Pentax K100D Super

Pentax’s K100D was one of the best-received new consumer DSLRs of last year, scooping up a bevy of plaudits including Digital Camera Buyer’s Best Value award for its combination of quality features and low price.

Spurred on by that success and its ambition to establish a hefty share in the DSLR market, (after Canon and Nikon) Pentax has now unveiled the K100D Super. It has certainly picked the right time of year to do it, with new DSLRs being announced left, right and centre in time for the pre-Christmas rush. But you have to ask the question, why has Pentax been so unambitious with this upgrade?

It takes an eagle-eyed consumer to spot the differences between the K100D Super and the original K100D. That’s because there are really only two of them. This camera retains all the specifications of the K100D but throws in SDHC card compatibility and a new Dust Removal System, something conspicuously missing from the original model.

So rather than offering us an upgrade, it feels as if Pentax is simply re-releasing the same camera but including the bits it accidentally left off the first time. On its own terms, the K100D Super is a highly impressive camera, but as a new product it’s uninspiring and its 6.1-megapixel sensor seems like old hat. We can only assume it’s a stop-gap before the release of a true successor model.

In reality, these points are only the concern of a grumbling camera reviewer. What you really want to know is, is this DSLR any good? The simple answer is ‘yes’. The original K100D was an exceptionally good-value product and the K100D Super is no different. Your decision will rest mainly on whether you want to pay a cut-down price for the older camera (as much as £100 less if you look at the right online stores) or pay more for the Dust Reduction System. With the Super’s price already comparing favourably to other DSLRs on the market, we’d suggest investing in the most recent model. After all, as any experienced DSLR user will tell you, Dust Removal is a godsend for shifting unwanted elements off your sensor that can otherwise only be removed using a delicate cleaning system. The regular changing of lenses makes the sensor particularly susceptible to dust particles and it’s a question of when, not if, they start to cause you difficulties and start affecting your image quality.

You can keep the Dust Removal System switched on or off and it works by briefly vibrating the sensor on each start-up to shake off unwanted particles. It works effectively, but does increase the amount of time the Super takes to start-up by a couple of seconds. In addition to this though, the Super delivers a quality set of features that maintain a high level of sophistication without scaring off first-time DSLR users.

As with the original K100D, the Shake Reduction facility is a key selling point. Unlike many DSLR anti-shake systems, which are lens based, Pentax beats the wobbles through minute shifting of the position of the image sensor to compensate for shaky hands. This function can easily be switched on or off using a switch on the rear of the camera, and it comes in particularly useful when you’re using slow shutter speeds, as it allows you to capture much sharper shots than you could otherwise achieve without using a tripod. The effect is equivalent to shooting at 2-3.5 shutter steps higher.

When finding your way around the rear of the camera you might just as easily be using a high-end digital compact rather than a DSLR. Pentax has gone out of its way to keep things simple, so the main controls are kept to the basic menu and playback buttons, plus a directional d-pad. More advanced control can be found buried in the menu system, where bracketing, metering adjustment and the like can be found. The d-pad has more to it than meets the eye, however. Press the Function ‘Fn’ button and you’ll gain direct access to white balance, ISO, flash and burst modes via the arrow keys. Likewise, getting to grips with manual exposure is easy. Smartly, Pentax doesn’t expect you to learn all the ropes at once, so provides an easy Auto mode and a selection of scene modes to help you out while you’re getting to grips with manual abilities.

Image quality generally doesn’t disappoint, and the 11-point Autofocus results in some very speedy reactions in AF mode. Pictures are beautifully crisp with real sharpness right to the edge of the frame. The camera does strugle slightly more with contrast levels though, tending to err on the side of underexposure when faced with a challenging lighting situation. There are no problems with colour reproduction though – tones are subtle and natural rather than dazzlingly bright, but that reflects the nature of the camera itself. It’s not out to dazzle you, but simply do the job in an efficient but credible manner. The K100D Super is a workhorse but it delivers the goods, and it makes an outstanding choice for the first-time DSLR buyer.