K10D decision

6 months on, and I'm still loving the K10d. The only flaw is the metering, but I find I prefer the slightly bigger body to the K7 - which I found the controls fiddly on although it felt nice in the hand. It's worse than the K7 at high ISOs, but takes shadow levels adjustment a lot better, I find....

There'll come a time when I upgrade, but I'm thinking I might prefer the more rounded shape of the K50/500 than one of the K5 variants. A K10 style camera would be even better!

The K20D might be the logical upgrade for you. I still use a K20D for product shots.

I still use my K10D as well as my K5

Yes my K5 is brilliant and far more capable than I am but the K10 has a certain something about it - not just the handling

Those in the know have kept their K10D's or have acquired one. All brands of digital camera are effectively electronically tweaked types of film. Even the Pentax models differ. Both my istD and K10 have a look that is better than my K7. Forget pixel peeping and sharpness/detail fluff, there is a lot more going on.

Just as some had a preference for a specific film, I find its the same for me with a digital body. My film bodies are never "confined" to a look.

I am sure that people are starting to realise that some bodies stand out and there are plenty of examples outside of the Pentax marque that show this.

Best regards

You can change the look by adjusting the in-camera parameters and by using post processing.

I think the differences you are seeing are just down to gradual improvements in the sensors and the in-camera processing. Whilst I would use the K20D in preference in terms of handling, the K-5 is better in terms of results.

I agree that there are subtle differences between cameras. I prefer K10D images to those of the K20D, although the latter is a more capable camera.

And I haven't felt the need to upgrade to a later model. The K10D and K20D are "good enough" if you don't feel a particular need for high ISO or high frame rates. A significant improvement in focussing would tempt me, though.

G

For me the K10(+Grip) fits my big daft hands better than the K5, An ideal would be the IIs gizzards in a K10 body. I still pick up my K10 and take few shots just to make sure she's still ok. My youngest takes it out sometimes when we go for a mooch. I love working on the images he gets from it, shots under iso400 from the 10 have that "something" about them.

Interesting reading. With my K10D I did find the 1600 ISO and 800 ISO using same aperture and shutter speed and adjusting in Photoshop RAW seemed to give same results so I have considered 800 ISO as the max. A problem for woodland photos. I have an old Vivitar 3500 with Pentax base which has one contact less then camera so not fully dedicated. I also have an old flash gun high voltage on hot shoe with a unit which allows it to be used as a repeater flash.

With the old Vivitar I can use both flash guns which allows small aperture and all round lighting for close-up work. I use bendy leg tripod to hold second flash.

However try as I will I can't use inbuilt flash with second flash gun. It always seems to trigger the second flash too early I would assume with some pre-flash used to focus or something. Tried turning off anti-red eye with no avail.

I would have loved to have used built in flash but stuck with hot shoe for double flash work.

The Vivitar 3500 is very heavy on the two AA cells it uses and I have to select 2 x 2500mAh NiMh batteries using non rechargeable or small 700mAh NiCad batteries wait an age to recharge and only get around a dozen flashes.

So not impressed using K10D for flash but likely due to using old stuff.

As to focus the Nikon uses so much battery I would prefer to keep with K10D may be slower to focus but not swapping batteries all the time.

I would have liked live view which is good for focus I think if I change camera I would not get another SLR just can't see the point of using a mirror. Next likely a compact, like the idea of four thirds cameras.

Eric

Why don't you get a cheap radio trigger to fire your flashes?

Wireless-Flash-Trigger-2Receivers-16-Ch-for-Canon-Nikon-Pentax-Olympus-Radio

I have been using these intensively recently - you can read about my set up here: first-shoot-with-my-penny-pinching-strobist-set-up

Alternatively, get the SY-5 type optical slave trigger, which can ignore the pre-flash.

As to your flashes, try Ebeloop rechargeable Nimhs, which hold their charge longer (even though the official capacity is lower - they are 'low discharge' and do not lose power when not in use). And think about replacing them with units that take four batteries rather than two. Minolta AF4000 flashes are excellent and cheap. New Yongnuo flash units are also very good, and great value for what they do.

Re going mirrorless, yes it seems a good idea but in practice raising the camera to your eye and getting an (optical) TTL view is much nicer than a screen or electronic viewfinder. Cameras like the K30/K50 offer best of both worlds, as the Liveview is very well implemented, and they also have excellent optical viewfinders (100%, x.92). The focus peaking is better implemented on Sony NEX though, which is why I plan on running both systems!

Don't fancy getting involved with the 2x crop factor on MFT though. And currently they don't have focus peaking, which I find vitally useful on my NEX and which I look forward to using on the second hand K30 I'll be receiving soon!

Coming late to this discussion. My K10 produces good quality images and I generally use it with manual lenses. As previously mentioned the old type sensor produces excellent smooth images up to iso 400.

Regards

Yes, I still have my K10D and Samsung GX10. I'd like better high ISO performance, but can't justify upgrading. I'll wait until one breaks.

Fascinating thread. Go back two generations to the K10D and it was bigger and heavier than the K-5/K-7; go back three to the *istD series and they were smaller and lighter than the K-5/K-7!

I have a K-5 and a *istDS and use both (mainly the K-5) and have no trouble with the small bodies even though I have hands like bunches of bananas. They both just feel so good in the hands - the famed Pentax ergonomics. But then in my film days, I used (and still occasionally do use) a MX which is absolutely titchy - and yet still felt great in my bananas, er hands.

We're due a new chunky model I think (maybe with a FF sensor inside to justify the slight size increase!)

The K10D is not massive, but being slightly larger means the buttons and switches are a bit easier to use. I always found the metering mode dial quite painful to use on the K7.

I prefer the K30 ergonomics to the K7/5 though!

IMO
cmos did not overtake ccd for low iso shooting till kx/k5 so its no wonder people with k20d or k7's keep their k10d's .

up-to iso200 the k10d offers higher IQ than both those cameras.