K10D review posted @ Dpreview.

[Anewman]

Conclusion - Pros
Smooth clean images with good color and tone, not as crisp as we would like
Robust body with dust and weather seals, high build quality
Accurate and fast auto-focus
Unique exposure modes; sensitivity, shutter/aperture priority, hyper program
Selectable program lines; Normal, Hi speed, Depth and MTF (lens sharpness)
Good range of image parameter adjustment (-5 to +5 for each)
Dedicated RAW button a useful addition
Selectable RAW format (PEF or DNG)
Unlimited continuous shooting in JPEG mode
Occasionally useful 'digital preview' allows you to take a test shot which isn't saved
User definable Auto ISO (set minimum and maximum ISO)
Good built-in flash metering
Large and bright Pentaprism viewfinder (0.95x magnification)
In-camera Shake Reduction system offers some advantage in low light
Dust reduction by anti-static coating and optional sensor 'shake'
Mirror lock-up implemented as part of the self-timer
Function menu for quick access to important settings (although hard buttons are better)
Large, bright and high resolution LCD monitor
Good battery life from high capacity Lithium-Ion rechargeable
Proper hinged doors covering the connectors (not the cheap rubber bungs)
In-camera RAW development and image retouching (B&W, Sepia, Soft etc.)
USB 2.0 Hi-Speed interface (with mass storage device driver)
Value for money

Conclusion - Cons
In-camera image processor unable to deliver crisp sharp edges, better to shoot RAW
About a third of a stop less highlight dynamic range than the competition
Slightly inconsistent continuous shooting rate (although always around 3.1 fps)
Would have been nice to have hard buttons for White Balance and ISO sensitivity
ISO not displayed on viewfinder status line or top LCD status panel
Turning up sharpness setting doesn't deliver crisper edges
Average automatic white balance performance, still very poor under incandescent light
Flash must be raised for AF assist (although AF works even in very low light)
Color space selection buried in custom menu

Overall conclusion
My first impressions of the K10D were very positive, a well designed and robust body with a clearly extensive range of manual functions and a fairly logical control layout. The positive experience continued in use with the large, bright Pentaprism viewfinder, fast auto focus and short lag times. Menus and playback are equally as snappy although I personally found the connected 4-way controller less easy to use than the K100D's four separate buttons.

The K10D's advantages over the competition are fairly clear; dust and weather seals, in-camera Shake Reduction which delivers at least some low light advantage with all your lenses, selectable RAW file format (although both are 10MB+), user definable Auto ISO, digital preview and those unique sensitivity-priority and shutter/aperture-priority exposure modes. It's a camera which should provide more than sufficient 'gadget satisfaction' for even the most demanding shutterbug.

When we reviewed the K100D we thought Pentax had got their image processing just right, however the single element of the entire K10D equation which left us scratching our heads was just that. Either a poorly implemented demosaicing algorithm or a strange choice of sharpening parameters means that while the K10D's JPEG images have plenty of 'texture' they can lack the edge sharpness we're used to seeing from semi-pro digital SLR's.

Pentax may well have been aiming for a smooth film-like appearance but I at least feel that the inability to tweak this out by increasing sharpness is a mistake. That said it's unlikely you'll see this difference in any print up to A3 size, it's a 100% view thing so you have to decide if that's important to you or not. To get that absolute crisp appearance you'll need to shoot RAW, and use Adobe Camera RAW or another third party converter (as the supplied converter produces similar results to the camera).

With the criticism out of the way we return to the K10D as a 'photographic tool', something it does very well. It's a camera you get used to very quickly and never really leaves you searching for the correct setting or control. It's also a camera you can grow into, the unique exposure modes are both creatively interesting and useful, a range of options such as this encourage you to experiment. At just under $900 it's a very strong proposition, so despite our reservations about the slightly soft image processing the K10D just achieves a Highly Recommended.

Detail (D-SLR) Rating (out of 10) Build quality 9.0
Ergonomics & handling 8.5
Features 9.5
Image quality 7.5
Performance (speed) 8.5
Value 9.0

Highly Recommended (just)

For those of it wishing to see sample they include very many.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/pentaxk10d/

 

[Groucho]

Thanks for the info. They sure got that out a lot quicker than their K100D review!

I haven't read it yet but it sounds like their main beef was with the jpg engine - I would guess that isn't really such an issue if you shoot RAW, as you probably should with a camera like that. (That equalizes the older cameras, too - the K100D has a better JPG engine than my DL, but RAW images are more or less identical.)

