Pentax K100D Super Review
Review Date: April 24th 2007
Author: Gavin Stoker
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Image Quality
All of the sample images in this Review were captured using the [6M] 3008 x 2000 pixels, ***Best JPEG setting, producing a file that is between 2-3Mb.
Noise
The Pentax K100D Super has 5 ISO settings from 200-3200. The Pentax K100D Super handles noise more than adequately given its unpretentious status. Though results at maximum ISO 3200 show visible grain, they're certainly not throwaway. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting.
ISO 200 (100% Crop) |
ISO 400 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 800 (100% Crop) |
ISO 1600 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 3200 (100% Crop) |
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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.
Original
(100% Crop)
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Sharpened (100% Crop) |
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Chromatic Aberrations
As the Pentax K100D Super is a digital SLR, it's the 18-55mm kit lens that determines the amount of chromatic aberrations, not the camera body. There was some very limited purple fringing present around the edges of the frame in particularly high-contrast situations, but overall performance was excellent. Here are some 100% crops which show the typical chromatic aberrations that you can expect:
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Chromatic
Aberrations (100% Crop)
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Chromatic
Aberrations (100% Crop)
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Macro
As the Pentax K100D Super is a digital SLR, it's the 18-55mm kit 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.
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Macro Shot |
Macro Shot (100% Crop) |
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Flash
The flash settings on the Pentax K100D Super are Auto, Flash-On, Flash-Off, Red-eye reduction. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.
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Flash Off - Wide Angle (28mm) |
Auto Flash - Wide Angle (28mm) |
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Flash Off - Telephoto (82mm) |
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 Red-eye reduction option caused any amount of red-eye.
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Flash On |
Flash On (100% Crop) |
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Red-eye reduction |
Red-eye reduction (100% Crop) |
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Night Shot
The Pentax K100D Super'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 1/6 second, aperture of f/4 at ISO 800. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like.
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Night Shot |
Night Shot (100% Crop) |
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Overall Image Quality
Most of us are never going to be shooting with a billboard or even online agency syndication of our shots in mind, and for that reason the vast majority will find the K100D Super's six megapixels more than sufficient. I'd wager you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference in output between this and most of the 10 megapixel consumer DSLRs knocking around. Under 'normal' daylight conditions and of course with the 18-55mm kit lens attached the K100D Super delivers colour-rich, well-saturated images, though this can be further boosted in camera if desired. There's some barrel distortion and edge softness when shooting at maximum wide angle with the kit lens, but this is no better or worse than you'd expect from an amateur model. It also handles noise more than adequately given its unpretentious status. Though results at maximum ISO 3200 show visible grain, they're certainly not throwaway, and while white balance accuracy can vary from shot to shot, it's largely 'on the money' and reliable. Exposure is also evenly and considerately handled, and although there's loss of highlight detail and the occasional burnt out area if shooting in particularly sun-drenched conditions, it's only to the degree you'd expect. Portraits offer just the right degree of softness to be flattering without losing detail to any extent. Overall an impressive showing from the Pentax that goes some way to justifying its 'Super' suffix.
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organisation. Our test results for the Pentax K100D Super have been submitted to DIWA
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the same camera model supplied by other DIWA
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