Pentax K100d, Anyone?

[Forevryoung]

My dbf is an amatuer photographer so he "knows his stuff".

He currently has a Nikon D70 and loves it. The only thing is that he wishes he had a second body that was modified for true black and white.

In the process of looking for a new camera for me, he came across the Pentax K100d and was overjoyed. He loved the original (non-digital) version. So he is now considering getting two Pentax K100d bodies, modifying one and keeping the other so the lenses could be interchanged easily.

The second option is to just get a used D70 and modify that for black and white because he already has the lenses.

Any suggestions? Anyone use the Pentax and love it or hate it?

Thanks!

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I don't understand why he would want to do his original capture in B&W. Wouldn't it make more sense to capture the image in color and then do a B&W conversion? That would give him much more flexibility in determining how he wanted the picture to look.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Here is a good example of what I'm talking about. Notice how each picture can been seen in radically different ways by adjusting the way the colors are converted to black and white. In the old days, this was done using color filters and black and white film. Now it can be done by shooting in color and then applying the filters in Photoshop.

As for the cameras, it seems like it would be cheaper and easier to just buy one new Nikon body rather than replace it and buy two Pentax bodies and sell off his Nikon gear.

 

[Groucho]

I have the Pentax ist DL (slightly earlier version but functionally very similar to the K110D, which is a K100D without the image stabilization) and am very happy with it. I recommend Pentax DSLRs very highly (as anyone who's been here for a little while will tell you, I'm sure they're sick of me hyping them ) and I really feel that they are an astounding bargain. You can currently pick up a K100D with lens for $463 after rebate - one camera rebate per household, but if you have family or friends nearby I'm sure you can work something out...

A few posters here have the K100D and seem to be very happy. Every owner I've heard from is very enthusiastic about it. Check the Pentax DSLR forums at Steve's Digicams or DPReview for lots of posts from owners and many examples of just what it can do.

One other thing to consider is, if he's coming from a D70, he may even want to pick up a K100D body for black/white and a K10D body for color - the K10D came out last week and is extremely advanced - it can hold its own or beat most any consumer-level (ie, $2k or under) DSLR. Since it's brand new, there aren't really any discounts to be had - $900 for body-only... but that's still a bargain when you look at what the competition offers for that price. Like all Pentax DSLRs, it works with any Pentax lens ever made. Some of my old K1000 lenses have found new life on my DL!

I would agree with Mark, though - I should think that most anything should be able to be done in software. Obviously a simple "convert to grayscale" won't produce the same results, but there are many other ways to get b/w from color.

 

[Forevryoung]

I think my boyfriend's main issue is that is has no clue how to best use photoshop and doesn't know anyone who can teach him "enough" because that is exactly what I suggested (using software to change the image to black and white).

He did some photographs of me with his current camera and used photoshop to change them to black and white. They definitely look amazing to me.

I don't think money is an issue for him He's a great saver for toys he wants

I will show him this thread. Maybe I will convince him to find a way to learn Photoshop and I will buy the Pentax. I am in the market for a new camera and I'm not sure if I want the Pentax which sounds awesome or a Cannon Elph. I know, I know, two totally different cameras with two totally different purposes That's why it's going to be a very difficult decision. All i know is that I dislike my current Cannon A70 enough that I only use it when necessary.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Groucho]

I will show him this thread. Maybe I will convince him to find a way to learn Photoshop and I will buy the Pentax. I am in the market for a new camera and I'm not sure if I want the Pentax which sounds awesome or a Cannon Elph.

My wife just bought a Canon Elph SD600, actually - she loves using an SLR but wants something she can always have with her, and her old Minolta X20 was definitely getting loooooooong in the teeth. I couldn't find anything better in the $175-$250 class so we ended up with that one.

Learning Photoshop will definitely be cheaper (and less risky) than buying a second body and modifying it for b/w!

 

[donaldduck1967]

If he has the money for two Pentax K100d bodies why not buy the Nikon D80 and modify the D70?

 

[Groucho]

I would assume that he would sell the D70, which would pay for the K100D body - more, even, assuming that he'd also sell his Nikon lenses. The second K100D would cost maybe slightly more than half the cost of a D80 body.

 

[Forevryoung]

Anyone know of a place or a person I can contact about Photoshop lessons? Maybe that would be a great Christmas present for him!

