My first DSLR

[trublubiker]

Hi all,

After much online research and visits to retailers, I'm about to take the plunge into a DSLR. I've narrowed my choice down to 2 models, the CANON 40D And the PENTAX K10D with a leaning toward the PENTAX. I realise that the supplied kit lenses are fairly basic, however I like the sound of the Tamron Action Plus Kit, especially the SP AF17-50mm f/2.8
XR Di-11 LS Aspherical. The included 70-300, tripod mounted, will suit my needs at present.

My question is, will these lens mount onto the K10D ? All the adverts I've seen never mention Pentax mount availability.

Also, any feedback on either of the two cameras would be appreciated.

Many thanks
trublubiker

[aim54x]

this kit should be available in Pentax mount as Tamron does make both lenses in pentax mount, but i would have to check before committing to a Pentax K10D based on the availability of this kit. I actually have this kit in Nikon mount, and it is pretty good, the 70-300 does not have a tripod mount, but it is not big enough to require this. the 17-50 is a really good lens though.

The K10D is a pretty good body, but be warned that the system behind it is not the best, I work at a camera store and i know that we have had a lot of trouble getting lenses and flashes for pentax, and i know that not many shops actually keep a large range in pentax. have u considered the Nikon D80 or the Olympus E-510? these two offer similar features to the Canon 40D and the Pentax K10D, and are close to the price of the Pentax.

[Biggzie]

Ive got the K10d and love it.
Ive had Pentax gear for over 20 years so Ive got plenty to fit this body.
There isnt as much available for Pentax these days, but there is plenty 2nd hand lenses around and its quite suprising some of the quality available.

I havent see the Tamron lenses so I dont know if they fit Pentax, but a quick check on their Web Site should tell you.

My only comment on the Canon is that I dont find the Canon bodies Ive used easy to use as Pentax or Nikon. Im always asking where to find or how do I ... where Pentax and Nikon seem to be easier. The 40D is a good body from what Ive seem of it though.

[Tiberius]

I have the 40D body and I love it. Good range of features, a far cry from my first dSLR, a 350D (which was a good camera to start with). I also have the Tammy 17-50mm f2.8 on it, and it's a hell of a good combination. If you're thinking of upgrading, I'd go with the Canon. You'll be able to upgrade a bit at a time (get some nivcer glass) and still have a usable kit, whereas if you go with the Pentax and decide to upgrade to a Canon or Nikon pro kit, then you'll have some bits of kit that won't work with your other bits. Also, Canon has a much wider range of accessories than pentax. So, the most freedom will be given if you go with canon or Nikon.

[Bindii]

I don't know much about Pentax at all.. and I'm sure that the camera you mentioned is great... however for the same reason mentioned above I'd be seriously thinking about getting the canon.. there are more accessories readily available for them (and don't go thinking that you probably want more lenses etc cause we all said that when we started).. its easier to get advice on operating a Canon (cause so many more people use them)... and one would presume its also easier to get parts etc if god fobid anything went wrong..

[PiroStitch]

one thing that you might want to consider is the upgrade path. Eventually you will develop a thirst for more lenses, etc and want to get something else. Personally, I'd go for the 40D over the Pentax - not to say that the K10D isn't a great camera, just future options aren't as vast. With the 40D, you can still use the Sigma and Tamron lenses as well as Canon

Out of curiousity, have you tried the D300 or D80?

[trublubiker]

Firstly, I'd like to thank all who have replied for your most helpful advice.

I've been a Canon 'A' Series user for about 25 years and have always been pleased with
my results. I have also accumulated a fair collection of lens and bits 'n' pieces, none of
which are compatible with their DSLR's. Pity.

I've decided on the Pentax K10D with a Pentax 50mm f/1.4 prime as my starting kit. I can
buy this for around the same price as the EOS40D body. I loved the 50mm 1.4 with my Canon A1 & AE1-P.
I never saw a bad review for the K10D, either from the 'experts' or consumers. Sure, some picked
the odd thing but that also applies to all reviews I've read on all cameras. The top of my wish list was
the D300 but the bucks were out of my reach.

Even though the Pentax lens range is nowhere as extensive as those of Nikon or Canon, I like
the fact that all their lens are DSLR compatible to some extent, even back to the M42 with an adaptor.
Plus the fact that their affiliation with Samsung may see some new gear hit the market.

