K10D or.......

Possibly not the first time it's been asked but the question on my lips if nobody elses is: what's the difference between the K10D and GX10 that justifies the increased price for the Pentax?

I'm an *ist DS user looking to upgrade. I have a Pentax 18-55 smc from my *ist along side a pair of Sigmas, to 70-300 APO and the 14mm f2.8.

At the moment Warehouse Express are offering the GX10 + 18-55 + 50-200 for £599. The K10D + 18-55 is the same price.

The reviews suggest there's nothing to separate them and logic dictates I opt for the GX-10 and sell the 50-200 for £100ish, but there's something inside me saying 'buy Pentax'!?!?!

Any opinions?

PS. The reason I'd sell the 50-200 is that my girlfriend might take over my *ist and therefore a 2nd 18-55 would make sense....

I could only really repeat what I've already said on the AP forum.

I really do think the Pentax will hold its value better, so when upgrade time comes along then you might be better placed.

Otherwise, just buy what you're happiest with and expect superb results from both options.

I don't think you'll sell a Samsung 50-200mm for £100 though. Curry's were offering them recently for £29.95 and I got a Pentax one from Tecno for around £120. Don't forget also that it won't cover the 35mm format as it's a digital-only lens.

John,

silverback was referring to an *ist DS......so DA's will be fine. But if he does have a film camera lurking somewhere your point will be applicable

Peter

The Pentax glass is more expensive because of SMC, the Samsung lenses don't undergo this process.

Do you have documentary evidence that this is true?

Does anybody have both a Pentax and Samsung branded version of the same lens to compare?

Well, Pentax Lenses are marked SMC, the Samsung ones have no mention of any coating on them.

Let me see if I can get a PDF of the manual or other information. I doubt Pentax would coat the Samsung lenses and brand them Schneider...



Well the manuals mention no coating at all, where as the Pentax website mentions coating. £200 price difference is rather large and that is one of the few things I can think would be different and are not mentioned on both.

[quote="Mannesty"]Nobody seems to know for sure if the lenses are identical or not!?!?

Even though my 'head' says the Samsung is better value (longer warranty, extra lens), my heart is swaying me towards the K10D!?!?

I read on another forum that someone asked Samsung if the K10D battery grip fitted the GX10 and they were told it did.....

[quote="chiefsilverback"]The cameras are the same, but they appear to have slightly different firmware, and Pentax seem to update theirs more regularly.

This is important. Pentax have added wireless flash support and tethered operation in this way. I don't know if these have been added to the Samsung yet.

I suspect you are more likely to get good after-sales support for a Pentax camera, which can be bought from specialist photo-retailers, whereas the Samsung seems to be sold by people who flog washing machines.

As my K10D appears to have a fault, I am glad I bought it from a helpful and knowledgeable specialist, rather than from Currys.

G

Amazingly they have
But it took a while...

And I agree about the after sales support
Matt

And apart from anything else Samsung sponsor Chelsea .

Seriously I have been looking at the Samsung as well. I am still dithering but am quite happy with the Ds for now. I think I will wait until the future of Pentax cameras becomes clearer before I take the plunge..

I think that even if Pentax stopped camera production today (and I hope that's not tempting fate), third party support for their products would continue for years to come as there will still be a substantial enough number of existing users for companies like Sigma etc to warrant it. If that support were to stop, there is still a huge number of second user Pentax items changing hands regularly.

If Hoya do decide to ditch the brand, I'm sure it would be saleable, and would therefore continue . . . as Samsung?, maybe.

I'm equally certain that the Samsung firmware design is led by Pentax and the delays in updates to the Samsungesque K10D are probably a marketing issue in that Pentax probably don't release the technical data to Samsung until after it's been released to Pentax users.

I'm sticking with Pentax, even if I could never buy another new camera body. I have all that I need and to switch brands would be prohibitively expensive for me, and most other amateurs I would guess. The divorce lawyers would be rubbing their hands if we did switch though .

my experience of Samsung aftersales has always been poor, whereas my experience of Pentax aftersales has always been good.

I am willing to pay the extra for the after sales service. I do wish someone somewhere could confirm whether or not the Sammy lenses have SMC coatings though, because if there's a decent price difference and the coatings are good then I might be convinced to swallow my pride and buy a Samsung badged 50-135 F2. 8 (damn I want that lens!)

Don't think the Samsung has support for tethered shooting yet. Although it's firmware version is 1.20, there's no mention of a 'Remote Assistant' type of thing. Has all the other enhancements though (wireless flash, extra e-dial functions, etc).

No mention of any coatings at all on the Samsung website. Doesn't even come up in a search. I would have thought if the Samsung lenses had an SMC equivalent, they would be marked as such, although the abbreviation would be different - MFC? (Many Fantastic Coatings)

Dan

Surely the Samsung lenses MUST be coated in some way, even if it's just plain old fashioned multi-coating with a couple of layers.

The 50-200 is a 10 group lens, if it were uncoated then it would pass only ~66% of the light compared to 98% with SMC. The Samsung versions would be best part of a full stop slower at the same F-stop not to mention the level of flare and ghosting you'd get. Inept as reviewers often are SOMEONE would have noticed.

I agree that if these lenses were packing the best coating system in the world (with the exception of SMC Ghostless of course) then it would seem odd that Sammy don't shout from the rooftops about it

Is it likely that they would want to ‘differentiate’ the brands, Samsung aiming at the consumer market and Pentax the amateur/pro market. This would allow them to justify the price difference. Whether or not it’s nothing more than a marketing ploy is another argument altogether.
But if that is the case I doubt Samsung would release re-branded versions of the DA* lenses.