He can't learn from a book... he told me a story from when he was in the Marines and he threw the computer manual (in the early 80's, a very fat manual) into the ocean instead of learning from it (Yes, he is also a trouble maker)

Thanks for your help everyone!

P.S. I don't know what he would do with the current D70 but I don't want to suggest a D80 , he was talking about buying a second used D70 instead of the Pentax so that's still an option.

 

[ukcatfan]

Anyone know of a place or a person I can contact about Photoshop lessons? Maybe that would be a great Christmas present for him!

Check your local trade schools, universities, and community colleges.

Kevin

 

[Groucho]

There are also training DVDs and ones that you play in the computer that let you follow along - those might help as they can actually show what's going on live, rather than describing it in words.

 

[handicap18]

If He wants 2 bodies I would go with the D80 or at least the D50 over a second D70 body. Both have better sensors than the D70 and are also much better than the D70 at the high ISO's. Plus they both have a bigger LCD. 2 1/2" and 2" respectively vs the 1.8" on the D70. Also, I'm pretty sure the D80 has an option to capture the image in B&W. Though like others have said, why bother. Its digital. You can manipulate it anyway you want on the computer in the digital darkroom. And it isn't hard to do at all.

As for changing to black & white. It is really only a matter of about 3 clicks (if that) with the mouse. IIRC you want to change the saturation to 0%. I can't confirm this right now because I don't have any of the photo editors on the computer I'm currently using.

Its even easier if he uses Nikon Capture. I don't know if its the same with the D70, but the software that came with the D50 includes Nikon Capture. Once the pic is downloaded there is an option to change the pic to B&W or Sepia. 2 clicks with the mouse. DONE.

Just be sure to do a save as so as not to change the original picture.

 

[Forevryoung]

You guys are a huge help and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I will bring up all this information to him when he gets back from his business trip.

 

[Greg K.]

FWIW: I just got the K100 D and love it. It's every bit as clear and intuitive as the *istD that preceded it, and I'm gaga over the shake reduction feature.

I've just had it a couple weeks, but am looking forward to the holidays, to see what it can REALLY do.

IMHO, you won't find a better value, dollar for dollar, for a digital SLR.

 

[Groucho]

Greg, congrats on the camera, glad you like it.

By the way, I picked a couple old photo books off the shelf like night (like early '70s) and one was the Encyclopedia of Photography... and I was just skimming the entry on exposure (which was probably 10+ pages long!), but if I read it right, b/w film is capable of capturing a much higher dynamic range than color. That might be a reason to modify a camera to do true b/w - although I'm not sure that you can modify a digital sensor in that way, it's not like film where it can truly have different sensitivities.

I was digging through my old unused film the other day and found a roll of T-Max 3200 that'll I take to WDW with me... the pictures from that film would take a bit of Photoshop work to duplicate the look of!

 

[Forevryoung]

Update: I spoke to my boyfriend and told him your suggestions-

He wants an infrared black and white capture by removing the filters (permanent change).

He can shoot b&w with the current camera or modify the filters using photoshop... He knows that, he doesn't want black and white. He thinks black and white should be shot on film alone


AND if he was going to get another Nikon he would get a D200 I don't get this stuff (maybe it's just him)

 

[Groucho]

It's tough for a luddite (or a luddite's girlfriend).

Seriously though - has he actually found directions to do this kind of thing?

One last plea for software - this page over at Adorama has some really good info on more advanced b/w conversions, specifically links to some Photoshop plug-ins that do a more advanced job of making a color DSLR photo look like a film B/W image. This one even emulates specific b/w films stocks - various ones from Agfa, Kodak, and Ilford.

You'd want to make sure to shoot raw for the extra picture information (12-bit versus 8-bit) and if still considering a new camera, the just-released Pentax K10D captures at 22-bit, the highest (by far) of any consumer DSLR - that could help with b/w photos.

Good luck either way - I'd love to see his results whichever way he goes.

 

[Forevryoung]

It's tough for a luddite (or a luddite's girlfriend).

Seriously though - has he actually found directions to do this kind of thing?

Good luck either way - I'd love to see his results whichever way he goes.

He believes it can be done- I don't know more than that (I can ask him if you are interested). I will hound him about the software idea

Here are three photos he took (I believe with the D70 but I could be wrong). I think they are amazing-

He's going to kill me for posting these!!!!!