Pentax K100D Review

October 18, 2006
 

Like a number of people of a certain age, my first 35mm SLR was a Pentax K1000. The main attraction was price. Being new to photography I didn't know about the various makes and who thought which camera or lens was better. The K1000 and three Pentax lenses I owned worked for me and that was all that mattered. The camera was basic and durable and I used it for years. Even after switching to Nikon, I still had a fondness for my old Pentax camera.

Pentax K100D and Pentax K1000

I've always liked existing light photography especially in low light situations. Back in my K1000 days I often photographed with Ilford XP1 since it could be used at high ISO speeds. When one of my students at the art center brought a Konica-Minolta 5D to class, I was intrigued and impressed with the sensor shift technology built into the body and the possibilities it offered. So much so that I considered buying one but the Sony announcement caused me to wait and see what the future held. When the Pentax K100D was announced, I was very interested. Why the Pentax and not the Sony Alpha A100? Outside of my history with Pentax equipment, the big reason is prime lenses. Most camera companies revamp or introduce a prime lens once in a blue moon and the event is even rarer for lenses designed specifically for digital SLRs. Pentax now offers three prime lenses designed for their DSLRs to say nothing of Pentax's other prime lenses, some of which are highly regarded. The combination of these primes and the K100D's shake reduction seemed too good to pass up.

Likes and Dislikes

My initial impressions of the camera are mixed. The K100D is small but not in a bad way and I can comfortably handle the camera. The placement of controls works for me and I have no major complaints save for one. The camera allows you to assign the OK button to be a focus lock but the placement of the OK button is not well suited to this task. A better choice would be the option of assigning focus lock (and focus lock alone) to the AE-L button since that location is more thumb-friendly.

The depth-of-field (DOF) preview control is nicely implemented and it seems a better solution than any other camera I've used. To operate, simply pull the OFF/ON switch to the right with your index finger. No fumbling around the front of the camera for the button. A menu option lets you select whether or not you want a LCD DOF preview or viewfinder DOF preview. I opted for the latter. It is nice to see DOF preview in an entry-level camera.

Wall detail. FA 31mm f/1.8 Limited. ISO 400, 1/400 sec at f/2.5, +.3 EV. PEF file processed in Adobe Lightroom.

The button combinations required to change White Balance and ISO are somewhat cumbersome. There are no dedicated buttons for these as sometimes found on other cameras. Instead you press the Function (Fn) button which displays a menu on the rear LCD. The arrow keys allow you to change four items, two of which are White Balance and ISO. Once you get used to it, changing these are quick operations but some people may prefer dedicated buttons for these settings. One advantage, though, to the K100D's approach is larger icons along with descriptions for White Balance choices, as opposed to tiny LCD icons found on other cameras.

The rear LCD menu system on the K100D is functional but not nearly as polished or attractive as what you find on current offerings from Canon or Nikon. The LCD also displays images that appear too bright and vivid. The brightness can be adjusted somewhat but no combination of settings I tried helped much with the vividness. I never expect the LCD image to be accurate in color but the K100D seems a bit too much. This decision may be related to the entry-level target audience where overly colorful images can play into buying decisions. I can't say if this color also shows up in JPEG files since I always photograph in raw. The camera does offer setting adjustments for Image Tone, Saturation, and Contrast.

One of the control options I like best is the choice over the initial zoom amount when reviewing images. On other cameras I've used, I have to turn a wheel or press a button multiple times until I get to a magnification level sufficient to judge focus and sharpness. With the K100D, you have the option of setting the magnification wheel to immediately jump to one of several presets. With one turn of the wheel I am at that magnification level. Very handy and a great idea.

While the camera does not have a dedicated mirror lock-up feature, you can achieve the same through the use of the 2 second self-timer. The mirror flips up at the start of timer countdown and camera vibration should have subsided by the time the shutter opens. Another nice touch on an entry-level camera.

Graffiti art. DA 16-45mm f/4 at 18mm. ISO 800, 1/200 sec at f/8, +1 EV. PEF file processed in Adobe Lightroom.

For those of you looking for a quiet camera, this is not it. It is up to you whether you find the shutter noise objectionable. I was surprised when my wife said she likes the sound it makes. It reminds her of older cameras and she finds that pleasing.

As far as metering, the camera seems to favor underexposure which may be by design given the entry-level market the camera is aimed it. I check the histogram more often with this camera than I do with my Nikons. However, that could be related to a given camera's exposure bias that I am not yet familiar with.

The camera does not support automatic image rotation. You have the option to manually rotate an image during image review. If you rotate an image in this manner, the orientation is detected by software. However, rotating images on the camera is a tedious affair.

Battery life seems good if you use rechargeable NiMH batteries. Alkalines don't last nearly as long.

The software that comes with the camera is adequate. I briefly tried Pentax Photo Library, the raw processor, but was not impressed. Raw processors from Adobe and Phase One are clearly superior in usability if not overall image quality. Capture One is my current raw processor of choice but it does not yet support the K100D. Instead I'm using the beta version of Adobe Camera Raw 3.6 and Adobe Lightroom Beta 4. Of these two, Lightroom is my favorite.

Shake Reduction, ISO Performance and Image Quality

The main reason I bought the K100D was for the shake reduction (SR) technology and I was eager to see how it would work. I'm pleased to report that it works very well. I was hoping for a stop or two improvement in handheld shutter speed and, on average, that seems to be what I'm getting. I've been able to photograph with a 50mm lens as slow as 1/8 second. Not all photos at that speed are sharp but some are. In brighter conditions, shutter speeds in the 1/15 to 1/30 second range for focal lengths from 30 to 50mm are often good to excellent. I'm not the steadiest of photographers so this is a definite improvement. I'm also using the old 35mm film rule-of-thumb for the slow shutter speed limit which is the reciprocal of the lens focal length. In the case of a 50mm lens, this is 1/50 second.

SR example. FA 50mm f/1.4. ISO 3200, 1/8 sec at f/2.8, +.7 EV. Typical indoor tungsten lighting.   SR example 100% crop. PEF file processed in Adobe Lightroom with default Sharpen and De-noise values.

High ISO performance is surprisingly good. Compared to my Nikon D70, I see better shadow noise performance at ISO 800 and 1600 with the Pentax. Images at ISO 800 with the K100D are quite good and ISO 1600 is certainly usable. Even ISO 3200 can render a decent image. Either there is less noise compared to the D70 or the noise pattern is more pleasing to me. One way or another, I like it.

Other elements of image quality are about on par with the Nikon D70. Both cameras reportedly use the same CCD sensor. The anti-aliasing filter appears to be weak on the K100D which can result in moire patterns in some images. The same is true with the D70. The benefit, though, is a sharper image.

Final Thoughts

My desires in a camera are usually not met by an entry-level model. While the K100D may lack some of the niceties found in more upscale models, it mainly covers the basics — and then some — quite well. In the features I was most inerested in, it does very well indeed. The combination of shake reduction, high ISO performance, and prime lenses give me a level of existing light freedom I never had with another camera. Couple that with its small size and it becomes just about the perfect go-anywhere DSLR. In the roughly three weeks I've had this camera, it has become that for me. I take it with me more often that any other camera I've owned. In short, I find the K100D to be fun and even a bit liberating.

Updates and Corrections

November 2, 2006: Added missing word in section talking about image rotation. This camera does not support automatic image rotation. Also, the more I use the Fn button to change ISO, the more I like it because I can make the change with one hand — the same hand I use to hold the camera.