The Pentax K10D and similar Samsung GX-10 are 10.2-

megapixel In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a Raster graphics, raster image, or the smallest addressable element in a dot matrix display device. In most digital display devices, p ...

digital single-lens reflex camera A digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera that combines the optics and mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a solid-state image sensor and digitally records the images from the sensor. The reflex des ...

s launched in late 2006. They were developed in a collaboration between

Pentax was a Japanese camera and optical equipment manufacturer. Currently, it exists as the Pentax Life Care Business Division of Hoya's medical endoscope business, as well as the digital camera brand of Ricoh Imaging, a subsidiary of Ricoh. Penta ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. The K10D was announced on 13 September 2006, and released in mid-November 2006, while Samsung announced the GX-10 on 21 September 2006 and it became available on January 1, 2007. The

Pentax K20D The Pentax K20D and its clone, the Samsung GX-20, are 14.6 megapixel digital single-lens reflex cameras manufactured by Pentax that were announced on January 23, 2008. The K20D was available in the U.S. market from February 2008 through autumn 200 ...

, successor to the K10D, was officially announced on January 23, 2008. The K10D has been hailed by ''Popular Photography and Imaging'' magazine as "an all-star player," and was named as a finalist for their 2007 "Camera of the Year" award.

Technology and construction

It combines a 10.2 effective

CCD CCD may refer to: Science and technology * Charge-coupled device, an electronic light sensor used in various devices including digital cameras * .ccd, the filename extension for CloneCD's CD image file * Carbonate compensation depth, a property ...

sensor, coupled with a 22-bit

analog-to-digital converter In electronics, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC, A/D, or A-to-D) is a system that converts an analog signal, such as a sound picked up by a microphone or light entering a digital camera, into a Digital signal (signal processing), digi ...

(ADC) and a shake reduction system which also provides a dust removal feature to keep dust off the sensor surface. The K10D features a new image processor called ''PRIME'' (Pentax Real IMage Engine), which interfaces with DDR2

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, providing 800 MB/s bandwidth. The camera body is dust and weather-resistant featuring 72 seals throughout the camera. Images can be saved in

JPG JPEG ( , short for Joint Photographic Experts Group and sometimes retroactively referred to as JPEG 1) is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degr ...

, Pentax

raw image format A camera raw image file contains unprocessed or minimally processed data from the image sensor of either a digital camera, a motion picture film scanner, or other image scanner. Raw files are so named because they are not yet processed, ...

(PEF) or standard DNG format. The Pentax K10D was among the first digital cameras to support the DNG format natively.

Competition and market segment

The K10D's feature set does not match precisely any other camera on the market. By sensor size and price it is a competitor to the Sony α 100, the

Nikon D80 The Nikon D80 is a digital single-lens reflex camera model announced by Nikon on August 9, 2006. The camera shipped the first week of September to US retailers. Considered by many to be a hybrid of design elements of the entry-level D50 and high ...

, the

Canon EOS 400D The EOS 400D, called Digital Rebel XTi in North America and EOS Kiss Digital X in Japan, is an entry-level digital single-lens reflex camera introduced by Canon on 24 August 2006. Details It is the successor of the Canon EOS 350D, and upgrad ...

("Digital Rebel XTi" in

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) and the

Olympus E-400 The Olympus E-400 is a digital single-lens reflex camera launched by Olympus on 14 September 2006, using the Four Thirds System lens mount standard. This 10 megapixel camera could be compared to other DSLRs unveiled during the summer of 2006 with ...

, all 10-megapixel DSLRs unveiled in mid- to late 2006. Of course, sensor size alone does not relate directly to any measure of quality or features, and the K10D can also be considered a competitor to higher priced cameras such as the

Canon EOS 30D The Canon Inc., Canon Canon EOS, EOS 30D is an 8.2-megapixel semi-professional digital single-lens reflex camera, initially announced on February 21, 2006. It is the successor of the Canon EOS 20D, and is succeeded by the Canon EOS 40D, EOS 40D. ...

, and its weather sealing is only matched by the much more expensive

Nikon D200 The Nikon D200 is a 10.2-megapixel digital single-lens reflex camera that falls between entry-level/midrange DSLR cameras such as the Nikon D40, Nikon D40x, and D80 and high-end models such as the Nikon D2Hs and D2Xs. It was released by the ...

Fujifilm S5 Pro The FinePix S5 Pro is a digital single lens reflex camera introduced by Fujifilm on 25 September 2006 and since discontinued. It replaces the previous FinePix S3 Pro and keeps the Nikon F mount compatibility, including DX size lenses. It is ba ...

and the

Canon EOS-1D Mark II N The EOS 1D Mark II is a professional 8.2 megapixel digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) camera body produced by Canon. The EOS 1D Mark II was the successor of the EOS 1D and was itself replaced by the Canon EOS-1D Mark III in 2007. It wa ...

