Impressions of the K100D in Hong Kong

[airconvent]

well, I came back from Hong Kong 1 week ao after putting the camera though its paces. Brought only the Sigma 18-200mm. Left the other lenses and af360 flash at home.

Here are some observations:

1. Yes! Images generally a little too dark so I try to set default for EV +0.3 or +0.7. But I always forget to switch it back when using flash resulting in overexposure. Other than that, always set to the above.

2. The 18-200mm flexibility is really really great! I kept on sweeping from 18-mm to 200mm for all shots and I really appreciate the range.
(the tamron 18-250 would be even better!). But of course, price to pay is the image quality. Don't expect prime lense performance. Its a zoom lens. Images were a little soft, i.e. lacks contrast in some cases.

3. The lens is too slow and hence less effective for action in lower light. I was in the aquarium at Ocean park trying to take pictures of the fishes and jelly fish in the tanks and the camera exposure can be as long as 3-4 seconds! Even the SR could not handle that. When I got back, on hind sight, I believed it would have performed better had I used autopict instead of P mode and I should have set the ISO range from 200-1600 instead of limiting it to 200-800. Another guy has this camera with a huge lens, and seems it is a very fast lens cos he was snapping away with no problems! for my case, the exposures were always long unless I used a flash but that would result in glare from the glass. Next time I go to Sentosa ocean park, I'm going to try the 50mm f/1.4 and set the iso to 200-3200 and see what happens.

Otherwise, apart from these, there was really no urge to change lens since one lens did almost everything.

4. The WB was a pain. I kept on forgetting to set back when I use flash. To get correct colour, I set the WB to the correct lighting but sometimes you forget to set back when back in the light, resulting in odd coloured shots. You have to remember!

Only other problem is my Sanyo rechargeables failed me (charged full at departure but less than half strength after 2 days even when not used) and I ended up with 12 depleted batteries. Luckily can easily buy alkalines to replace..another PLUS point. Now changing to Sanyo Eneloop. Lesser capacity but assured longer charges.

Anyone else has tips to share with their camera?

[look4raymond]

Before you take any picture, remember the digit 3.

3 stands for:
1. White Balance
2. ISO
3. Image Resolution

When the 3 has been properly set, you're good to go!

You can use the acronym W.I.R if that helps u remember better...

[fengwei]

Originally Posted by look4raymond Before you take any picture, remember the digit 3. 3 stands for: 1. White Balance 2. ISO 3. Image Resolution When the 3 has been properly set, you're good to go! You can use the acronym W.I.R if that helps u remember better...

Well, don't need that 3 if you shoot in RAW and set to Auto ISO I'd been shooting in jpg most time but finally found out the beauty of RAW about a month back, and I'd shoot in RAW as much as I can in the future

[fengwei]

Originally Posted by airconvent well, I came back from Hong Kong 1 week ao after putting the camera though its paces. Brought only the Sigma 18-200mm. Left the other lenses and af360 flash at home. Here are some observations: 1. Yes! Images generally a little too dark so I try to set default for EV +0.3 or +0.7. But I always forget to switch it back when using flash resulting in overexposure. Other than that, always set to the above. 2. The 18-200mm flexibility is really really great! I kept on sweeping from 18-mm to 200mm for all shots and I really appreciate the range. (the tamron 18-250 would be even better!). But of course, price to pay is the image quality. Don't expect prime lense performance. Its a zoom lens. Images were a little soft, i.e. lacks contrast in some cases. 3. The lens is too slow and hence less effective for action in lower light. I was in the aquarium at Ocean park trying to take pictures of the fishes and jelly fish in the tanks and the camera exposure can be as long as 3-4 seconds! Even the SR could not handle that. When I got back, on hind sight, I believed it would have performed better had I used autopict instead of P mode and I should have set the ISO range from 200-1600 instead of limiting it to 200-800. Another guy has this camera with a huge lens, and seems it is a very fast lens cos he was snapping away with no problems! for my case, the exposures were always long unless I used a flash but that would result in glare from the glass. Next time I go to Sentosa ocean park, I'm going to try the 50mm f/1.4 and set the iso to 200-3200 and see what happens. Otherwise, apart from these, there was really no urge to change lens since one lens did almost everything. 4. The WB was a pain. I kept on forgetting to set back when I use flash. To get correct colour, I set the WB to the correct lighting but sometimes you forget to set back when back in the light, resulting in odd coloured shots. You have to remember! Only other problem is my Sanyo rechargeables failed me (charged full at departure but less than half strength after 2 days even when not used) and I ended up with 12 depleted batteries. Luckily can easily buy alkalines to replace..another PLUS point. Now changing to Sanyo Eneloop. Lesser capacity but assured longer charges. Anyone else has tips to share with their camera?

