Digital Trends

Pentax K10D February 12th, 2007 | by David Elrich

The top (from left to right) has a sturdy mode dial to change settings such as Auto, manual, aperture and shutter priority. Under the dial is a dedicated switch to change metering modes (multi-segment, center weighted or spot). This is another good feature since you typically have to take more than one step to make this change on other D-SLRs. You also find the flash, a hot shoe and a small LCD screen for monitoring the camera’s basic settings. On the far right is the grip that felt just right in my hands. The shutter key is nicely positioned and there’s a jog wheel to move through menus options called an e-dial. Next to the shutter is the “Green button” that resets exposure settings and exposure when you’re in the M mode.

The rear is dominated by a 2.5-inch LCD screen rated a solid 210K pixels and the viewfinder with diopter adjustment. Surrounding the screen and the usual keys found on D-SLRs such as menu, delete, info, Fn (function) and playback. One awkward design is the four-way controller. In this case, Pentax surrounded it with wheel that lets you adjust focus between auto and center spot. This device makes it more difficult to touch the four compass points on the controller. It’s very awkward on an otherwise straightforward layout. Other rear controls include the Shake Reduction on/off, a jog wheel to adjust aperture and ISO, AF and AE-Lock buttons.

Images Courtesy of Pentax

The bottom has the battery compartment with a sturdy lock, tripod mount and the battery grip connector with another solid cover. The optional grip lets you carry another battery for extended journeys in the field.

The Pentax K10D comes with a decent kit including a battery rated 500 shots per CIPA standards plus the usual straps, caps and cables but no memory card (budget another $50 for a 2GB high-speed card). It’s also supplied with a 236-page Owner’s Manual and a CD ROM with basic software for handling images and RAW files (Photo Browser 3 and Photo Laboratory 3). They aren’t replacements for PhotoShop but they’ll get you going. Once the battery was charged and a 2-gig Kingston Ultimate loaded, it was time to take some photos.