Canon XTi or Pentax K10D

Over the last couple months I have been reading review and gathering as much info as I can between the Canon XTi and Pentax K10D cameras.

I am having trouble choosing between these two and could use some good opinions. I am a novice that likes to take indoor, portrait, and outdoor shots. I have no current lenses, so this is a pretty important decision, that will effect my choices down the road. The decision doesn't need to be soon by any means.

Canon - I have found many of these localy to try out. I love how responsive this camera is, and it just feels good in general. Also I have found the two main lenses I would use. Tamron 28-75/F2.8 and Tamron 200-500/F5-6.3. These are in my price range (I cannot afford 1,300-5,000 canon lenses).

Pentax - I have not found one localy to try out since they have been sold out since Christmas. The key features I am interested in are the anti-shake and wheather proof. Unfortunetly I cannot get the Tamron 200-500 for this camera it seems. So the Sigma 50-500 is the next closest lens, but I don't know how well it would work with this camera.

I am also interested in Teleconver lens (at least I think that is the name) either the 1.4X or 2.0X. I am leaning towards the 2X even though its another Fstop over.

Does anyone have experience between these cameras or with these lenses?

Thanks.

I chose the Canon over the Pentax due to the lens selection, not only now, but down the road. Will Pentax be keeping up with the Canon/Nikon bunch or will they continue as they have for a while now, in spurts and trailing behind often? I do like that you can use old Pentax lenses... but then looking at old lenses for sale online, most of them are junky cheap lenses that I wouldnt' want to use, anyway. Metal construction does not equal to superior optics and old, dusty, dirty glass is expensive to have cleaned.

Also, the bottom line for me when going to a dSLR at all over my Minolta DiMage A200 was high ISO performance. In that area, the Canons blow the doors off of the Pentax. The only one who is close is Nikon, and they are still lagging in this area, because they're all using a Sony CCD sensor.

-Michael
--
Canon Rebel XTi
http://duran.smugmug.com

K10D is nice, and has a better viewfinder and more robust build, but is ~$250 more than the XTi. You get what you pay for.

Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 is a terrific lens, but is not as useful a zoom range on the smaller sensored DSLRs as it is on a 35mm film camera. I'd prefer Tamron's 17-50 f/2.8 XR Di II. Tamron 200-500 is also a good lens, but I'd think you'd want another lens or two covering the intermediate range. Lots of choices here, from economical 55-200 f/4-5.6 or 70-300 f/4-5.6 to several f/2.8 zooms.

None of these is lenses are particularly good to use with a teleconverter.

DrKines said:

Over the last couple months I have been reading review and
gathering as much info as I can between the Canon XTi and Pentax
K10D cameras.

I am having trouble choosing between these two and could use some
good opinions. I am a novice that likes to take indoor, portrait,
and outdoor shots. I have no current lenses, so this is a pretty
important decision, that will effect my choices down the road. The
decision doesn't need to be soon by any means.

Canon - I have found many of these localy to try out. I love how
responsive this camera is, and it just feels good in general. Also
I have found the two main lenses I would use. Tamron 28-75/F2.8
and Tamron 200-500/F5-6.3. These are in my price range (I cannot
afford 1,300-5,000 canon lenses).

Pentax - I have not found one localy to try out since they have
been sold out since Christmas. The key features I am interested in
are the anti-shake and wheather proof. Unfortunetly I cannot get
the Tamron 200-500 for this camera it seems. So the Sigma 50-500
is the next closest lens, but I don't know how well it would work
with this camera.

I am also interested in Teleconver lens (at least I think that is
the name) either the 1.4X or 2.0X. I am leaning towards the 2X
even though its another Fstop over.

Does anyone have experience between these cameras or with these
lenses?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Any reason for no Nikon D40?, kit lens on 400D is poor.

I really liked the Pentax, particularly for its IS. But I love to take the shots right out of the camera. I take wayyy too many photos to be retouching all of them. So the slight softness (and inability to sharpen sufficiently in camera) of the K10 led me to the XTi. I liked the K10's noise, which simulates film grain nicely and isn't "blotchy" at all, but I like Canon's too, mainly because it's so low it's so damn hard to even see it.

