Pentax K100D and K110D

ziggy53

Anybody see the announcement about the Pentax K100D and K110D cameras?

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0605/06052205pentaxk100d.asp

Most notably, the K100D has chip based IS, and the body will mate with almost any Pentax K mount lens. I kept my Pentax screwmount and K mount lenses, and I even have a fairly decent copy of an early Vivitar K mount zoom75-200mm, with autofocus built-in.

I probably won't do it, because money is kinda tight, but maybe, someday.:rolleyes

ziggy53 (dreaming again)

erich6

I saw the announcement. I figured anyone with a decent Pentax lens collection would be snatching one of these puppies. Otherwise I'm not so sure....

Erich

colourbox

That's sure a nice naming trick they did. They know full well that a camera name with a close resemblance to the name of the first camera of thousands of photographers (Pentax K1000) would strike a nostalgic chord worldwide. "Pentax K100D"...it made me look!

ziggy53

The reviews are starting to come in for the Pentax K100D, and it looks like a mixed bag of good and not-so-good (but nothing too bad).

So far, I am seeing a concensus that the builtin IS (Shake Reduction) system is the real deal and gives 2-3 stops of stabilization. That is very good news, especially at this price point.

You also get spot metering and decent exposure systems and ISO 3200 (noisy).

Unfortunately, ISO 200 is the slowest/finest ISO available. There also appears to be a little more than normal lag in focus speed and in shutter actuation. Add to this a small buffer (3 RAW) and not-so-hot FPS (2.6), and this is not probably a good sports/action camera. 6 MPix is also fairly low, but enough for most applications.

I may have to go see one of these beasties for myself, but it looks like probably not enough good stuff to outweigh the minor problems to prompt a purchase.

http://www.digitalcamerareview.com/default.asp?newsID=2863&review=pentax+k100d
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/pentax/k100d-review/index.shtml

ziggy53

Andy

I miss my old Pentax K1000

Red Bull

^I have one.:D But I use it.

This excites me. I know I probably won't have the money for it, but I have some old manual K mount lenses for the K1000 (I also have an ME Super). It would be neat to be able to use those on a digital!

Khaos

Andy wrote:

I miss my old Pentax K1000

I sold mine when I bought my 20D. I had the 50 prime with it and a 70-200. It was a nice, fun, camera.

colourbox

I remember paying no more than $100 for a new K1000 body. As dSLR technology matures, then several years from now, it would be interesting to see a company market a basic, rugged dSLR body with a quality sensor and anti-shake at $100. That would be a true replacement for the K1000.

gtc

digital spotmatic sp
i have a spotmatic and would buy a ten mp one if they could approximate its solid build , beautiful design (the pentaprism ...ahhhh),and construction.plus give it a spotmeter...

good to see ziggy sticking with canon.

claudermilk

Andy wrote:

I miss my old Pentax K1000

KEH has you covered, several of those for under $200.

ziggy53

colourbox wrote:

I remember paying no more than $100 for a new K1000 body. As dSLR technology matures, then several years from now, it would be interesting to see a company market a basic, rugged dSLR body with a quality sensor and anti-shake at $100. That would be a true replacement for the K1000.

You are kidding, right?

The K1000 ceased production in 1997. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentax_K1000)

Based on the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis inflation calculator, $100 USD in 1997 would be around $126 now.

http://minneapolisfed.org/research/data/us/calc/

A roll of film and processing costs between $15-20, depending on the type of film and level of service for processing. (Much more for good film and professional processing.)

Since you can purchase a brand new Pentax *ist DL for $450 from B and H (with kit lens, after rebate), break-even cost comes at around 21 rolls of film. (... and yes, 6 MP digital really does roughly equate to a film 35mm camera image, based on my own tests with both optical printing and scanning of film.)

Since the K100D has image stabilization, motor winder (well, kinda) and instant gratification, it is a bargain at $630. This is the lowest priced image stabilized system on the planet that allows interchangeable lenses.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=438218&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

BTW, I shot almost 500 images at my son's football game last Friday. Care to guess how many rolls of film that equates too? Since I use a Canon dRebel XT, I will probably be happy when the season is over so the poor shutter mechanism can cool off (assuming the camera still operates of course).

Am I complaining? Not on your life. I will have fond memories of my son and his friends for years to come. How can anyone put a price on that? (My son is a senior this year and he is a "center" for the team, and often plays both defensive and offensive positions.)

ziggy53

colourbox

Actually, I'm not kidding. I was assuming that digital cameras would follow the DVD Player Price Trajectory ($1000 in the early 80's, $40 at the corner drugstore by 2006).

But your reasoning is very sound and reminded me that I didn't take the whole digital vs. film cost into account. Just yesterday I was out shooting and taking multiple versions of shots that I would not have done with film, and I've learned a lot more a lot faster than I did with film. The feature sets keep going up and the price points keep plummeting.

One of the reasons the K1000 was such a bargain for me is that I wasn't wary of needing to replace it before I replaced my car. The K1000 was my SLR body for over 15 years before I got a Nikon. Yet on this forum we already see people wondering whether to replace their XTs with XTis. I've only owned my XT for a year! I am not a pro, so I bought the XT as a 5-year camera, not a 15-year camera like the K1000, so that has to be factored in to the total cost of ownership. We still come out ahead with our XTs though.

I'll amend my post slightly. While digital has already given us a wonderful bargain compared to film, if trends continue I'm sure someone will offer a great $100 dSLR body in the future. We won't need to ask for it, it will just happen. :

gtc

ziggy wants one
once a pentax shooter,always a pentax shooter-hey! i could be in advertising..