camera

DNG and TIFF were both developed by Adobe (in fact DNG is based on the TIFF code). Since everyone seems to accept TIFF like it was a public format (which it practically is), I suspect that DNG will become the standard RAW format.

In the Feb 07 Issue #4 Digital SLR Usermag there's an 8 page "head to head" review of the K10D vs the GX10.

I'll just quote the concluding paragraph...

"We prefer the balance and look of the Pentax, but it's by no means a straight win. The Samsung has a clearer, less cluttered look to the menu, an additional 12-months warranty to the K10D's 1 year, and you can't overlook the company's improved luminance noise reduction algorithm over that employed by the Pentax."

Interestingly, given the discussion here, they do their resolution comparison with "best-quality JPEGs and default image tone and sharpness settings", and don't mention any significant difference between the cameras in terms of sharpness.

Why not look at the K10D & the GX10 as two individual cameras just like Canon or Nikon and stop trying to compare them. They are both different from each other in just one way one's Pentax the other is Samsung so why not leave it at that.

They are in fact physically identical under the skin, but they have slightly different software.

All the important features of the K10D are possessed by the GX10.

In the EU, (which includes the UK! ) all consumer items have a 2 year guarantee, by law. Retailers don't like people to know that.

G

March Practical Photography rates both (camera + lens) equally, but shades the GX-10 as being £100 cheaper (kit).

Samsung manual (see www.samsungcamera.co.uk ) states several times that Pentax accessories are compatible - battery grip? flashes?

But are any GX-10s actually in the shops yet?

That £100 is further eroded by the prices for K10 at SRS in Watford,...it currently looks like the effective cost of the kit zoom is £65.

So, the real question is; on two cameras costing £600 would you think it a good saving to buy the one which is largely a mystery made by a new company which is a bigger mystery, and without any knowledge of that companies commercial intentions and strategies for the future,....just to save £65...?

Now, if the GX10 was half the price of K10,..or at least the cost of a useful lens (not the kit zoom)....or had a four year warranty like previous Samsung DSLR's in the USA.... then I'd be giving it some serious thought.....

Well, having been trying to decide whether I go for the Nikon D80 or a K10D/GX-10, last night I ordered the GX-10.

After scouring the net the cheapest K10D with 18-55mm lens was £670, whereas the GX-10 (a UK model) with the same (re-badged) lens was £540.

So out of that saving I could afford another 2GB SD card and still have £90 to put towards the Sigma 70-300mm zoom, if the 28-200mm from my old Pentax 35mm isn't up to it - or even if it is; that's 450mm in old money!

Am now very, very impatient . . .

C'mon guys!

Its bad enough having to argue about Canon and Nikon v Pentax.

I personally cant see any problem, Samsung have obviously collaborated on the development of these cameras so deserve to sell it a whatever price thay want, its a given fact that their going to discount it to get recognised in the DSLR market place, Pentax will rely to a certain degree on their name to sell to joe public who doesn't know a pixel from a pretzel.

Personally I would have bought the Pentax badged model anyway, (brand loyalty I suppose), but if someone wants to buy the Samsung then I say go for it.....(but dont post on this forum......TRAITORS )

I tell you what I cant understand. Surely Pentax would have seen this debate amongst its customers coming. I to have the K10D and love it, however i may have been tempted by the samsung if i had waited a bit longer. The only thing with Samsung is they are not dedicated to any particular product. As we know they sell eveything from Tvs to Cameras etc..

Why Pentax have decided to give (share) or whatever you want to call it of an essentially same model camera for rebranding and selling with a different company (samsung) especially a brand new flag ship model is beyond me. An older model perhaps.

They must have big financial gains. To be going head to head on a extremely similar model is strange. I know the companies are now connected in some way, but keep samsung as samsung and pentax as pentax.

Its like Mercedes launching a super new car and within a month or two letting Skoda put there badge on it and selling it £10,000 cheaper.

However as the saying goes "there is a method in madness"

After all it didnt do Volkswagon and Skoda any harm if you know what i mean.

Overall im still happy with Pentax (A camera specialist in its own right)

I've just found out that Samsung possible own about 30% of Pentax!?
See http://forum2.mobile-review.com/archive/index.php/t-11518.html

and the post [email protected] 26-07-2004, 02:21

I don't know the validity of this info but if true it explains the Samsung entry to DSLR's

I would have thought that Pentax were involved in an attempt to get acess to a supply of sensors from a maker other than Sony,......Samsung are one of the few makers of sensors.

I have been trying to find out on the web who the makers of the pentax sesor actualy are. It has been assumed by numerous reviewers and other pundits that the pentax 10 meg sensor must be the same as that in the Nikon D200,...especially since pentax has used Sony sensors for it's previous cameras. However, while I have seen in several places that the k100 sensor is a sony product, I have NOT been able to read anywhere that the k10 sensor is also from Sony. It is also interesting that Samsung have so far not announced a k100 equivalent,...they have gone straight from the 'ist' clones to the GX-10 with 'SR'

The GX-10 is still too dear for me. if the price differential between it and the k10 increases to a significant amount then it could be interesting but at the moment Samsung are still way behind Pentax in the desirability stakes.

where did you find that GX10 for £540??

Phil Askey's review of the K10D suggests the sensor may not be manufactured by Sony:

"Interestingly this CCD has slightly different specifications than the Sony unit used in a few other ten megapixel digital SLR's so we can't be sure of its origins. It's 23.5 x 15.7 mm with 10.75 million total pixels, 2-channel read-out. "