Pentax K100D Final Review Posted
By
Shawn Barnett
(Wednesday, October 25, 2006 - 11:25 EDT)
We've completed the full review of the Pentax K100D, a camera that we think is a real sleeper hit in the DSLR arena.
With its full range of manual and preset automatic exposure modes, the Pentax K100D is suitable for the full range of experience levels, including anyone already owning a digital point-and-shoot, and it offers enough customization to keep more advanced users happy. The Pentax K100D has no trouble with exposure in low lighting, and produces only slightly high contrast under harsh lighting conditions. Autofocus in low light is among the slowest we've seen, however. On the positive side, though, the K100D more often actually makes a decision on where to focus, while other digital SLRs just give up. Color is quite good, though sometimes on the warm side; but both the built-in flash and accessory bounce flash eliminate this problem. The camera's ISO setting only goes as low as 200, but noise levels are still quite good, and prints from the Pentax K100D are very good even at the highest ISO levels.
We were impressed with the Pentax K100D, as well as its widening array of accessories and lenses. It's a small, well-conceived SLR design with solid image performance. Even the kit lens is good quality, and accessory lenses are worthy of serious photographic work. After all that, the Pentax K100D's in-camera Shake Reduction is a welcome bonus in this surprisingly low-priced camera. Perhaps the best news is that it works better than most other in-body anti-shake systems on the market. Despite its shortcomings, the Pentax K100D offers more bang for the buck than competing systems in this range. Overall, the K100D is Pentax's strongest offering to date.
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