Pentax K10D Review
Review Date: April 24th 2007
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Image Quality
All of the sample images in this Review were captured using the [10M] 3872 x 2592 pixels, ***Best JPEG setting, producing a file that
is between 2.5-4Mb.
Noise
The Pentax K10D has 6 ISO
settings from 100-1600. The camera handles noise extremely
well throughout the range, with only the fastest speed
of ISO 1600 displaying limited noise and slight blurring
of detail. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise
levels
for
each
ISO
setting.
Sharpening
Here are two 100% crops which have
been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand
image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the
camera images at the default setting are a little soft and
benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe
Photoshop.
Alternatively you can change the in-camera sharpening level
if you don't like the default results.
Chromatic Aberrations
The Pentax K10D handled
chromatic aberrations very well during the review, with
some limited purple fringing present around the edges of
the frame in particularly high-contrast situations. Here
are some 100% crops which show the typical chromatic aberrations
that
you can expect:
File Quality
The Pentax K10D has 3 different file quality settings available, with 10M ***Best
being the highest quality JPEG option. Here are some 100%
crops
which show the quality of the various options, with the file
size shown in brackets.
RAW Format
The Pentax K10D enables users to capture
RAW and JPEG format files. Furthermore, RAW files can be
saved in either the Pentax (PEF) format or the Adobe (DNG)
format. We've provided a few samples for you to download.
Download
Example #1 - PEF
Download
Example #2 - PEF
Download Example #1 - DNG
Download
Example #2 - DNG
Macro
As the Pentax K10D is a digital SLR,
it's the lens that determines how close you can get to the
subject,
not the camera body. The first image shows how close
you can get to the subject (in this case a
compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.
Flash
The flash settings on the Pentax K10D are Flash On, Flash On + Red-eye, Slow-speed
Sync, Slow-speed
Sync + Red-eye, Trailing Curtain Sync and Off. These shots
of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of
1.5m. The shadow at the bottom of the Flash - Wide Angle
shot is caused by the fitted lens hood.
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Auto
Flash - Telephoto (82mm) |
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And here are some portrait shots.
As you can see, neither the Flash On setting or the Flash
On + Red-eye option caused any amount of red-eye.
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Flash
On (100% Crop) |
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Flash On + Red-eye (100% Crop) |
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Night Shot
The Pentax K10D's maximum
shutter speed is 30 seconds and there's also a Bulb mode
for really long exposures, which is great news if you're
interested in night photography. The
shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 30 seconds,
aperture of f/4 at ISO 100. I've included a 100% crop of
the image to show what the quality is like.
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Night
Shot (100% Crop) |
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Anti Shake
The Pentax K10D has an anti-shake mechanism, which allows you to
take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital
cameras. To test this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same
subject with the same settings. The first shot was taken
with anti-shake turned off, the second with it turned on.
Here is a 100% crop of the image to show the results. As
you can see, with anti-shake turned on, the images are much
sharper than with anti-shake turned off. This feature really
does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing a
successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether.
Overall Image Quality
The Pentax K10D produced
images of excellent quality during the review period. This camera produces noise-free images at ISO 100 all the way up to ISO 800,
with only the fastest setting of 1600 showing any appreciable
noise. The
Pentax K10D also dealt very well with chromatic aberrations,
with limited purple
fringing effects appearing only at the edges of the photo
in high contrast situations. Anti-shake is a feature that sets this camera apart from its competitors and
one that works very well when hand-holding the camera in
low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the
zoom range. The built-in flash worked well
indoors,
with
a small amount of red-eye and good overall exposure. The
night photograph was very good, with the maximum shutter
speed of 30 seconds allowing you to capture enough light
in all
situations. Macro performance was OK with the standard
kit lens, but we'd recommend a dedicated macro lens
to get the best results.
The 10 megapixel images were quite soft
straight out of the camera at the default sharpening setting
and ideally require some further sharpening in an application
like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera setting.
Overall a great performance by the K10D.
 PhotographyBLOG
is a member of the DIWA
organisation. Our test results for the Pentax K10D have been submitted to DIWA
for comparison with test results for different samples of
the same camera model supplied by other DIWA
member sites.
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