Just wonder, where are the photos from HK

[airconvent]

Originally Posted by fengwei Just wonder, where are the photos from HK

Used the K100D to take pictures and the Fuji V10 to take pictures and video...
Total about 4.5Gb but quite alot not good, so deleted them....
will select a few an upload them when I am free....

[airconvent]

Forgot to add another sad story here...
I was at the their "SLS" when I came across the Slik Sprint Pro tripod complete with ball head:

http://www.thkphoto.com/products/slik/slik-ss2.html

It was listed as S$100. I thought it was reasonable since it had a ball head and bought it without bargaining. As I bought other stuff there, I realised I could actually bargain stuff down 40% ! When I came back to Singapore, I realised it was only selling around $70 here....now have to kick myself. Had to clear room in my luggage to squeeze it in, all to pay $30 more!

[airconvent]

Originally Posted by look4raymond Before you take any picture, remember the digit 3. 3 stands for: 1. White Balance 2. ISO 3. Image Resolution When the 3 has been properly set, you're good to go! You can use the acronym W.I.R if that helps u remember better...

agree with fengwei.
Image resolution at max. ISO set to auto. White balance I set according to the lighting unless I am using flash. only problem is sometimes you forget to change it back....then your image becomes blue!

[phantasmal]

Originally Posted by airconvent Forgot to add another sad story here... I was at the their "SLS" when I came across the Slik Sprint Pro tripod complete with ball head: http://www.thkphoto.com/products/slik/slik-ss2.html It was listed as S$100. I thought it was reasonable since it had a ball head and bought it without bargaining. As I bought other stuff there, I realised I could actually bargain stuff down 40% ! When I came back to Singapore, I realised it was only selling around $70 here....now have to kick myself. Had to clear room in my luggage to squeeze it in, all to pay $30 more!

Think shops at the most give ard $85 for the tripod, u sure can get at $70?

[eyespeek]

Originally Posted by airconvent well, I came back from Hong Kong 1 week ao after putting the camera though its paces. Brought only the Sigma 18-200mm. Left the other lenses and af360 flash at home. Here are some observations: 1. Yes! Images generally a little too dark so I try to set default for EV +0.3 or +0.7. But I always forget to switch it back when using flash resulting in overexposure. Other than that, always set to the above. 2. The 18-200mm flexibility is really really great! I kept on sweeping from 18-mm to 200mm for all shots and I really appreciate the range. (the tamron 18-250 would be even better!). But of course, price to pay is the image quality. Don't expect prime lense performance. Its a zoom lens. Images were a little soft, i.e. lacks contrast in some cases. 3. The lens is too slow and hence less effective for action in lower light. I was in the aquarium at Ocean park trying to take pictures of the fishes and jelly fish in the tanks and the camera exposure can be as long as 3-4 seconds! Even the SR could not handle that. When I got back, on hind sight, I believed it would have performed better had I used autopict instead of P mode and I should have set the ISO range from 200-1600 instead of limiting it to 200-800. Another guy has this camera with a huge lens, and seems it is a very fast lens cos he was snapping away with no problems! for my case, the exposures were always long unless I used a flash but that would result in glare from the glass. Next time I go to Sentosa ocean park, I'm going to try the 50mm f/1.4 and set the iso to 200-3200 and see what happens. Otherwise, apart from these, there was really no urge to change lens since one lens did almost everything. 4. The WB was a pain. I kept on forgetting to set back when I use flash. To get correct colour, I set the WB to the correct lighting but sometimes you forget to set back when back in the light, resulting in odd coloured shots. You have to remember! Only other problem is my Sanyo rechargeables failed me (charged full at departure but less than half strength after 2 days even when not used) and I ended up with 12 depleted batteries. Luckily can easily buy alkalines to replace..another PLUS point. Now changing to Sanyo Eneloop. Lesser capacity but assured longer charges. Anyone else has tips to share with their camera?

Thanks for your long review.

Hopefully some one can post one on K10D soon!

[look4raymond]

Originally Posted by airconvent agree with fengwei. Image resolution at max. ISO set to auto. White balance I set according to the lighting unless I am using flash. only problem is sometimes you forget to change it back....then your image becomes blue!

I'm not sure how the new DSLRs works, but if i set 'auto' ISO mode, i make sure that the max ISO will not exceed 800. Anything above this, noise is possible. So imo, u don't need to remember to set the ISO if u can limit the maximum ISO in your camera b4 shooting.