Interesting how the different reviewers get different conclusions. DPR wasn't as impressed with the K100D's IS but most reviewers (and most owners) find it to work very effectively... and PopPhoto thought that the K10D had "excellent" white balance (in their sample photos) while DPReview thought that it was a weak point.

 

[ukcatfan]

I haven't read it yet but it sounds like their main beef was with the jpg engine - I would guess that isn't really such an issue if you shoot RAW, as you probably should with a camera like that.

... and PopPhoto thought that the K10D had "excellent" white balance (in their sample photos) while DPReview thought that it was a weak point.

While it is a bit of a pain to have to post process the WB, it really is not a big deal in RAW. I also agree that at this level you should always shoot RAW, unless you have a situational need for JPG. Then again, if I remember correctly, I think you can process RAW to JPG in camera on the K10D. Can anyone out there confirm this?

Kevin

P.S. Just back from an overnight trip to WDW. I do not have the energy to process my pics to Photobucket tonight, but hopefully I can post a few tomorrow. It was busier than I expected from past experience at this time.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I think you can process RAW to JPG in camera on the K10D.

The reviewer's assertion is that the JPG conversion engine has taken a significant step backwards, so you might not want to do this. But to answer your question, it does say "In-camera RAW development and image retouching (B&W, Sepia, Soft etc.)"

Unlimited continuous shooting in JPEG mode

I'm excited to see this. From my spec reading buffer size was a significant issue with the K100D. I wonder how well it handles continuous RAW shooting? Buffer size and write speed rarely seem to be important, but when they are sometimes they are extremely important. For me, the most common example is when your subject has a small role in a performance and you want to fire off a lot of shots in a short period of time.

I love the ability to store in DNG. I think that's particularly important for Pentax until they establish a larger presence in the marketplace.

I also love the "Mirror lock-up implemented as part of the self-timer". Canon seems to be clueless when it comes to mirror lock-up, burying it deep in the custom functions menu.

It looks like ISO is a bit of a wash. It's nice to have an auto-ISO selection, especially for someplace like WDW where conditions change moment by moment. It's annoying not to have a button dedicated to it.

I'm baffled by the complaint that the "Color space selection buried in custom menu". Who the heck changes their color space so often that this is an issue?

 

[Groucho]

The reviewer's assertion is that the JPG conversion engine has taken a significant step backwards, so you might not want to do this. But to answer your question, it does say "In-camera RAW development and image retouching (B&W, Sepia, Soft etc.)"

That's one of those things that is good on a spec sheet but I can't really believe that it will be very useful - the exception being if you're not near a PC, you normally shoot RAW (not RAW+JPEG), and want to be able to print to a PictBridge Printer or use some other device that can read JPGs but not RAW files off an SD card.

I'm excited to see this. From my spec reading buffer size was a significant issue with the K100D. I wonder how well it handles continuous RAW shooting?

I'm actually kind of confused why the K100D has the "small" buffer. The earlier *ist DS had a larger buffer, the smaller buffer was for the DLs - I would have thought that the K100D, being their top camera for a few months, would have gotten the bigger one.

The K10D can do IIRC 9-10 RAW photos in a row before having to start flushing the buffer. Not continuous - but still about for around three seconds of photos, which isn't too bad.

I read through the review and I was really drooling - the Hyperprogram sounds extremely handy, I'd love the faster and more-points autofocus over my DL, I like the program line changing, the backlit LCD on top, etc, etc... and they seemed very happy with it all, except JPG processing, which I'm really not concerned with, and if you're using a camera at this level, you probably shouldn't be, either.

I was surprised that they claimed that the software did the same JPG processing as the camera... the Pentax software uses Silkypix to do the RAW processing, which is probably not the same as what's in the camera.

From the samples, it looks like they did have a point, though, about the JPG processing. For example, the shots comparing it to the D80 in JPG mode showed the D80 being slightly sharper... but in RAW, the K10D looked slightly sharper.

As for noise, it was interesting to see how the D80 and K10D dealt with it at higher ISOs. The D80 has slightly less noise but the K10D had slightly more detail - I'm sure that the sensors are producing similar data but the Nikon is applying slightly more aggressive noise reduction, for better or for worse.

Now to start saving my pennies... maybe by then they'll have a follow-up that fixes the JPG issues, or perhaps they'll fix them in the K10D with a firmware update.