Will I regret buying the Pentax k100d over the k10d?

[rhiansmom]

Ok, thanks to your great advice I have decided on the Pentax but leaning towards the k100d over the k10d mainly for the $350 price difference and from what I have read the k10d doesn't really have an "auto" mode (which I will need to learn the camera).

Since the k10d is newer technology and 10 mp over 6 mp I'm having a hard time clicking on the "buy it now" link.

With the k100d I am getting the kit lens and the 50-200 lens, if I got the k10d it would be just the kit lens.

If I go with the k100d will I regret having an "outdated" model?

 

[Master Mason]

my 2 cents.

Get the K100. Use the crap out of it, discover what you like about slr photography, what you hate, how you want to improve, what is lacking (if anything) in the k100. I'm talking a year or mores time at least.

Then decide what you want to do, keep what you have, ditch the slr, upgrade etc. Then you will truely have an idea of what you think you could gain by upgrading if anything.

I bought the XT almost 2 years ago now, and it was only in the last few months that I found things that I felt would help me by upgrading, in the mean time, I have lots of shots and lots of memories, and I know where I want to go, even if there are a stop or two on the way.

 

[rhiansmom]

I'm driving myself crazy looking at everything available. In the time after I posted until now (it's been what 15 minutes?) I have started looking seriously at the XT... I just need to go check out and get it over with. Is Buydig.com a good site to buy from?

 

[YEKCIM]

I'm driving myself crazy looking at everything available. In the time after I posted until now (it's been what 15 minutes?) I have started looking seriously at the XT... I just need to go check out and get it over with. Is Buydig.com a good site to buy from?

May I suggest that, unless you have a compelling reason for haste, you take a DEEP BREATH, back off, and spend some more time really researching this investment in the context of future needs? When you buy a dSLR, it is a whole different ballgame than a PnS, due to the myriad of system accessories (lenses, etc) that are available, as well as differences in the camera body itself.

IMO, you should be reasonably certain of where you want to go, photographically, over time, and which camera system is the best route for *YOU* to get there. Bouncing from a K100D to a K10D to an XT, all in the course of a few hours suggests that you need to think this purchase through a little more thoroughly.

Just my $0.02.

~YEKCIM

 

[Master Mason]

I'm driving myself crazy looking at everything available. In the time after I posted until now (it's been what 15 minutes?) I have started looking seriously at the XT... I just need to go check out and get it over with. Is Buydig.com a good site to buy from?

Yes buydig is a good site. Please read Yekcim's wise suggestion below.

May I suggest that, unless you have a compelling reason for haste, you take a DEEP BREATH, back off, and spend some more time really researching this investment in the context of future needs? When you buy a dSLR, it is a whole different ballgame than a PnS, due to the myriad of system accessories (lenses, etc) that are available, as well as differences in the camera body itself.

IMO, you should be reasonably certain of where you want to go, photographically, over time, and which camera system is the best route for *YOU* to get there. Bouncing from a K100D to a K10D to an XT, all in the course of a few hours suggests that you need to think this purchase through a little more thoroughly.

Just my $0.02.

~YEKCIM

What will usually happen with a dSLR is you will aquire lenses and accesories, which while it doesn't lock you into a system, it will make it much harder in the future to leave it.

I have approx 10x the cost of my camera in accesories at this point, if I decided to move to Nikon tomorrow, I could, but to have what I am used to, it would be very very expensive.

 

[rhiansmom]

May I suggest that, unless you have a compelling reason for haste, you take a DEEP BREATH, back off, and spend some more time really researching this investment in the context of future needs? When you buy a dSLR, it is a whole different ballgame than a PnS, due to the myriad of system accessories (lenses, etc) that are available, as well as differences in the camera body itself.

IMO, you should be reasonably certain of where you want to go, photographically, over time, and which camera system is the best route for *YOU* to get there. Bouncing from a K100D to a K10D to an XT, all in the course of a few hours suggests that you need to think this purchase through a little more thoroughly.

Just my $0.02.

~YEKCIM

I know, I know, I know BUT I need a camera for the weekend as Tuesday is my last day of work and I'm taking the summer and traveling with my daughter and we are leaving for DC on Sunday.

I'm 95% sure I want the k100d but afraid I'll be upset that it is only 6 mp. Will it make the much difference?

 

[MarkBarbieri]

In comparing the Pentax models, my advice would be to look at the feature differences. Figure out how many years you expect to use the camera (guess 3-6 if you don't know). Are those features worth that much money to you for that length of time? Sometimes little things are priceless and sometimes big things are meaningless. I don't know what the feature differences are or how dear the money is to you.

