Review Canon 400D & Pentax K10D

shrimperblue

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Dave
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Hello. I've never done this before but I wanted to put a few points that may help others thinking of the Canon 400D or the Pentax K10D.

Canon 400D & Kit Lens - Expect to pay about £400.00
Pentax K10D & Kit Lens - Expect to pay about £400.00

So they are both around the same price...... but what is the difference?

The Canon 400D, for me, has produced some excellent results. However its more the build quality, weight and a few features of the K10D that made me want to switch.

If you hold both cameras you will see exactly what I mean straight away.

Some of the features on the K10D compared to the likes of the 400D, IMO, blow it out of the water.

Take me as an individual...... I dont want be restricted to get out early morning/in the rain for some interesting Macro and Landscape shots.

-The K10D has weather sealing on both the Body and Kit Lens.
-The "in camera" shake reduction on the K10D is good for in windy conditions.
-I have large hands...The camera comes as standard Magnesium and rubber body W 142 x H 101 x D 70mm @ 790g
-The 400D W 126.5 x H 94.2 x D 65mm @ 510g (no weather seals) Plastic Body No IS.
-I never had any issues with the 400D Kit Lens but the K10D Kit Lens is very sharp for the level.
-The K10D is compatible with old Pentax lenses where as 400D is not with older Canon.

I loved my 400D and with a grip it felt ok but still light and plastic. The K10D feels like a Canon 40D but is currently aprox £270.00 cheaper with Kit Lens than just the 40D body only!

I say this as a 400D user those were the main factors that made me change over. Its a mid-range camera for an excellent price if you can manage to get one now. I compare the K10D to more the Canon 40D rather than the 400D. Some magasines I have read have put the K10D in the same class as the Canon 40D as Enthusiast DSLR's whereas the 400D has been put into Beginners (Practical Photography Dec 07) For the price you can not go wrong here.

( I have owned a 40D too)

There is nothing wrong with the 400D as a camera but the K10D simply has a more professional feel to it and the kit lens is better. I have never used a Nikon in this range, sorry!

TEST IMAGES.

Straight out of camera no editing or cropping.
Taken on Auto Mode.
Auto White Balance.
The sun went in a little when I used the K10D but shouldnt make too much difference.

Tree 400D @ 18mm
2390083268_5914051f5c.jpg


Tree K10D @ 18mm
2390087910_350b2124d3.jpg


Bush 400D @ 18mm
2390081156_12fc9c1476.jpg


Bush K10D @ 18mm
2389253711_a7404749e3.jpg


Leaf 400D @ 55mm
2389358039_96e370f085.jpg


Leaf K10D @ 55mm
2389381425_1b5168013e.jpg


Street 400D @ 55mm
2389250465_81961cd4f5.jpg


Street K10D @ 55mm
2389255211_34430d805f.jpg


Fan 400D @ 55mm
2389249925_758c19da67.jpg


Fan K10D @ 55mm
2389254593_60a2a527dc.jpg


Thanks, hope this helps.

SB
 
-....The "in camera" shake reduction on the K10D is really good for Macro or in windy conditions.

Dave,

I've just made a point in you're other thread that I don't believe that IS of any sort will help you with macro shots.
The forwards/backwards axis of movement is the most critical for macro (assuming reasonable shutter speeds) and this will not be helped by the IS.

Bob
 
I say its sounds better made than the canon but going on the test shots (and i know identical shots are difficult) but the canon seems to have better range, detail and colour than the k10d certainly in the street, leaf and tree shots at least.

good review though
 
-The K10D has weather sealing on both the Body and Kit Lens.

SB

The kit lens isn't sealed. The only sealed lenses from Pentax so far are the 17-50 2.8 and the 50-135 2.8. I don't know whether they are going to produce more sealed lenses. It is interesting that they have sealed the k200 when there aren't any lenses in its price range to match.

The best weather sealed kit by far at the moment comes from Olympus where the old e1 and e3 are very well sealed bodies and all their mid and top range glass is also sealed. There were many stories of people rinsing their e1s under taps/showers and even dropping them in shallow water with no ill effects. I think oly even used to demo their system by putting it in a shower. Doesn't apply to the lower range bodies and lenses though.
 
Thanks Bailout. The guy in the store said the lens was weather sealed :thumbsdown:.

SB
 
While the K10D may have more physical attributes than the 400D, I have to agree with the above... those Canon pics are streets ahead of the Pentax pics!
Its plain to see theres more detail in the shadows, better saturation ... basically they just 'pop'.
Have you labelled the images the right way round? :thinking:
 
the only shot where I prefer the result from the Pentax is the Bush one so I guess this has to go down as a victory to Canon, the 400D may not be the best handling camera in it's class but image wise it's hard to fault.
 
It's also well worth noting that the 400d can be had for around £300 at the moment taking advantage of the £45 cashback from Canon (John Lewis have it for £349 at the moment, similarly Tescos did recently too) whereas the Pentax is rarely below £400.
 
I'd definitely recommend anyone try the K10D, it's a pretty impressive camera for the money - functionality/build quality are hard to beat, personally wouldn't buy a body again without dual control wheels.

Image wise it can't live with the Canon high iso & Pentax seem to have deliberatly muted images "out-of-camera" so to get the best from them needs a little more PP than other makes - final results I would say stand on a level with most other makes, with the exception of high iso as already mentioned

simon
 
Just having a flick through reviews, noticed and wanted to give you a heads up that the pics in the OP aren't working
 
Just having a flick through reviews, noticed and wanted to give you a heads up that the pics in the OP aren't working

Digging up a thread that is SIX YEARS old tends to have that happen...

;)
 
Yeah it's absolutely no surprise, but I figured if OP wants it to stay in the review directory then its worth keeping up to date!
 
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