[CSLee]

Originally Posted by look4raymond I'm not sure how the new DSLRs works, but if i set 'auto' ISO mode, i make sure that the max ISO will not exceed 800. Anything above this, noise is possible. So imo, u don't need to remember to set the ISO if u can limit the maximum ISO in your camera b4 shooting.

yes,you can set the minimum and maximum ISO in K10D.
you also can fine tune the White Balance by refer to previous shoot picture.
you can do auto backeting for saturation,sharpeness,contrast also, not just EV.
you can set the shutter speed and aperture and let the ISO in auto mode, (Tav).
or you set the ISO then the shutter speed and aperture in auto mode or P mode, (Sv).
you got faster AF compare to ist D

[airconvent]

Originally Posted by phantasmal Think shops at the most give ard $85 for the tripod, u sure can get at $70?

saw the discussions in the marketplace section in which someone mentioned getting it at this price. so not sure hong kong more expensive or I should have bargained...

[airconvent]

Originally Posted by look4raymond I'm not sure how the new DSLRs works, but if i set 'auto' ISO mode, i make sure that the max ISO will not exceed 800. Anything above this, noise is possible. So imo, u don't need to remember to set the ISO if u can limit the maximum ISO in your camera b4 shooting.

that was the mistake! I set it to 200-800 range. But I was on holiday taking snap shots, not really composing so a little more noise is ok. some more in the darkened aquarium tried to take photos and exposure times are 3-4 sec long! had I set to 1600 or 3200, then maybe it would be faster. If noisy, can always use NeatImage like what feng wei recommended. (I never used this software myself...heh heh)

so my advise if the shutter too long, set to 1600 or 3200 and not be a goondu like me take lots of blurred shots trying to get it right....

[airconvent]

Originally Posted by CSLee yes,you can set the minimum and maximum ISO in K10D. you also can fine tune the White Balance by refer to previous shoot picture. you can do auto backeting for saturation,sharpeness,contrast also, not just EV. you can set the shutter speed and aperture and let the ISO in auto mode, (Tav). or you set the ISO then the shutter speed and aperture in auto mode or P mode, (Sv). you got faster AF compare to ist D

Thanks CSLee. Autobracketing would not help for the dark areas as the longer exposure would result in motion blur and not underexposed images. Also, if all images used autobracket, I would run out of memory card space 1/3 into the holiday!

[look4raymond]

Originally Posted by CSLee you can set the shutter speed and aperture and let the ISO in auto mode, (Tav).

I simply love this mode!

Does the Nikon D80 have this mode too? I read dpreview & i think itz not exactly like the K10D type...

[fengwei]

Originally Posted by look4raymond I simply love this mode! Does the Nikon D80 have this mode too? I read dpreview & i think itz not exactly like the K10D type...

Well, the N D80 has some nice features too, like built-in wireless flash (similar to *istD), faster highest flash sync speed (200 vs K10D's 180), built-in auto-focus assist lamp, more responsive, smaller and lighter, and not to say easily available Nikon lenses

I'd say it again, I'd get a Nikon D80 if I didn't have these Pentax lenses yet ...

[look4raymond]

Originally Posted by fengwei Well, the N D80 has some nice features too, like built-in wireless flash (similar to *istD), faster highest flash sync speed (200 vs K10D's 180), built-in auto-focus assist lamp, more responsive, smaller and lighter, and not to say easily available Nikon lenses I'd say it again, I'd get a Nikon D80 if I didn't have these Pentax lenses yet ...

Hehe, actually i have more or less decided to get the D80 liaoz.
I'm just extremely curious on how the K10D would feel in my hand...
I need to "feel" my camera in order to love it!

Now, if only i will get my bonus tomorrow... zzz...

[dnaxe]

Originally Posted by fengwei Well, the N D80 has some nice features too, like built-in wireless flash (similar to *istD), faster highest flash sync speed (200 vs K10D's 180), built-in auto-focus assist lamp, more responsive, smaller and lighter, and not to say easily available Nikon lenses I'd say it again, I'd get a Nikon D80 if I didn't have these Pentax lenses yet ...

You don't think SR is a worthwhile feature?

[fengwei]

Originally Posted by dnaxe You don't think SR is a worthwhile feature?

Of course it is, but Nikon's VR lenses are quite nice too, if you can affor them


To me, I'll stick w/ Pentax, at least for now

[look4raymond]

Originally Posted by fengwei Well, the N D80 has some nice features too, like built-in wireless flash (similar to *istD), faster highest flash sync speed (200 vs K10D's 180), built-in auto-focus assist lamp, more responsive, smaller and lighter, and not to say easily available Nikon lenses

You mean the K10D has none of the features you highlight above?
The ability to control remote flashes wirelessly from the body is a big advantage, if K10D don't have, that makes my decision simpler.. the K10D is less responsive?

Maybe i should wait for Phil Askey to make his review.