Thanks again to those who replied. I'm looking forward to posting my first shot.

trublubiker

[Biggzie]

Well I'm kinda surprised that you've gone Pentax if you've been using Canon ...
You will love the 50mm F1.4. Its worked its way into being my Favorite.
The 35mm F2 is a briliant lens too and fits in well with the 50. (and its cheap)

When you get your kit. At some stage set the body to 'M', turn the aperture ring off the 'A' setting and learn to use the Green button while using the aperture ring. That will set you up to use any older lenses you may pick up in the future.

[trublubiker]

I've done it!

Started out tossing up between the 40D and the K10D, thought about the K20D, looked seriously at the K200D, and bought the K20D. When I weighed the extra 20% in price against the extra 50% in resolution, it really wasn't a contest.

I bought it with the 18-55 kit lens and I've already realised that to get the best from the camera, I'll need better glass. It should help me learn about the camera, although I'm already frustrated with it's lack of sharpness.
I've also acquired a Pentax 80-200 f1:4.5 Manual lens which is not too bad at all.

Wow, what a huge learning curve, but I'm loving every minute of it. I'm posting one of my trial pics to get feedback on aperture and focus. I gave no thought to composition, mainly concerned with focus and DOF. I took 4 shots off a tripod at 4 different appertures and 2 were noticeably OOF. A remote release is on top of the wish list. I have no idea as to what is considered good levels of sharpness so I'll appreciate any feedback.





I hope I've compressed this enough to avoid the wrath of the mods.

Anyway thanks again to all those who gave helpful advice and I'll probably drive you mad biggzie with lotsa dumb questions.

trublubiker

[Marvin]

Congratulations on your new purchase. The shot looks reasonably sharp to me, particularly the leaves on the left (I am finding it difficult to judge sharpness in the flower itself as it kind of hurts my eyes!!). Have you sharpened in pp?

[Biggzie]

You'll notice an improvment in sharpness when you put some nice glass on it.

[trublubiker]

I've cropped it and re-posted it. I think it is easier to look at now.

[trublubiker]

And BTW Biggzie, I love the camera, and seem to be showing the early symptoms of LBA !
I am looking for a good Macro, something like the Tamron 90mm, and then a reasonable landscape lens, around 20mm !

[Glen]

Hi Trublu, the sharpness looks pretty reasonable on that image assuming there is none added in post processing. I would try sharpening it with the program which came with your camera, just to give you an idea of how the sharpening works and changes the image. Even your resized and cropped image is still too big for us, our limit is 800 pixels on the longest side and 200k. Your image is 1024 x 739 and 1/2mb in size! The reason we have the limits is to make this forum usable by all, especially those with dial up or satellite connections. Can you resize it? You will find that even at 100k it wont lose much quality. Thanks

[aim54x]

Congrats on the purchase, I am sure you will be very happy with the K20D.

I checked, the Tamron Action Plus amd Tamron Travel Plus kits are not available in Pentax mount, although some of the lenses in them are available. (18-250, 70-300) I was quite suprised that the 17-50 f/2.8 is not available in Pentax mount, at least not through Maxwell.

[trublubiker]

Thanks all for your comments, and Glen, Ive shrunk it down to 533 x 798. Thought I'd already done that. Oh well, all part of the learning curve.
The pic I posted is straight from the camera with only cropping done. I tried the Auto fix in PP but it only appeared to lighten it up a tad. I assume Photo Lab only works with RAW images. My gut feeling is that is about as sharp as I am going to get with the basic lens I'm using. I'm lusting for a good Macro.

Cheers

trublubiker

[Glen]

Trublu, the autofix usually adjust levels but not sharpening. Don't throw out the idea of using software to sharpen an image though, I have run your image through Capture NX (Nikon software) and purposely oversharpened it so you can see what can be done with software. I will take it down if you don't want it there.. No substitute for a sharp shot, but most digital slr require some sharpening due to the anti aliasing filter in front of the sensor. In most cases you can specify how sharp you want your jpgs to be in camera. Most software allows you to sharpen jpgs or RAW.

Your choice of a macro lens next sounds like an excellent choice.

[Biggzie]

And BTW Biggzie, I love the camera, and seem to be showing the early symptoms of LBA !
I am looking for a good Macro, something like the Tamron 90mm, and then a reasonable landscape lens, around 20mm !

I might have sounded a little short, but I dont like that lens.
That Tamron 90mm is an excellent Maco, but also look at the Pentax 100mm Macro.
Pentax also make a nice 12-24mm F4 ... worth thinking about