K100D vs K100D Super vs K200D


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airconvent

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Apr 12, 2005
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mmm...I can see all the excitement is on the K20D because that's Pentax forward Vanguard against their dynamic competition but for those looking to upgrade their K100D, is there any compelling need to do so?
Megapixels apart, instead of just improvements to technical specs, is the sensor in the K200D better in terms of image quality and colour? Will the jpgs be good and not frowned on like in the K10D? Anyone came across and article that discusses this in detail yet?
Why would you want to upgrade from 100 to 200?

:)
 

Not sure if there is a change in IQ, probably not. But the optional battery grip and weather sealing in the K200D makes it more attractive.


mmm...I can see all the excitement is on the K20D because that's Pentax forward Vanguard against their dynamic competition but for those looking to upgrade their K100D, is there any compelling need to do so?
Megapixels apart, instead of just improvements to technical specs, is the sensor in the K200D better in terms of image quality and colour? Will the jpgs be good and not frowned on like in the K10D? Anyone came across and article that discusses this in detail yet?
Why would you want to upgrade from 100 to 200?

:)
 

I will stay put with K100D.

Reason: 1)No money :cry: 2)Would like to expand my lens collection 3)If I really really have the money, I would go for K20D :)
 

To me...at the fundamental level, I want improvements to the camera's core capabilities.
i.e. it must take a better picture. Those stuff like battery grip, weather sealing, super fast AF are all good-to-have add ons. I know some special needs people (eg sports, etc) will salivate over some of these features but logically, if a camera cannot improve on image quality, then there is no real need to upgrade.
Its like a singer. Dancing better and dressing better adds to the experience but in the end, it is her voice that must improve because first and foremost, she is a singer, not a dancer or fashion model.

In the case of the K200D, the raw image would be noiser because its more megapixels in the same ccd area. Has the dynamic range of the CCD improved resulting in better images...that is the question. If the answer is more or less similar to K100D but wow, what nice add on features, then I will likely give it a pass and consider the K20D as the next upgrade...:)
 

i think one of the main advantage of the k200d over the k100d normal/super is the battery life, 1000+ shots compared to the usual 300-400 that i'm getting from my eneloops.. at least as touted, i don't use flash anyways.

other than that, personally i think k200d is for new-to-pentax users, it is a all-new package which offers a lot, a lot more bang for buck than the k100d even did when it was released, indeed a new value-for-money standard with entry level dslr with weather sealing, a lot of pro functions, etc. there is also, if i'm not wrong, option for iso100, there were times when i did wish that my k100d had iso100 so that can lengthen exposures without having to use too small apertures.

otherwise, i seriously doubt most k100d current users would want to move up to k200d, because it isn't exactly an update, it's more of a shift to k10d while retaining some of the more "user-friendly" for "new to photography" features. also as mentioned, the noise levels would by logical deduction not be as pristine as that of the k100d.

the k20d is a whole new ball-game from test pictures and paper specifications though. for me, i think i'm gunning for that one. :)
 

i think one of the main advantage of the k200d over the k100d normal/super is the battery life, 1000+ shots compared to the usual 300-400 that i'm getting from my eneloops.. at least as touted, i don't use flash anyways.

other than that, personally i think k200d is for new-to-pentax users, it is a all-new package which offers a lot, a lot more bang for buck than the k100d even did when it was released, indeed a new value-for-money standard with entry level dslr with weather sealing, a lot of pro functions, etc. there is also, if i'm not wrong, option for iso100, there were times when i did wish that my k100d had iso100 so that can lengthen exposures without having to use too small apertures.

otherwise, i seriously doubt most k100d current users would want to move up to k200d, because it isn't exactly an update, it's more of a shift to k10d while retaining some of the more "user-friendly" for "new to photography" features. also as mentioned, the noise levels would by logical deduction not be as pristine as that of the k100d.

the k20d is a whole new ball-game from test pictures and paper specifications though. for me, i think i'm gunning for that one. :)

that's what I am talking about. Battery life for the K100D is pretty decent. That's not considered a "must have". Instead, I have leveraging on the K200D inheriting the good features of the K10D while the K10D target spot is now upgraded to the K20D...
 

that's what I am talking about. Battery life for the K100D is pretty decent. That's not considered a "must have". Instead, I have leveraging on the K200D inheriting the good features of the K10D while the K10D target spot is now upgraded to the K20D...

i can understand why they want to build on the k10d's success though, it did receive a lot more acclaim and recognition than the k100d.

personally, i think it's a matter of the misguided megapixel race. i mean, like it or not, even p&s usually has more than 6 megapixels.. but consumers don't see that, hence reviewers are hard-pressed to move up to beyond 6 megapixels. otherwise, i'm sure the k100d deserves a lot of applause too.
 

