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.
ISO 100 (100% Crop) |
ISO 200 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 400 (100% Crop) |
ISO 800 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 1600 (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) |
Sharpened (100% Crop) |
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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:
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Chromatic
Aberrations (100% Crop) |
Chromatic
Aberrations (100% Crop) |
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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.
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10M
***Best (3.60Mb) (100% Crop) |
10M
**Better (2.11Mb) (100% Crop) |
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10M
*Good (1.06Mb) (100% Crop) |
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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.
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Macro Shot |
Macro Shot (100% Crop) |
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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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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 Flash On + Red-eye option caused any amount of red-eye.
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Flash On |
Flash On (100% Crop) |
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Flash On + Red-eye |
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 |
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.
| Shutter Speed / Focal Length |
Anti-Shake Off (100% Crop) |
Anti-Shake On (100% Crop) |
| 1/10th sec / 82mm |
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| 1/4th sec / 82mm |  |
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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.
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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.