Pentax K100D

Reviewed February 2007

Image Quality

Just like all its competitors, the K100D has all the basic modes (P, Tv, Av, M and B) and a selection of Scene modes. In addition, it also offers an unusual Auto Pict mode that is able to — when conditions are right — evaluate the subject to be photographed, and automatically select the appropriate basic scene mode (Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Moving Object, or Night Scene Portrait), further simplifying the use of the scene modes.

This is a lens that offers good sharpness at all focal lengths, and which has practically no barrel distortion at the wide angle end, and no pincushion distortion at the telephoto end.

Likewise, images captured with this lens reveal no chromatic aberration at any point in the focal length range. A small amount of vignetting, however, can be detected in some wide angle shots when using a wide aperture.

Although the K100D lacks an AF assist lamp, its autofocus is fast — albeit a touch loud — even under low light. The 11 AF points, which can be selected individually, allow great precision and the use of the manually selected AF point is very easy. Using the flash, however, the pre-flashes allow the camera not only to establish exposure, but focus as well.

The Multi-segment metering is reliable, and the fact that the viewfinder clearly shows the areas taken into account by both the centre-weighted pattern and the spot meter is quite useful.

Moreover, the K100D even makes it possible to influence the multi-segment metering by tying it to the active AF point using an option of the Custom Setting menu, so that the focus point is given priority when the camera evaluates the scene.

It is worth noting that the K100D yields excellent flash exposures that have natural-looking colours — something critical when shooting portraits indoors — and the red-eye reduction mode is very good (see the image below captured with flash at a distance of approximately 1 metre). Furthermore, the Auto white balance is generally totally reliable with one exception, images captured under incandescent light using the Auto mode of the white balance, which can produce inconsistent results.

The K100D is practically insensitive to noise up to 400 ISO. At 800 ISO, noise starts to appear when the ambient light is poor (overcast weather or deep shade) and at 1600 ISO, the noise level in the K100D corresponds to what is visible in the images of a compact camera at 400 ISO. At 3200 ISO, however, noise noticeably impacts the image quality, and it is only when there is plenty of light that noise is lessened. Still, if the image size is reduced, as is the case when the image is printed out to a 4 x 6 size, the photos are useable.

Indeed, the image quality the K100D delivers is superlative, be it using the RAW mode which is supported by the majority of current image editing software, or with the JPEG Best (). The images the camera yields are well-exposed, have superb colours and are detail-rich.

Although the use of the RAW mode is well-suited to users that like to retouch or tweak their images — taking advantage of the fact that RAW images contain all the data captured by the CCD — images captured using the JPEG Best image quality are generally just as excellent.

Nevertheless, it is regrettable that this camera does not offer the choice of capturing both a RAW and a JPEG Best image simultaneously, as a number of its competitors do.

This aside, one feature of the K100D should be emulated by its competitors: when the self-timer is used, as is the case during a long-exposure, the mirror is always raised at the beginning of the countdown, neutralizing any possible vibration it might impart to the camera by its movement.

Furthermore, the fact that the K100D is backwards compatible with virtually all Pentax mount lenses should prove to be valuable to users that had acquired lenses for their film camera.