For me, I paid a surprisingly large amount of extra money for a camera that focused much faster and more accurately than my old one. One reason was that I looked at how many shots I was missing because the AF couldn't keep pace with the action I was shooting. I figured that I could get 50% of those lost shots as keeps with a more expensive model. When I added up how much that would cost me on a per picture basis, it wasn't nearly as much money as I was willing to spend.

As far as comparing the Pentax to the XT, that's a whole nother ball of wax. I won't get bogged down in that debate other than to say shoot with both if you can and see which one works better for you. You might try going out with a local photo club to see if you can take some shots with each.

 

[Groucho]

If you're starting out, I would almost certainly go with the K100D over the K10D... there's the cost, the K10D is bigger and heavier, etc, etc. Actual image quality probably isn't going to be hugely different - the K10D certainly is sharper but you'll probably need to be look at the photo at close to 100% size to really see the difference. The K100D is pretty full-featured, the main feature that it falls short on compared to other entry-level DSLRs (as well as the K10D) is its small buffer, that can only do 5 shots in one burst. The K10D on the other hand, can take them full-speed until your card fills up. This has never been an issue for me and I think it's unlikely to affect most shooters, unless you're a hardcore sports shooter. If you think that you might regularly need to take more than 5 shots in a row at 2.8 per second, then you might need to look at another camera.

I would agree with YEKCIM about taking a deep breath first. I actually did a mad flurry of research and bought my Pentax DSLR within a couple days of finding out about it, but I am happy that I did because 1) it was a good fit for me and 2) I got a particularly great deal (there was a new rebate and the street price jumped by about $80 a few days later.) #2 won't apply to you, so only you can answer #1.

I (and many others here) have said many times that all the DSLRs are extremely nice and capable of terrific results. The differences are generally not going to be as big as you might find in the PnS realm. In other words, chances are that no matter what you buy, you'll be very happy with it. How many times have you heard someone who wasn't happy with their DSLR?

And don't get caught up in the megapixels - they're generally not that important. 6mp on a DSLR will give you a much sharper photo than 6mp on a PnS, because the sensor in a DSLR is about 15x larger than the sensor in most PnS cameras. It's easily more than enough for an 8x12 print and you can generally print a bit higher than that and still get very nice results.

 

[AKLforever]

K100D, I just got it, and another lens with it, the 50mm 1.4.
Its INSANE, I had a P&S, and the difference is night and day.
The pics Im taking with it are insane, great pics. Clear as day, no issues at all. You just need to update your self on the DSLR cameras a little, and know how to use them. Its a little more hands on then a P&S. I would recommend getting a book called Digital SLR Cameras & Photography for Dummies at your local book store since your going to be leaving so soon, and read only the parts about using the camera, it has helped me a HUGE amount. Then when you have more time, read the rest. I love those books anyway, they are great. You can get it on amazon for cheap, but with such little time, Im sure borders or some other book store will have it.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

The K100D is pretty full-featured, the main feature that it falls short on compared to other entry-level DSLRs (as well as the K10D) is its small buffer, that can only do 5 shots in one burst. The K10D on the other hand, can take them full-speed until your card fills up. This has never been an issue for me and I think it's unlikely to affect most shooters, unless you're a hardcore sports shooter.

Where I've found continuous shooting to be a big deal is "limited time" shooting opportunities. The first example that hit me was shooting a neighbor's daughter in a figure skating competition. She was only on the floor for a few minutes. She was spinning during a lot of that time, so I needed fire off several shots in hopes of getting a shot of her in a good orientation. I quickly filled my 9 shot buffer and spent the rest of the time squeezing out what few shots I could.

I found that I ran into the same problem any time I wanted to shoot something that was very time limited and had lots of shooting opportunities. With kids, those situations seemed to come up a lot. With my old camera, I had to reduce my shot rate to keep from hitting the buffer limit. It drove me insane to have the perfect shooting opportunity but be unable to shoot because the buffer was full.

Keep in mind that the buffer sizes Groucho posted above are JPG. I usually shoot RAW. In that case, it's 3 shots for the K100D vs 10 shots for the K10D. The shooting speed is also different (2.6fps vs 3.1fps). That's not a huge difference, but it could be useful if you shoot a lot of very fast motion (golf swings, divers, runners, etc.).

It may seem crazy to fill a 4 or 5 shot buffer in a couple of seconds and still want more if you come from a film or p&s background. Once you can shoot that fast and it doesn't cost you anything, you might find a lot of opportunities to do so.