I think if the K10 had right-out-of-the-camera snappy pictures, I would have gotten it. But it didn't and the XTi did, so that's what I got. If you always shoot raw, I'd go with the K10 for the IS.

I have not looked into the Nikon cameras very much honestly.

I would be purchasing a body only. The lens that comes in the kit is .. well.. you get what you pay for.

Thanks a ton. Thats some of the difference I am looking for.

Thanks, I will look into the shorter range Tamron lens. I am reading that many people like that particular lens.

DrKines said:

Over the last couple months I have been reading review and
gathering as much info as I can between the Canon XTi and Pentax
K10D cameras.

I am having trouble choosing between these two and could use some
good opinions.

Click to expand...

I think the choice is very easy.

If your long-term budget for the hobby of photography is relatively limited, the Pentax K10D will most certainly be the better choice. You get so much more out of that camera, compared to all other cameras in the same price bracket. And the quality of Pentax lenses in the lower and middle price range are just as good as Canon's.

If you're a fairly wealthy person willing to break the bank, and your long-term budget is very high, then it'd be foolish to start off with Pentax instead of Canon. Once you start buying lenses for a particular camera brand, then you're basically married to that brand. And it would be difficult (and costly) to switch brands later. If you think you're the type who'd eventually spend a few thousand dollars on top-end lenses, then it's better to start with Canon now than later. The variety, versatility, and quality of Canon lenses are simply in a different league compared to Pentax's. And Canon is easily the most popular camera brand in the world right now. You can buy & sell used lenses at good prices much easier than you could with Pentax gear.

Given a moderate budget, I chose the Canon route myself. But honestly, I could've just as easily gone the other way and I don't think I'd be any less happy with Pentax.

NJOceanView said:

I really liked the Pentax, particularly for its IS. But I love to
take the shots right out of the camera. I take wayyy too many
photos to be retouching all of them. So the slight softness (and
inability to sharpen sufficiently in camera)

Click to expand...

Ummmm where have you been??? After all the talk of Bright Mode versus Natural Mode you STILL haven't caught on. Bright makes the pictures just as snappy as your lovely canon, don't worry. Check my site I have a comparison.

NJOceanView said:

of the K10 led me to
the XTi. I liked the K10's noise, which simulates film grain
nicely and isn't "blotchy" at all, but I like Canon's too, mainly
because it's so low it's so damn hard to even see it.

I think if the K10 had right-out-of-the-camera snappy pictures, I
would have gotten it. But it didn't and the XTi did, so that's
what I got. If you always shoot raw, I'd go with the K10 for the
IS.

Click to expand...

Too bad you didn't know how to resolve this supposed "issue" before you blew money on a camera. Oh yeah, how often do you print at 100% resolution, which is what it would take to notice the softer edges in Natural mode?
--
http://picasaweb.google.com/chrswggl

Pentax k10d, Sigma 17-70, Pentax 50-200,

You may try to see if this helps. It may help you decide or not. See here:
http://yessnoo.com/Vote.php?topicid=4

DrKines said:

Over the last couple months I have been reading review and
gathering as much info as I can between the Canon XTi and Pentax
K10D cameras.

I am having trouble choosing between these two and could use some
good opinions. I am a novice that likes to take indoor, portrait,
and outdoor shots. I have no current lenses, so this is a pretty
important decision, that will effect my choices down the road. The
decision doesn't need to be soon by any means.

Canon - I have found many of these localy to try out. I love how
responsive this camera is, and it just feels good in general. Also
I have found the two main lenses I would use. Tamron 28-75/F2.8
and Tamron 200-500/F5-6.3. These are in my price range (I cannot
afford 1,300-5,000 canon lenses).

Pentax - I have not found one localy to try out since they have
been sold out since Christmas. The key features I am interested in
are the anti-shake and wheather proof. Unfortunetly I cannot get
the Tamron 200-500 for this camera it seems. So the Sigma 50-500
is the next closest lens, but I don't know how well it would work
with this camera.