To me...at the fundamental level, I want improvements to the camera's core capabilities.
i.e. it must take a better picture. Those stuff like battery grip, weather sealing, super fast AF are all good-to-have add ons. I know some special needs people (eg sports, etc) will salivate over some of these features but logically, if a camera cannot improve on image quality, then there is no real need to upgrade.
Its like a singer. Dancing better and dressing better adds to the experience but in the end, it is her voice that must improve because first and foremost, she is a singer, not a dancer or fashion model.

In the case of the K200D, the raw image would be noiser because its more megapixels in the same ccd area. Has the dynamic range of the CCD improved resulting in better images...that is the question. If the answer is more or less similar to K100D but wow, what nice add on features, then I will likely give it a pass and consider the K20D as the next upgrade...:)


I like the way you think :) Ok I'm also a K100D owner, I love this camera and also would like to step up, my wife has her eye on my present model, which makes things easier for me ;)
I like the weather-sealing but thats no anywhere near a clincher for me. I've handled the K10D and its quite quite a bit larger to hold. I'm comfortable with the size and ergonomics of the K100D. I understand the reason for the K10D being larger is due to the pentaprism viewfinder which reporetedly gives a clearer view for manual focusing compared to imodels like the K100D with pentamirrors. I don't know how relevant this is, I haven't looked through the cameras side by side. If the pentaprism does give a much better view of the subject, then that has to be a big plus.

Being able to write images at 14mp or even 10mp is not in itself drawcard for me. I take lots of images for fun, my K100D has been one and half times around the clock in 18 months (14000 images), I keep < 5% and print perhaps only 30 or so postcard - size yearly to give away to relatives and friends. An image the size of your front room window is a total waste as far as my needs go.

I suppose, we could set the K200D to only 6mp or perhaps less, but would that then produce less noise? But would it also produce less detail as well?

As to the contributor who suggested the K10D was the Pentax model to receive acclaim, hmmm! I remember the launch and early road tests for the K100D and they weren't all that shabby either.

The provision for AA's with more shots and the anti-dust protection are plus factors for me, as is the 'green button' raw/jpg/dng image type selector borrowed from the K10D. I might even shoot with DNG files as the cameras default.

I guess the question that I would love to get an answer to is: Would the 10mp sensor only set to 6mp give the same image detail as I already get from my 6mp dSLR?
Thanks everybody :)
 

Perhaps, I think it is the K10D senor and weather sealing + K100D body = K200D? :)

Since K200D is using K10D senor, the IQ might be similar?
 

Im actually looking at K200D even though i have the K10D.

K20D is cmos, its noise performance and the amount of detail is able to extract is impressive, but i prefer CCD, thats why i never go for C. 1 thing i find it hard to cope with K10D is its lower dynamic range, the highlights clips too easily,especially high contrast scenes... might be due to my novice skill perhaps but i do hope the highlights have more headroom. Nevertheless the K10D has so far able to produce great pics... The metering is without question a mystery to me so far...but im not too concern since my old D2xx also needs compensation during tricky scenes...

With the K200D on CCD, white balance fine tunning, raw button and extended dynamic range, ts fits wat im looking for...but i have to wait and see if the extended dynamic range is really up to 1EV...

else i might skip both the K20D and K200D and get a K100D instead...
 

mm...one wonders if the K200D merely inherited the CCD of the outgoing K10D wholesale or is this a brand new improved 10MP CCD chip?
I understand there were concerns about banding under certain conditions for some K10D units, etc, so its a bad thing to re-use the k10D chip in the K200D.

philmerrin - Yup, you're right about the weight though. The reason I went for the istDL previously was because its the cheapest, smallest and lightest DSLR available at the time. I think Nikon D40 and the new D60 is now trying to occupy that space. When I moved from the istDL to the K100D, I noted it was heavier but decided I can cope with it. The K10D on the other hand weighs alot in my small hands especially after holding it for more than 10 min...So if I do move on to the K200D, it has to be that its image quality has improved and better still its autofocus algorithm too. I pet peeve for the K100D is the cumbersome WB.
I'm in a shop with warm lighting, I forget and take the picture and it comes out orangy. I set to "tungsten". But then forget to reset it when I use the flash resulting in bluish images. So I guess I had hoped WB swapping can be made much easier and that the auto-algorithm can be smart enought to adjust so that the image do not look overly warm in default mode under warm lighting...
 

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