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Pentax K10D / DIWA Awards Review
16. januar 2007 -
Matjaz Intihar, translated by: Joze Sveticic |
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Pentax K10D and the DA 16-45 f/4 ED AL lens
In 2006, Pentax introduced its fair share of surprises. Not only did they announce a cooperation with Samsung, they also introduced the Pentax K100D (e-Fotografija DIWA Awards review) with their proprietary image stabilisation system (SR – Shake Reduction) and to top it off, they also presented the technologically advanced and aggressively priced K10D at Photokina 2006. And to end the year in the headlines, there's been news of a takeover by Hoya. This last event occurred just as film virgins, who have never heard of Pentax before, started realising that Pentax is not an obscure brand.
This last bit of news wasn’t much of a Christmas present for Pentax users. After all, Pentax was the first Japanese company to introduce an SLR, way back in 1952. In addition, they were always an innovative company (see the article on e-Fotografija Pentax history). After about 30 years of relative calm, the "real" photography companies seem to be disappearing, much in the same way as in the 70s, but to a greater extent. There’s no getting around it, digital technology is changing the landscape.
In July, at a Samsung press conference (the Pentax-Samsung cooperation already produced the K100D/K110D), the Samsung GXII was presented, a camera designed for the advanced enthusiasts. At Photokina, the camera could finally be tested. And in December 2006, it finally arrived to the shops. Why finally?
Even before Photokina, in September, Pentax presented an excellent camera at a EUR 1000 price point. Which immediately lead to the question – can they afford to sell it at that price without losing money? The competition’s cameras offered far less for that money. As always when testing a camera, neither the settings nor the image quality nor the price are what matters – it’s the camera's usability that really counts.
Pentax K10D and the D-BG2 Battery Grip
The body
For me personally, a quick assessment of the class the camera is in and its purpose is over in a few seconds. This goes for the Pentax K10D as well. My first impression was the following: This is an excellent camera for a demanding, advanced hobbyist. In other words, people who aren’t afraid of using a few additional settings and parameters to enhance a picture, be it during capture (exposure compensation, metering mode etc.) or during postproduction (sharpening, RAW conversion etc.). Furthermore, they want the most for their money and they’re very much aware of how good Pentax actually is.
The Pentax K10D has a very good grip and ergonomics, including rubber coating. The prominent SR badge is an indicator of the built-in Shake Reduction system.
So, what does the K10D have to offer? As always, brand, dimensions and shape are a matter of personal taste. However, even here, Pentax has more to offer than the competition. While the outer shell is polycarbonate, the internal frame is metal. Furthermore, all vital parts are protected against moisture, dust and small particles. This is something that is usually found in a much higher price bracket. The camera has the dimensions of 141 x 70 x 56 mm, and with a large grip, holding it is very comfortable, almost as comfortable as the Nikon D80. The grip is also large enough to provide support for the little finger, something which makes holding the camera over extended periods far more comfortable. And for those of you who like to do things differently and use your left hand to support the camera, rather then the lens, there's rubber coating on the left side of the camera too, making the grip more secure. At all conceivable points where you might want to hold it, the Pentax K10D’s body is covered in soft rubber, making it pretty hard for it to slip out of your hands on accident.
The K10D is also the first Pentax camera with two additional contacts on the mount, showing support for new lenses that will be introduced in 2007 by Pentax.
A quick glance shows that the camera is intended for maximum control, with loads of buttons and dials to enable swift adjustments to shooting conditions. This immediately shows that the K10D is not an entry-level camera, but rather a camera aimed at the enthusiasts.
Judging by the front of the camera, you wouldn't actually think that. There’s the usual control dial at the top of the grip, which can be customised to adjust shutter time, aperture or exposure compensation, below it is the IR receiver for the wireless release, which is also used as the self-timer indicator light, and to the left of the lens, there's the lens release button. The lens mount is metal, with seven contacts for data transfer to and from the lens. To the left, there’s still the mechanical aperture lever. To the right, however, are the two contacts that are so far unique to the K10D, and which will see use in early 2007, when Pentax releases new lenses. These will not only have electronic aperture control, but will also feature in-lens ultrasonic focusing motors.
For most cameras, to access RAW mode, you need to go to the menu. This takes time. Too much time for most people, so they don’t usually switch between capture format mid-session. However, the Pentax K10D has an ingenious solution – a dedicated button to switch between the modes. For those capable of correctly processing a RAW image, using this button will make it even easier to get the ultimate in image quality.
