Nikon D80 vs. Pentax K10D

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Dr. Maturin - 24 Sep 2006 23:16 GMT

I would like to make the jump to dslr sometime soon, in the next year
at least. I have Leica M4 & Nikon F 35mm equipment now, late '60's
vintage. Was really keen on getting Nikon D80, but am having second
thoughts with the Pentax K10D coming out.
The big attraction of it is the weather proof seals. I love to shoot
landscapes & nature on canoe trips.On river trips you don't even need
rain to get dampness & moisture into a camera. The in-camera IS sounds
appealing too, although I have read some opinions that it works better
if its in the lense
I know Nikon to genearlly be a quality product, but I know little to
nothing about Pentax. Anyone care to put out their thoughts about the
merits of these 2 cameras and the respective lenses? Would the lense
quality be comparable, assuming comparable price points?
Am wondering also if the K10D is going to push Nikon and the others
toward models with similar weather seals, within the next year or so?
Another camera that intrigues me is the Panasonic Lumix DMC L1. If for
no other reason than the Leica lense and the fact that it roughly
resembles my beloved M4. And I also like their traditional control
architecture, at least in theory.Since I have not handled any of these
cameras to date. But the Lumix is also considerably more expensive than
the other two.

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Stig Vidar Hovland - 25 Sep 2006 07:27 GMT

"Dr. Maturin" <aschuh@cogeco.ca> wrote in news:1159136188.487157.9930
@i3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

> I would like to make the jump to dslr sometime soon, in the next year
> at least. I have Leica M4 & Nikon F 35mm equipment now, late '60's
> vintage. Was really keen on getting Nikon D80, but am having second
> thoughts with the Pentax K10D coming out.
> The big attraction of it is the weather proof seals. I love to shoot
> landscapes & nature on canoe trips.On river trips you don't even need

Nobody know how good these seals are. We have to wait a month or two
until its available in the shops before any user reports will be
available.

> rain to get dampness & moisture into a camera. The in-camera IS sounds
> appealing too, although I have read some opinions that it works better
> if its in the lense

Yes, most people say so, but they haven't tested the Pentax yet. Pentax
claims 2-4 stops improvement. And Pentax compensate for rotational
movement which is impossible to achive in a lens.

> I know Nikon to genearlly be a quality product, but I know little to
> nothing about Pentax. Anyone care to put out their thoughts about the

Pentax is the oldest SLR manufacturer and they know how to make these
cameras. No worries.

Nikon D80 is a very good camera, indeed. But as you found out it hasn't
any weather seals which K10D have. Both use the same Sony sensor so I
expect image quality to be comparable.

Stig Vidar Hovland

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Pete D - 25 Sep 2006 09:02 GMT

> "Dr. Maturin" <aschuh@cogeco.ca> wrote in news:1159136188.487157.9930
> @i3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> until its available in the shops before any user reports will be
> available.

Reasonable to expect that they will be better than having none.

>> rain to get dampness & moisture into a camera. The in-camera IS sounds
>> appealing too, although I have read some opinions that it works better
>> if its in the lense

There has only been the Minolta/Sony 5/7D/A100 to compare to so far, the
early Canon IS was only good for 2 stops sometimes, the Pentax SR in the
K10D is said to be good for 2-4 stops depending on the circumstances, we
will see just how good it is soon.

> Yes, most people say so, but they haven't tested the Pentax yet. Pentax
> claims 2-4 stops improvement. And Pentax compensate for rotational
> movement which is impossible to achive in a lens.

If you want in lens IS and are happy to pay for it for each lens then get
the Nikon.

>> I know Nikon to genearlly be a quality product, but I know little to
>> nothing about Pentax. Anyone care to put out their thoughts about the
>
> Pentax is the oldest SLR manufacturer and they know how to make these
> cameras. No worries.

The new K10D is even heavier than a 30D so it is built solidly.

> