Got lenses,but dilema with K10d purchase.Advise/opinions?

Hi all, first post here. First of many I hope.
Story so far. Having used a Pentax P30T since 1987 & a Fugi 2800 zoom P&S for the last 4 years, I have decided to go for my first Dslr, namely K10d.
Considered the K1000d but feel that I will grow out of this model quite early.
Having just purchased a Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 Macro (£22 & Tamron 70-300mm Di LD F4-5.6 (£60) & already having a Pentax Ka 50mm F1.7, Sigma Ka 28mm F2.8 Macro, Hannimex M135mm F2.8 Macro, Pentax Ka 28-80mm F3.5-5.6 Macro (P30T kit lense) & a Soligor Ka 80-200mm F3.9-5.6 Macro, I want body only.
A local shop in Newcastle has a K10d with kit lense & DA 50-200mm, but will sell me the body only for £599 as it is a seperate box not a kit box.
My dilema is that it is a display/demo model wich he has had for about a month (looks clean & seems to operate ok). As the only other option to buy body only is to go online, should I go for the shop K10d or go for a unhandled one online (bearing in mind that it is easier to take back if it goes tits up & not much cheaper online with postage etc).

Sorry for the long winded first post but your opinions would be gratefuly appreciated.

Regards Eric.

Welcome to the forum Eric,

Personally, I would not be happy with a camera used for demo's because you never know how it has suffered.

You can buy a new K10D body for the same price from www.srsmicrosystems.com

Regards,

Basically I would snap it up....What do you have to loose, at least you know it works and as soon as you buy a new one you can't sell it as new anyhow. I bought a K10D with 18-55 from U.S. and with sales tax and all that it cost me £ 570, and the concern that if something goes wrong I need to ship back to U.S.

The K10D is a truly great camera, I owned a *ist DS for 2 years that I did grow out of and this is certainly something that will not happen with the K10D! (Concern is whether I can grow into it!!)

Mind you , you could always buy a Nikon and give me all the lenses!!

Enjoy the K10D..

Wow quick friendly response, thanks.

The shop is a pretty quiet one (not in a main shopping area) & seems to concentrate on photo/design proccessing rather than selling cameras and is actually closed on a Saturday (most busy day), so I get the impression that the K10d may not have been handled all that much. If I buy online, whats to say that one hasn`t been used before being packaged.

Again thanks for the replies.

Regards.

Eric.

An usused K10D should be in a sealed box. Mine came shrink wrapped with the box for the lens, so there was no doubt. In any event, you can tell a new camera because the first time you switch it on, and only that time, it asks you to set the date and time.

If it's an ex-demo model, then why not ask for a discount? After all, you can get an unused one for the same price they have quoted!

Welcome to the forum Eric

I will second Mannesty's advice, I bought my K10D from SRS, excelent service.

If you do want to buy local then take Johns advice and ask for a discount. I cant remember mine having shrink wrapping (tho' it was bagged) but it was definately unused as I was asked to set the date as per Johns explanation.

As for lenses you allready have a good line-up, although one of our regulars will probably tell you otherwise , mind you he does suffer with the dreaded LBA

Thanks for the replies guys.

Just wondering have you guys had any problems with your K10d`s, ie:so called banding, flash packing in etc?

Seems Park Cameras do the K10d for £589 & free postage (K100d for £329), not bad.

Thanks again.

Eric

If you want to see how many pics it's taken you should be able to tell from the file number.

Take a photo with it and see what number it allocates.

eg _IPG0996 or 996.DNG means it has taken 996 pics, _IGP0005 or 5.DNG only 5 pics

However if the camera has been re-set this will not be accurate.

Hello again.

Well I`ve gone an done it!

Called back into afforementioned shop to check K10d over for any marks ect, found it to be perfect apart from some smears on LCD screen (wiped and ok).

After asking for a discount, due to the camera being a display/demo model, he said he`d let me have it for £580 & if I found it to be faulty in within a month, I could have a full refund (verbal).
Well my credit card was crying USE ME, USE ME! So I did (would`nt want to upset my credit card or the bank). So now I`m charging the battery and browsing the manual (already read the downloaded one months ago).

Will let you know how I get on with this monster & post some first pics to give you a good laugh at my feeble attempts.

Oh my head hurts.

Eric

We never laugh at anyones pics (not online anyway)