I'm not saying that you are making a bad choice either way. I just think that you need to decide whether the differences are worth it to you. It's obvious that they are not to some people here. For me, I'd get the K10D in a heartbeat over the K100D at even twice the price difference.

We all value things differently. That's why you can sleep at the All Star resort or the Grand Floridian. Everyone has a different view of what's important.

 

[DisneyGirl4188]

I would also encourage you to research more and decide what camera is going to be best for you.

I have the k100d and I LOVE it. I think it's a great camera and have never regretted my purchase. I did do a lot of research and found that it had exactly what I was looking for. This was my first dslr and I am amazed at the picture quality.

I would hesitate to use the auto modes. Instead, try using Program mode. It's basically auto, but gives you a little more control. I use this most of the time (I am still learning; I just got the camera in Jan.).

If it were me, I would opt for the k100d and use the extra money to buy another lens (50mm 1.4) in addition to the kit lens and the 50-200mm.

Good luck with your decision; I don't think you will be disappointed in the k100d at all.

 

[ukcatfan]

If it were me, I would opt for the k100d and use the extra money to buy another lens (50mm 1.4) in addition to the kit lens and the 50-200mm.

I agree with this point. With where you are going and the low light you will encounter, that 50mm will be very valuable. True, while the K10D has a faster buffer and more MPs, if you cannot get enough light in the lens, you will not get the shot with any camera. A wide aperture prime is about the only option to do that in your price range. I believe that the Sigma 28mm is another decent prime that might even be less than the Pentax 50mm. It probably is not as nice as the Pentax, but it will still likely be better than the kit lens for image quality. Another option if you are willing to manual focus is a used prime lens from somwhere like KEH.

Based on your current vacation plans, I doubt that the small buffer will affect you. After that during normal at home use could be a different story, but only you can determine that. I am not a fan of taking action shots and have only wished for more speed from my K100D a couple of times. You might want to consider a tripod for the trip as the IS helps, but cannot work miracles. Even with the IS and a 50mm prime, you might come across situations where you need one.

One last point, if you plan to shoot JPG more than RAW, then the K100D does a better job. The K10D can still do well with them, but you need to tweak the JPG settings a little to get the most. If you are shooting RAW(suggested), then neither has an advantage.

Kevin

 

[rhiansmom]

Thanks I have decided to go for the deal on the K100d and get the lenses I mentioned earlier BUT I have one final stupid question... what would I shoot with a 50 mm lens? I have seen it recommended a few times but don't "get it" so will you help me to figure out if I need to get it now or if I can wait?

I have 2 hours left before I have to order to get the delivery date I want.

Thanks

 

[Master Mason]

The 50 has a very wide appeture, which means that the blades of the lens will open up very large so a lot of light will come in.

this will allow you to get shots in low light that you might otherwise never be able to get.

Taking a picture is all about light the three things that effect how much light you get are appeture, exposure time, and ISO. so when you have maxed exposure time and ISO, the only option you have is to have a larger appeture.

As for uses, things like spectro magic, shooting inside a museum that doesn't allow flash photography, PotC ride etc

ETA, opening the lens up will aslo give you shollow DOF which will let you blur the background of a picture giving you more creative control as well.

 

[DisneyGirl4188]

Thanks I have decided to go for the deal on the K100d and get the lenses I mentioned earlier BUT I have one final stupid question... what would I shoot with a 50 mm lens? I have seen it recommended a few times but don't "get it" so will you help me to figure out if I need to get it now or if I can wait?


Thanks

You can shoot anything with it, as it's a great lens for most subjects. It is most beneficial in low light (for example: museums). It is also really small and light weight which is a plus in my book.

 

[wkrider]

I have the K100D and love it too. The pictures are sharp and clear. I also bought the Digital SLR Cameras & Photography for Dummies and it is a big help for me converting from a P&S to a DSLR. Good luck.

 

[rhiansmom]

Perfect... I can't thank you enough for all of your help.

Off to put the credit card to use!!!!

 

[Groucho]

Keep in mind that the buffer sizes Groucho posted above are JPG. I usually shoot RAW. In that case, it's 3 shots for the K100D vs 10 shots for the K10D. The shooting speed is also different (2.6fps vs 3.1fps). That's not a huge difference, but it could be useful if you shoot a lot of very fast motion (golf swings, divers, runners, etc.).

FWIW, it's 2.8 on the K100D and 3.0 for the K10D - a pretty minor difference.

Most continuous shooting ratings are JPG, I don't think any camera out there today can do unlimited continuous shooting in RAW mode but there are a few that can do it with JPGs. (Probably more a limitation of the memory card and interface than the camera.)

Good luck, Rhiansmom! Let us know how you like it.