I am also interested in Teleconver lens (at least I think that is
the name) either the 1.4X or 2.0X. I am leaning towards the 2X
even though its another Fstop over.

Does anyone have experience between these cameras or with these
lenses?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

--
THIS camera VS THAT camera
http://yessnoo.com

I also seriously considered switching to the Pentax for the IS (have canon DRebel/XT for about 3 years now) and have read many who have and are happy. I tried it in the store and really likes it (despite it's bigger body size) and very easy/quick to access all the advances controls. Much better VF than canon entry levels for sure...

For me the biggest issue was finding long zoom on Pentax. The Tokina 80-400 f4.5-5.6 is not available (I looked for 4 months trying to find the older ones on pentax...), and neither is the Tamron 200-500 you mentioned. I think only Sigma 135-400 and 170-500 are (and bigma which is way too heavy/expensive for my use), and I tried the 135 and didn't like it.

Part of the switch was to save $$ on lenses by having body IS. But instead I'm finding much harder to find lenses there, whereas I can easily find used ones for canon (much bigger market) making it much cheaper to go second hand on canon (especially Tarmon/sigma/tokina brand that loose much more of their values).

Ultimately I would love to have body IS for fast primes, which canon doesn't cover. Still waiting to see what Pentax/Hoya merge brings to the table (could be a risk) and more zoom lenses...

---------------
Alain D

Rebel X T / 3 5 0 D
sigma 1 8 - 2 0 0 mm f3.5/6.3
canon 5 0 mm f 1.8
canon 7 5 - 3 0 0mm f 4-5.6 III
canon 1 8 - 5 5 mm kit
flash 4 2 0 E X

ZeroTX said:

was high ISO performance. In that area, the
Canons blow the doors off of the Pentax. The only one who is close
is Nikon, and they are still lagging in this area, because they're
all using a Sony CCD sensor.

Click to expand...

Amazing....Phil needs glasses so, because on his K10 review at ISO1600 he says of the K10/A100/D80/30D (which is as good as the 400D): "At ISO 1600 it's more difficult to pick a winner, levels of detail are similar however the Canon EOS 30D perhaps has cleaner shadow (dark) areas."
.......hardly blow the doors off stuff or lagging behind!

*****************************************
Packy

http://homepage.eircom.net/~vmax ; for my pic stuff

I seem to remember that the Pentax and Samsung cameras are very similar, it may be worth taking a look at them as well....

Andy

chrswggl said:

Ummmm where have you been??? After all the talk of Bright Mode
versus Natural Mode you STILL haven't caught on. Bright makes the
pictures just as snappy as your lovely canon, don't worry. Check
my site I have a comparison.

Too bad you didn't know how to resolve this supposed "issue" before
you blew money on a camera. Oh yeah, how often do you print at
100% resolution, which is what it would take to notice the softer
edges in Natural mode?

Click to expand...

First, that's a pretty defensive tone. Second, re-read my post and you'll see I was quite complimentary towards the K10. Third, I do have to blow many of my shots up full size as they are used in hospital corridors and patient rooms.

Just for fun, I looked through about 70 topics on K10 sharpness and was not able to find that there is a huge agreement within the Pentax community that the softness challenge has such an easy solution. So I can't say that my assessment, which was thoughtful and pretty complimentary to the K10, was just because I am a "lovely canon" owner. I was trying to impart some helpful information based on the question asked, not trying to slam another camera or anyone's personal preferences.

I understand both your tone and your position, yet it's quite difficult to understand how you don't see the difference. Did you look at my link? It pretty easily shows how sharp these JPEGS can get.
--
http://picasaweb.google.com/chrswggl

Pentax k10d, Sigma 17-70, Pentax 50-200,

Which does better indoor shots, like at weddings?

Most here will say "you are buying into a system"...Well maybe for some, but for lots of people its really only a matter of maybe 3-4 lenses, a flash and you are good. That to me isnt really anything to worry about.

I say go with what feels right and catches your eye more. I like Canon and miss my old 300D a lot...But im ok with my D50 now.

Good luck and happy shopping!!