/ 1Ds Mark II in current production.

Lens mount and compatible lenses

The K10D camera features the "crippled" K_AF2 mount. Like the full-featured K_AF2 mount, this has power contacts for the lens and supports power zoom and MTF information transferred from the lens to the body, but lacks the mechanical stop-down coupler necessary for full compatibility with the oldest Pentax K-mount lenses. The K10D is typically sold in a bundle with Pentax's SMC-DA 18-55mm

kit lens A kit lens is a "starter" lens which can be sold with an interchangeable-lens camera such as a mirrorless camera or DSLR. It is generally an inexpensive lens priced at the lowest end of the manufacturer's range so as to not add much to a camera ...

, which has received very favorable reviews compared to kit lenses from

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

and

Nikon (, ; ) is a Japanese optics and photographic equipment manufacturer. Nikon's products include cameras, camera lenses, binoculars, microscopes, ophthalmic lenses, measurement instruments, rifle scopes, spotting scopes, and equipment related to S ...

, because of its build-quality and quick-shift focus system. In addition, the K10D supports in-lens ultrasonic focusing motors, branded SDM by Pentax. Lenses thus equipped support quieter and faster autofocus operation. Two weathersealed ultrasonic lenses, developed in co-operation with

Tokina is a Japanese manufacturer of photographic lenses and CCTV security equipment. Lens designations * FX - Full frame * DX - cropped digital * AF - Auto-Focus * AT-X Pro - professional line (constant aperture zooms or primes) * AT-X - consumer l ...

, have been released. Like the "crippled" K_AF mount used on previous Pentax digital SLRs, the "crippled" K_AF2 lacks the mechanism to mechanically sense a lens's aperture ring setting. For that reason, when using the manual aperture ring on K-mount lenses, it is necessary to set the 'Use aperture ring' setting in the 'Custom Menu' to 'Permitted' and use stop-down metering mode (Pentax calls it optical preview) to ensure proper exposure. K_A and K_AF lenses with aperture rings are fully compatible when the aperture ring is set to automatic ('A'), giving control over the aperture to the camera body.

Samsung GX-10

Under a partnership between Pentax and

Samsung Techwin Hanwha Vision (), founded as Samsung Techwin, is a video surveillance company. It is a subsidiary of Hanwha Group. The company employs 1,822 people and is headquartered in South Korea. Its total sales in 2020 were 529.8 billion South Korean w ...

, the K10D is also available badged as the Samsung GX-10. The two cameras are virtually identical with a few small differences. The text labels for buttons are different, using a slightly smaller font, and the buttons themselves are slightly different. In addition, the hand grip is a slightly different shape, meaning the

battery grip A battery grip (aka battery pack) is an accessory for an SLR/ DSLR (and occasionally other cameras), which allows the camera to hold multiple batteries to extend the battery life of the camera, and adds a vertical grip with an extra shutter relea ...

for the K10D is incompatible – however, a GX-10 battery grip is available. The firmware is quite different, using different menus and symbols, and providing no support for Pentax's PEF raw image format.

Awards

The K10D has won a number of awards from the industry, the first being the TIPA 2007 award for the best "Expert Digital SLR". On 15 August, 2007, the K10D was announced as the winner of EISAs “European Camera of the Year 2007-2008” award. On 17 May, Pentax announced that it had won the Japanese Camera Grand Prix 2007. Pentax later announced on 14 June, 2007, the introduction of a limited edition K10D package in commemoration of winning of the Japanese Camera Grand Prix. The package features a dark brown K10D with gold lettering and a matching

. A large leather camera strap is included with the words "CAMERA GRAND PRIX 2007". The K10D won American Photo's Editor's Choice 2007 for the Advanced Digital SLR category. (Volume 18, No. 4 July/August) Image:Pentax_K10D_top.jpg, ''Top'' Image:Pentax_K10D_left.jpg, ''Left'' Image:Pentax_K10D_back.jpg, ''Rear''

References

External links

Pentax K10D:
Full review of the K10D at ''Digital Photography Review''

Full review of the K10D at ''Imaging Resource''

Full review of the K10D at ''DCRP Review''

Full review of the K10D at ''Cameralabs''

Full review of the K10D at ''Photo.net''

Customer reviews of the K10D at ''Amazon''

Hands-on report of the K10D at ''Luminous Landscape''

K10D Operating Manual
Samsung GX-10:
Mini-review of the GX-10 at ''DCRP Review''
(a supplement to their K10D review, since the two cameras are identical in many respects)

from '' Cnet'' Pentax Lenses
Pentax-DA Lens Operating Manual
Including details of KAF, KAF2 and KAF3 mount contacts and couplers. Using the Quick-Shift Focus System, etc. {{Pentax DSLR cameras K10D Cameras introduced in 2006 Pentax K-mount cameras