To the left, there are three buttons. The upper one is used to raise the flash, while in the middle, there’s the RAW toggle button. This is an interesting feature for all those who never used RAW in their camera due to the fact that you had to access it through a menu. When the button is pressed, the K10D switches to RAW+JPEG mode. This is customisable in the menu, as it is possible to set the button to operate as a permanent toggle to RAW+JPEG recording or just capture the next image in RAW+JPEG, then switch back to JPEG. I often used this function to capture test shots in RAW format. After all, RAW format offers better postprocessing possibilities. At the bottom, there’s the AF switch.
All covers are rubber sealed. This helps protect the camera's sensitive innards from moisture, dust and water. This weather protection is a significant part of the camera's usefulness.
Behind the plastic covers with rubber seals, there are plugs for the wired remote, the PC/Video out and the DC input.
The Pentax K10D is capable of using SD HC memory cards. The maximum for HC cards is 32 GB. In other words, a lot.
To the right, there’s the SD/MMC memory card compartment door. The Pentax K10D is compatible with the new SD HC memory cards. Expect a short review of the ATP SD HC Class 6 memory cards shortly.
Simple and elegant. The Pentax K10D has all the settings an advanced photographer requires.
The top of the camera is very neatly laid out. To the left, there’s the mode dial.
First, let me elaborate on the USER setting. In this setting, the user can define their own settings through both the menu and the Fn button, which are absolutely independent of the settings in other capture mode. This means that settings can be saved in advance, perhaps in anticipation of difficult shooting conditions where one has to react quickly. The settings can of course be changed in the menu.
Next is the Green mode, the fully automatic (aka "My cat portrait”) mode, which differs little from the P mode. Also, it retains any settings used in other scene modes. The green mode in the K10D is still quite customisable through menu and Fn settings. For me personally, I prefer having a less customisable basic auto mode. Many inexperienced users actually benefit from less options, since the fully automatic modes are quite capable of delivering a perfectly presentable shot nowadays. This is in stark contrast to the K10D, where the green mode even has the option of different metering mode. This means that if spot metering was used before switching to the green mode, the camera doesn’t switch to evaluative metering, which is surely better suited to the novice user. Also, AF area settings remain in effects, as do tonal corrections, sharpening settings etc. For the inexperienced user, this is rather far removed from a user-friendly, fully automatic mode. Therefore, do get acquainted with the camera. It’s the only way you'll be spared the disappointment of reviewing your first shots and finding that the exposure is completely off, while the focus of your portrait is somewhere on the mountains in the back.
The P mode allows for more adjustments, including exposure compensation, bracketing and use of the green button at the top of the camera. The green button next to the shutter release resets the functions back to the program defaults in case the user shifted the aperture/time combination or applied exposure compensation. There’s also another option in the P mode, accessible through the menu (C). This is described in the menu portion of the review.
Even with their first DSLR cameras (*istD, *istDs, *istDL), Pentax was a strong innovator regarding the menus and capture mode. They introduced another fascinating mode. This is the Sensitivity priority, or the Sv mode. In this mode, the photographer only has to set the desired ISO sensitivity, while the camera chooses the right combination of aperture and shutter time. This is a very exciting possibility for those who wish to explore the additional possibilities unique to digital cameras. In Sv mode, exposure dial behaviour can be modified, so one can be used to set the ISO, while the other one can be used for exposure compensation. The Sv mode is definitely a very welcome addition, as most photographers are quite aware that a higher ISO sensitivity is not really something to be afraid of. Therefore, when the light changes, there’s no need to go to the menu or press the ISO button. A turn of the dial is all it takes to get the desired settings. This in turn of course means better capture.
The Tv, Av and M modes are so well established and vary little, if at all, from camera to camera, so there's no point in describing them in detail. A short summary: Tv is shutter time priority, Av is aperture priority, while M is manual all the way. Of course, Pentax has a few unique options for all these modes through the menus and the Fn button.
In addition to the Sv mode, Pentax added another interesting new development. The TAv mode is basically a traditional manual mode with auto sensitivity. Set your aperture and shutter speeds, and the camera will adjust the ISO sensitivity to ensure proper exposure. The control dials are used to adjust time (front) and aperture (back). The camera then picks a suitable sensitivity from a range defined with the Fn button. There’s the possibility of using a relatively conservative ISO 100-200 range, the more adventurous ISO 200-800 and 400-1600 ranges and the full monty, the ISO 100-1600 range. If you really don’t agree with the camera’s choice of sensitivity, just adjust aperture and shutter time, and you'll get a different sensitivity value.
