Pentax K10D 10MP SLR $636 at Amazon plus bonus

[AUGrad]

I've been watching the Pentax K10D SLR for some time now, and this is the cheapest yet by a wide margin (cheap enough that I bought one after months of watching). Here's the summary of the deal:

Camera for $636.15 (Typical street price is $680 - $700) with free shipping
Free $19.99 Lowepro strap with purchase from Amazon
$100 MIR from Pentax (good through 1/31/08)

This deal is especially good if you already have Pentax lenses. If not, you'll need to buy the camera with a lens or get one somewhere else. I ordered a Tamron 18-250 mm (that's almost 14x optical zoom) from buydig for $459 to go with it.

Link here

 

[Auric]

Potentially silly query: I've had a Pentax film SLR (K1000) and a bunch of lenses since I was in short-pants. Can those manual lenses be used with such a digital body?

 

[Dm301]

Originally posted by: Auric
Potentially silly query: I've had a Pentax film SLR (K1000) and a bunch of lenses since I was in short-pants. Can those manual lenses be used with such a digital body?

Yes

 

[Auric]

Schweet. I am seriousry considering this.

There's a $10 pricegrabber review bonus available to schweeten ze dealio.

 

[AUGrad]

One of my reasons for going this route is the 2 ancient lenses I had from my trusty, rusty K1000 that's still parked in a closet. There are some caveats -- obviously you won't get auto focus out of a manual focus lens, but these cameras will accept any Pentax K mount lens.

 

[crystal]

blah - so tempting... It is OOS while I was deciding. Save me making a hard decision. This or a lcd tv.

 

[imported_chewy2314]

Do note that the $100MIR only applies to the K10D Kit (body + Lens).

 

[gcy]

Originally posted by: chiu
Do note that the $100MIR only applies to the K10D Kit (body + Lens).

Body + Lens is the K10D super kit, both that and the K10D Kit (body only) have the $100 rebate

 

[imported_chewy2314]

Sorry. I had an older copy that just says K10D Kit or K100D Super Kit. Same product code as the current form.
regards.

 

[Auric]

Ja, product code 19091 is shown on the rebate form and that jibes with the body-only part number listed by various mongers.

Pity the topic price is no more but perhaps it will return or even lower within the next few months... I'm in no hurry 😉

AUGrad, I actually prefer the simplicity and control of manual functions so no worries. It would be pretty cool to interchange lenses betwixt my trusty (not rusty -for shame!) ol' K1000 and this K10D. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[cmv]

Compatibility between the K10D and older lenses is a bit more complex then the other Pentax bodies (K100D, DL, DS, DL2, DS2, D). Pentax changed the focusing screen and this change affected the step-down metering for older K and M lenses. So A (or PKA) lenses are fine. M42 (or screw mount) lenses are fine. But the lenses between these two -- the K mount without auto aperture (the early K series and the M series) use step-down metering. This means the camera steps down the lens to the value set on the aperture ring and meters the scene.

The good news is that it isn't a huge deal -- you can compensate for this issue by watching the histogram. A permanent solution to this problem is to swap out the focusing screen for the LL-80 or another one. These screens make the step-down metering reliable. The focusing screen is meant to be user changeable on the K10D.

At $636 before rebate this is such a tempting deal. I'm still holding out though as there are supposed to be some major announcements in January about the next body. If I didn't already have a DL though I would have brought the K10D without hesitation. I'm sort of glad it's out of stock at the moment 🙂.

 

[bigi]

Review

I would not pay over six hundred $$$ for such disposable body
I'd get used Rebel XT for less than $400 form here

Now, the lens. 14x zoom must be below low quality wise. Especially when you have 10megapixels to resolve it. More zoom, less quality and brightness.

 

[crystal]

Originally posted by: bigi

Review

I would not pay over six hundred $$$ for such disposable body
I'd get used Rebel XT for less than $400 form here

Now, the lens. 14x zoom must be below low quality wise. Especially when you have 10megapixels to resolve it. More zoom, less quality and brightness.

disposable body? what crap are you smoking?

 

[pdo]

Originally posted by: crystal

Originally posted by: bigi

Review

I would not pay over six hundred $$$ for such disposable body
I'd get used Rebel XT for less than $400 form here

Now, the lens. 14x zoom must be below low quality wise. Especially when you have 10megapixels to resolve it. More zoom, less quality and brightness.

disposable body? what crap are you smoking?

must be some good shet he's smoking. Read the review on the Canon 40D and see how the K10D stacks against it.

 

[you2]

Probably the only area that hte K10D > 40D are inbody stabilization and weather seal. The K10D is a good camera but the 40D is probably better. Then again the 40D is 2x the K10D. Problem with the 40D are lenses. The 17-55IS is very good but $1000. Outside the 17-55IS wide/normal lenses are a bit weak. Canon strength is in tele and tele-zoom with the 70-300 the best bargin and the 70-200f4Lis extermely good.

 

[AUGrad]

In response to the lens criticism, there are certainly trade offs associated with such a broad range, but this lens is the best of its kind based on the reviews. The biggest plus to this setup is reducing the chance of getting the sensor dirty during lens changes.

There is a great set of pictures on flickr that show the capabilities of this lens as compared to the older 28-300 variant. These shots alleviated most of my low quality lens concerns. The thing that sold me on this setup is that the total cost of body + lens is very close to the street price of the Nikon 18-200 VR lens all by itself.

 

[Morro]

Camera body is great and Tamron 18-250mm is really good. Beware the rebate though - I still have not received my $50 for K100D I bought 6 months ago.