pentax k10 samsung gx 10

With the pentax k10 no longer in production will the samsung gx 10 offer a good alternative,or better still can anyone who has one offer an opinion please.

It's exactly the same camera so it's a perfect alternative to the k10d - of course there are newer models out now which you might prefer

simon

It's exactly the same mechanically, but there are differences in the software. AFAIR the Samsung does not support PEF files, only DNG, which are not compressed.

That would be enough in itself to put me off.

G

Sorry George but Im not up to speed regarding the different formats of the files can you tell me why this would put you off the camera. As I undrestand your reply it's the photo processing soft ware that is the issue and not the camera itself, or have I miss read your reply.

I have to disagree with George here,

I own the GX10 & just don't see any issue with .DNG. I've seen several poster making similar comments but from my experience any "concerns" are completely unfounded.

It uses a little more memory space but with SD cards/hard drives now very cheap this isn't an issue either

Hopefully George will clarify his "issue"

simon

Well, it's quite simple. DNG files are significantly larger than PEFs. That means you have to have more memory cards, change them more often, and hang around for longer while they download.

When I first got my K10D I tried DNGs. Soon went back to PEFs.

It's not enough to stop me buying a GX10 if no K10D were available. But all else being reasonably equal, I would happily pay a £50.00 premium, if not more, to have PEFs.

G

George,

Whilst I'd agree with your point 2/3 years ago I honestly don't think its relevant now.....

A 4GB Sandisk Extreme III SDHC card costs £17.99 & holds 250 .DNG shots....

I've also read that as the .PEF files are actually compressed the .DNG format has a slight speed advantage in-camera ?

On a PC it doesn't take 4GBs worth of PEF files any shorter time to download than 4GBs worth of .DNG ?

IMHO its not sensible for the OP to base a decision to buy a camera on whether it supports .DNG or .PEF - the features of the K10D & GX10 are identical & both are great cameras, if the OP wanted the K10D but can't source there's no reason for him not to get the GX10, unless of course "badges" are an issue

Simon

The fact that DNGs are larger than PEFs put me off the Samsung.

"Memory is cheap", people say, but it's not so cheap that I'm not still interested in being as efficient with it as I can. You need to think about your hard drive and backup for the hard drive, as well as memory cards.

You may still find a new K10D somewhere. If not, then perhaps a lightly used or refurbished one.

Are the right-hand grips of the bodies the same?

the time it takes to compress the PEF file is so short that it is hardly noticeable.
Maybe you will find that you will notice it when shooting in burst mode.

Since memory is very cheap now it is not really an issue.

Especially if you don't have much hard disk space. I wish it would shoot compressed DNG files.

Then again Lightroom can compress DNG files on import but ti can take ages.

When I tried it with my K10D, the speed advantage of DNG only allowed one extra RAW shot in continous shooting before the buffer filled up.

With Pentax, you have the choice of DNG as well as PEF anyway.

Faulty reasoning here. Obviously 4GB of either will take the same time, but in that 4GB you will have 250 PEFs or 150 DNGs. (Figures right off the top of my head)

I don't disagree. I said: "It's not enough to stop me buying a GX10 if no K10D were available. "

I know memory is cheap, but time costs more than it ever did.

G

DNG files are not compressed, and are therefore much bigger than PEFs, which ARE compressed. When you have to move files around, or archive them, the difference is quite noticeable.

As far as taking pictures is concerned, it's not a problem.

As stated above, this issue wouldn't in any way put me off buying the GX10, which is an excellent camera. But given the choice I would plump for the Pentax.

G

Is this correct? 250 DNG shots?

If so, they must be compressed and about the same size as PEFs, and smaller than the k10D's DNGs. If so I'm wrong in thinking there's an advantage to the K10D regarding file size.

I was slightly out - 241 to be exact. (just checked)

simon