In addition to all these choices, there’s the B (Bulb) mode, in which the shutter is open for as long as the release is pressed. In this mode, you really should use a remote release in order not to move the camera. The last setting is X, which automatically sets the shutter time to 1/180 s, in other words, the synchronisation time. Despite all the expectations such a button raises, the K10D has no X-sync contact for studio lights.
Then there’s also the metering button. No surprises here, there’s evaluative (16 zone), centre-weighted and spot metering to choose from.
The camera also features a built-in popup flash with a guide number of 11 at ISO 11 and an external flash hot-shoe. Behind the flash, there’s the dioptre adjustment dial.
To the right, there’s big LCD screen, displaying most commonly used settings with large, well-readable icons. It can also be lit in bad conditions by a button at the back of the camera. In order to display the ISO setting, you need to push the OK button.
In front of the LCD screen, there’s a small green button which resets the camera back to the unadulterated P setting in case you accidentally fiddled with exposure compensation or program shift. Further to the right, there’s the large and quite sensitive shutter release, which, if half-pressed, activates the camera and starts focusing. Through the custom settings in the menu, the shutter release can be programmed to also function as exposure lock. By default, only focus is locked, while exposure is locked with the AE-L button at the extreme right. There’s a hard on-off switch around the shutter release, also used as depth-of-field preview, or, should you choose to program it that way in the menu, used to take a test shot that is not recorded to the card. Instead, it is only visible on the rear display, along with all relevant information. There are a number of uses for this option, such as adjusting white balance via the Fn button and evaluating which setting is the best on the test shot. While you could do this with the normal method, it would waste memory card space, and more importantly, deleting images in the camera can quickly lead to file corruption on the card.
Once you get acquainted with the camera, it’s really easy to operate. Using additional settings, improving the final image is child's play. The one button that got on my nerves was the OK button. ISO display in the viewfinder is standard these days. In the most commonly used modes (P, Tv, Av and M), ISO sensitivity is not displayed. In order to see it in the viewfinder or on the LCD screen, you need to press the OK button. However, due to its placement, pressing the OK button is also an excellent way of jamming your thumb up your nose.
The back of the camera is full of buttons. There are 15 altogether. However, they are (with the exception of the aforementioned OK button) placed well, visible and easy to grow used to. Most important of all, they're useful, offering quick access to all main functions. This is exactly what the K10D is all about – offering loads of customisation and control for the demanding amateur who knows how to use these options.
Top left, there’s the bracketing button. The camera is capable of taking 3 or 5 sequential shots in steps of up to +/- 2 EV, adjustable in 1/3 or 1/2 EV intervals. The camera allows for an exposure compensation of +/- 3 EV, and the maximum bracketing is +/- 4EV. So, 5 shots can be taken from -4 EV to +4 EV, if the camera is set to 0 exposure compensation. However, if exposure compensation is set to -3 EV, the bracketing will be from -7 EV to +1 EV.
Then there's the menu button. Most pages of the menu are very easy to comprehend, however, for the C section (custom settings), you really do need either a thorough knowledge of the camera or a lot of experience. The menus will be described on a separate page.
The third button is used for deleting image, then there’s the information display button, which includes basic capture and in-camera processing information, as well as both luminance and RGB histogram. The last button is used to enter the playback mode.
To the right of this row of buttons, there’s a large, 2.5 inch screen with 210,000 pixels. The display is notable for its good contrast and saturation, making it possible to review the pictures in strong sunlight. Above it is a pentaprism viewfinder. The viewfinder is quite good, with a 95% coverage and a magnification of 0.95. The data displayed in the viewfinder is the following:
SR, flash, shutter time, aperture, focus, exposure compensation, flash exposure compensation, AE lock and remaining shots or, in Sv and TAv modes, the ISO sensitivity. In order to see the ISO sensitivity in other modes, the OK button must be pressed. Quite awkward, really. It did bother me, to be quite honest. In the digital era, ISO sensitivity is very much an important parameter. Considering how many interesting settings the K10D has, this oversight sticks out like the proverbial toe that’s been soaked in a lovely bath of hydrochloric acid.
The buttons are large and well made. This goes for the camera, too. Not too large, but very well made.
To the right of the viewfinder, there’s the button used to light the top LCD and adjust exposure compensation. Above it is a control dial, which can be set to adjust aperture or other settings in the menu. In image review mode, it is used to zoom in (up to 20x) or out.
