Pentax K100D 6.1 MP Digital SLR Camera - Black (Body Only)

The K100D has a good, solid feel in my hand. The controls are fairly simple to use, and almost becomes a "point and shoot" camera for the novice. However, the more advanced user will find it possible to have a greater degree of creative control as well. Since I consider myself an advanced amateur who wants to become a much better photographer, this is an important consideration.

The camera is also back compatible with any lens made to fit a Pentax camera body. I find that the K100D works very well with the lenses I already had for my Pentax film SLR's. I purchase my camera equipment used, since cost is an important consideration; not having to buy any additional lenses at this time was another important reason I chose this camera.The anti-shake feature built into the camera body is very helpful, as I find myself shooting in situations where a tripod is not always practical. It was one more feature that made me decide on the K100D.

The one drawback is that the backscreen cannot be used for framing your picture prior to shooting. You can view the shot once it is taken, and the back screen is also the information center where many of the camera settings are viewed and set. This is really a minor irritation, as I have been used to viewing through the eyepiece with my other SLR's.

Probably the most important reason my purchasing the K100D was the fact that I can shoot as many frames as I want without having to worry about the cost of film development or wasted pictures. If I don't like a shot, I can simply delete it-no more wasted exposures on bad pictures. For someone who is looking for "the next step" in photography, the Pentax K100D is a nice combination of features and affordability.

I had Pentax *ist DS before and it broke so I decided to buy something similar but a little bit more advanced. The Pentax K100D was an obvious choice. Having similar dimentions and layour of the controls, it is just feels right in your hands. The camera is compact and filled with useful features.
My only dissapointment was some pictures came out with a lot of grain. I had plenty of light and tried to be in 200 sencitivity but some times had to change the sencitivity to higher numbers.
I don't think this is Pentax but rather digital photograpy in general. I had taken some pictures at the same event using two cameras: digital Pentax *ist DS and film Pentax ZX 5N. The colors of the film camera were amazing! Digital pictures came out mediocre. And it is only noticable when you compare two shots.
My opinion, you need to get a more expensive digital camera to get picture quality similat to film cameras.

I have used Pentax camera equipmet for 39 years. The most amazing thing is that I can still use the special lenses I purchased for my Spotmatic back in 1972 on the digital bodies I purchase today. This has also allowed me to buy older pentax equiipment on E-bay at a relatively low price and take advantage of the great Pentax lens legacy.

I now own a K100D and used it on a recent vacation in Hawaii. I got great images of sunrises and sunsets, tropical flowers and birds.

The feature on the K100D I like best is the image stabalization. My bird photos taken with a 300mm telephoto lens are much more crisp than those taken with my older Pentax *istDS camera body using the same lens. Another nice change in the camera (relative to the *istDS) is the quieter shutter/mirror action which does not spook wildlife when you take a photo.

I have one criticism of this body. The Penta-mirror that replaced the pentaprism used on the *istDS is not as bright (the image in the viewfinder is more dim). This was a problem when I set up the camera on a tripod in dim light and tried to align the camera with the horizon to capture the early moments of a sunrise.

Overall I am very pleased and would purchase the camera again.

This K100D is a great first step up from the point and shoot world. The extra features like in camera adjustments, and ease of operations, along with the built in shake reduction make this an easy camera to shoot, and get good results.

The photos taken at 3200 iso had little digital noise. Looking similar to film grain rather than noise.

Over all, a great little camera.

Good camera for the enthusiaist. Doesn't have all the features of a professional level camera, but great for those wanting something a little more advanced. Pentax is great because all their lenses work whether older, manual focus or new, autofocus.