Pentax K100D Digital SLR Camera (18 - 55mm Lens Kit)

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Editorial reviews

Product Description
Compatible with any Pentax lens ever produced* and featuring Shake Reduction, the affordable Pentax K100D is the kind of camera that makes history. Picture a large 2.5 inch LCD monitor with 210,000 pixel resolution and a friendly Mode Dial offering Auto Picture and Picture modes as well as new Scene modes for even simpler photography. The 6.1 megapixel APS-C size CCD and sophisticated 16-segment multi-pattern metering delivers outstanding image reproduction, while the bright, high-precision Pentax mirror viewfinder features with 0.85X magnification. All these features combine in a compact design with high-rigidity stainless-steel chassis that is built to last.

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-09-06 rating:
Coming home
I bought my first SLR in the 1980s, a Pentax MX, and migrated through a couple of MEs to a P30. Along the way, I built up a collection of Pentax lenses. Then, suddenly, the digital revolution came along and rather stranded me. For a while I used a little Nikon Coolpix and enjoyed the advantages of working digitally (easy image manipulation after the fact, being able to fit a week's holiday photos onto a card the size of my thumbnail), but I knew that sometime I would have to grasp the nettle and get a digital SLR: working through a separate viewfinder was just too frustrating.

With the Pentax K100D I took the plunge.... and I recommend it heartily.

For people in my position, perhaps one of the strongest recommendations would be that it feels just like my old Pentaxes - I don't feel that I'm having to learn a completely different discipline. I can use my old lenses (and rescue a couple of hundred pounds' worth of kit from the cupboard where it languished during the Coolpix years!). The lens that comes with the camera is the usual cracking Pentax quality. Digital image quality is also good - I'm an amateur, no professional, but friends and relatives working in graphic design who use digital photography every day professionally have examined it and spoken highly of what you get for your money. You get a fair bit of flexibility: although the camera will certainly do point-and-shoot for you, you also do get to override it on decisions about focussing, aperture and so forth if you want to (something that always worries me with automatic cameras: I need to know that ultimately I'm the boss!). The built-in flash (which again can be set to manual or automatic) is very powerful considering its diminutive size. All in all, a very happy introduction to digital SLRs.

Not perfect, of course; and I'm knocking a star off for a couple of points, although really I think 4.5 stars is a fairer mark. Firstly, it fits very snugly into the hand if, like me, you're right-handed: but it might be less comfortable for a left-hander. In an old-fashioned camera using film, the need to accommodate canister on one side of the lens and the spindle for exposed film on the other meant that the body was balanced: in a digital SLR this no longer applies and the body is correspondingly "lop-sided", with the lens way over and only one side of the body extending to be gripped. As ever, this is designed for the right handed. Secondly, a more universal issue: the flash, although powerful, is a bit crude, in that you get to blast your subject with light directly but don't have the option of redirecting the beam and bouncing it off the ceiling for a softer effect. If you can change the quality of light coming out of the flash to get the same effect a different way, this is a feature I've not yet located! So you might want to hang onto your old flash and experiment with it: the camera does, fortunately, have a hot shoe for an outside flash as well as its built-in one.

As I said in my title: I feel I've come home. I'm comfortable with this and like it a lot, and it's been excellent value for money. I'd recommend it thoroughly.

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review by: date: 2008-02-01 rating:
Quality kit indeed...
Having used this camera for some months now, I can say that it has to be one of the best bargains of the photo world in a long long time... it has performed perfectly and better than I expected, considering the price. Its proved easy to use, well balanced, and able to provide pictures that are of pro quality. (despite the small 6 meg sensor). Ive run this camera on the new type Panasonic Infinium AA batteries and got longer life than expected from them, and provided you dont use the LCD screen too much, you can be confident of a days shooting with no problems. Handling of this camera is a joy, its light to hold and not heavy and laborious like the Nikon i tested. No complaints PENTAX... give me more..

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review by: David date: 2007-07-27 rating:
Pentax K100D dSLR at a very affordable price.!
Bought this Pentax K100D after buying the Canon G7, so far Im delighted with the results... ISO 200-3200 no noise at ISO 1600 however begins to get very noisey around the MAX JPEG ISO 3200, However, at ISO 3200 RAW useable in RAW MODE; but ISO 1600 will cover most situations Ive been in without needing to use RAW ISO 3200 Mode. (Great to have for low light) also the (SR) Shake Reduction, which is actually great (solid image stabilization)... Excellent feature, the main reason why I bought this camera was because of (SR), and very low noise all the way upto ISO 1600 then proccessed in RAW ISO 3200 is still very useable.

The camera Operating System is very well thought out, and can be displayed on the 2.5 inch colour LCD at the rear... (very user friendly, very intuitive), I did not even need to use the Manual, so if you are looking for a Quality camera, with 18-55mm kit lens, to start shooting without needing to read reams of paper, don't worry, this is the camera for you.

I have the K100D set at (auto) for meanwhile, and it does take lovely clean, sharp, and silky smooth pictures. The auto focus is spot on.

For a mere £299 for a high spec dSLR camera, with image stabilization, what a Bargain.! (the price may have rose a bit since I bought, but can still be bought for £299 online if you (google).

Another bonus is that the K100D uses 4xAA Batteries, which mean you can use Alkaline AA, Lithium AA, or Rechargable AA, so you have a choice, beats propriety batteries hands down.

Thanks for reading...

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review by: Nick date: 2007-07-05 rating:
Highly recommended
Excellent quality. Plenty of features. 6MP is easily good enough to produce high quality picutres on home printer at A4. Use RAW format if you have software to process (Adobe photoshop elements)- produces extremely high quality images that are easy to enhance and improve.
Highly recommended.


review by: date: 2007-07-02 rating:
Great bargain of an SLR
I bought the camera thanks to the plummet in price!
I thought about buying nearly a year ago, but at double the price I thought twice and decided to go a bit further and purchased the K10D.
I use my K10D a great deal and wanted a back-up camera for use at work and wanted a unit that was a little lighter to carry around.
As photographic tool, they are quite different. The K10D has an abundance of controls available on the outside, the K100d is more restricted. Build quality, viewfinder, and even shutter-sound are quite distinct and show a difference in price.

As regards the end result though, I have to say I am delighted!!!

If you can use RAW it is a bonus!
The 6MP sensor is probably a better option for most users than 10 MP in the K10D, it works better at higher ISO ratings and so gives more options to use higher speeds.
The SR is a marked difference to the competition of a similar price mark meaning you have stabalisation with ALL lenses.
It works just fine with the entire range of Pentax lenses, and even meters better with "M" and "K" series lenses than its bigger brother.
I have no problem reccomending this camera.
Check out the Nikon D40, which is quieter, maybe nicer to look at, even easier to use, but it lacks the SR, has limited lens compatability and the viewfinder is slightly smaller.

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