Further to the right, there’s the AE-L button, used to lock exposure or lock captured image so that they cannot be accidentally deleted. Once the AE-L button is pressed, * appears in the viewfinder. It stays on until it's cancelled by pressing the AE-L button again.
Beneath the +/- EV button is the AF button. It can be used to activate the autofocus. If it is held, the focus stays locked, and the shutter release is limited to metering and taking the shot. With this method, shots can be taken more quickly. In the custom settings, manual focus after autofocus can be set. In this case, if the AF button is held, the shutter release is only used for metering and release.
To the left, there's the IR receiver for wireless remote which also serves as a self timer indicator.
Below it, there are three buttons. In the centre, there’s the OK button, used to confirm settings in menu or display ISO on the LCD display or in the viewfinder. Surrounding it is the four-way button, used to choose functions or image review. Surrounding the four-way button is a button used for focus point selection. When I first tested a preproduction camera, this button bothered me. It was very poorly made. Apparently, this wasn’t only my opinion, as the production K10D has a better button. There are three possibilities – using the central point, manual selection of any of the 11 points or Auto, in which case the camera picks one of the nine points and the extreme left and right points are not used. This is another area where Pentax broke new ground. Nine out of the eleven points have cross-type sensors. In layman’s terms, that's almost as nice as ice cream in the Sahara. More technically speaking, they can pick up detail that line sensors would miss and focus on that.
To the lower right of the camera is a LED that blinks when the camera is turned on or off and lights up when data is being written to the memory card. Next to it, there’s a dedicated memory door latch - after all, the K10D is a step above the competition – and the SR (Shake Reduction) button.
By pressing the Fn button, four choices appear. WB, capture mode, ISO and flash.
The available capture modes are single shot, continuous shooting (3 frames per second), self-timer (12 seconds or 2 seconds) and remote release (with an optional 3 second delay.
The K10D has all the main options for white balance adjustment. Then, there are also additional possiblities. Make a test shot by pushing the On-Off lever completely to the right. This isn’t recorded to the card, however, you can access the WB menu through the Fn button and adjust the white balance on the screen. When you're happy with the white balance, just retake the shot in the usual way, and there you have it.
In sensitivity settings, the Auto range can be define. See images above and below.
You can also select the required sensitivity manually. The choice is confirmed with the OK button.
Flash modes. The Pentax K10D has all the usual flash modes - normal synchronisation, slow synchronisation and second curtain synchronisation. The same menu screen is also used to set flash exposure compensation. When working in X mode, the camera is locked to 1/180 s shutter time. In P mode, however, the shutter time can be adjusted, up to the synch time limit of 1/180 s.
And then there’s the Fn button, used to set ISO sensitivity, WB adjustments, flash mode and capture modes. In image review, it’s possible to apply digital filters, DPOF settings or activate a slideshow. If an image was captured in RAW, it can also be processed. In this mode, it’s possible to adjust resolution, compression, WB, ISO, tonality, sharpening, saturation and contrast. In other words, a RAW file can be converted to JPEG.
At the bottom of the camera, there’s a sealed battery compartment latch, contact for the battery grip, which all well protected by a rubber seal (which can be stored in the grip) and a metal tripod socket.
The K10D uses a Li-ion battery. Unfortunately, the capacity indicator was somewhat less than convincing. The battery indicator showed full almost to the last shot. For that reason, a full backup battery is mandatory, or you may well find yourself with an empty battery with little or no notification. Estimating shots per charge is quite difficult. It's very dependent on the lenses used, focusing, SR use and most of all, display use. However, for normal work with SR on, the battery should be good for at least 350 shots.
The camera uses SD memory cards. It is also HC SD compatible. These new cards are faster and allow for a maximum capacity of 32 GB. I received an ATP card for testing. The card is HC SD compliant, and also Class 6 compliant. This means that the card must function at temperatures up to -25 °C, relative humidity of 8% to 85%, strong vibrations and high Gs. A review of the ATP card will be published shortly.
The optional battery grip makes holding the camera easier, and it also incorporates an additional battery. To the right, there’s a slot for the rubber protecting the contacts on the camera.
Inside, there’s space for an additional battery (right), memory card (middle) and remote release (left). Interestingly enough, this configuration doesn’t require removing the battery from the camera.
The small wireless remote release is a very useful accessory. For that reason, storing it in the battery grip makes enormous sense.
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Matjaz Intihar, translated by: Joze Sveticic
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