimate the usefulness of this! This means you don't need to spend the hundreds and hundreds of dollars on fast lenses later to get sharp handheld images. A simple f/4-5.6 zoom behaves like an f/2-4 lens. (except fast action will still require the fast lenses)
- Huge lens compatibility; I can mount modern, digital-only, autofocus Pentax or Sigma optics, or I can mount old, manual focus Takumar or Zeiss screw mount optics. There are literally thousands of used lenses available on ebay that will work well with this camera.
- AA battery usage was a great way to control costs, as carrying a spare set is much cheaper than the lithium ion powered cameras. The only drawback to using NiMH rechargeables is that you cannot charge them and throw them in the case for 3 months. They will be dead when you need them. You will have to remember to charge them a few days before you go out shooting.

Other reviewers have complained about the automatic white balance. I agree, it doesn't work very well, However, if you look around, none of the DSLRs have good automatic white balance. It is boggling, why they can make it work on point & shoot and ultrazoom cameras, but not SLRs. It is easy enough to manually set the right white balance, or correct it later.

There are two other features I really like on this camera.

1) The 2-second self-timer with mirror lockup. Since I sell a lot of stuff on ebay, and I like to include very good pictures, I use this feature a lot. Here's how it works: I mount the camera on a tripod. When press the shutter release, it first locks the mirror up, then waits two seconds to take the picture. This way, any vibration caused by the mirror going up and down is not translated to vibration when the image is made! This is especially important for longer shutter speeds.

2) The Depth-of-Field preview switch. This feature is a momentary contact position of the main power switch. By moving the main power switch past the 'on' position, the camera will either close the aperture to the present setting, so that you can see what all will be in focus in the viewfinder, or it will take a sample shot, which it doesn't save to memory and display it on the LCD. The user chooses what it does by a menu setting. To check for accurate color balance, choose the second one. To check for adequate depth-of-focus, use the first one. No one else but Pentax has this feature. It is not a gimmick, it is truly useful.

Lastly, other reviewers complained about the short image buffer for continuous shooting. This camera will shoot 3 frames per second for the first 5 frames before the buffer fills up, and after that, only about 1 frame per second. My thinking is that if, as an action photographer, you cannot time your sequence to get what you want in 5 frames, you should be shooting video anyhow. This may be an issue for professional sports photographers, but not for 95% of us.

All in all, I'm really glad I thought outside the box and bought this Pentax. Canon & Nikon know they have the largest share of the SLR market. Many people are brainwashed into thinking that anything else is lower quality, because the pros all use Nikon & Canon. That forces the little guys, like Pentax & Olympus, to make more innovative products to compete. I'll gladly snap that stuff up while the sheep keep buying the Nikon & Canon. ;)

****Update - Aug. 11 2007****
I've had this camera for about a year now, and I really love it.

One thing I've found that it is missing is anti-dust technology for the sensor. It is inevitable that when the lens is removed to exchange it, dust gets on the sensor. This is not a huge problem in and of itself. The problem is that you may then go on to take the next 100 pictures with dust on the sensor. Then, there are tiny bright green or purple pixel on all those pictures, which you have to go in and remove with software. I don't believe the Pentax software has provisions for that, so I've been using Corel Paint Shop Pro XI. (awesome program by the way, has most of the capabilities of Photoshop, but is easy to use)

The images are fantastic though. As a side job, I shoot weddings. There are some samples here, mostly taken without flash, using the anti-shake, and with the kit lens. http://home.comcast.net/~jzorns/clark.html

UPDATE Dec. 19, 2009 - The camera is still fantastic. I've shot many hundreds of photos with it, and no problems. Also, regarding my earlier comments regarding dust on the sensor, ignore them. It turns out that the little green dots were artifacts from shooting at ISO 3200 sensitivity. I picked up an old Pentax 50mm f/2 manual focus lens for this camera. It was cheap, yet the lens is super sharp. It makes a perfect portrait lens for these cameras. I'm considering the Pentax wide angle zoom, but that is probably not going to happen, since it costs over $700. The camera and Pentax lenses are in perfect order; optically, mechanically, and electronically speaking. This model is obsolete now, but would make an excellent used buy. Or a back-up camera body for a pro. If I had it to do again, I would still buy this camera.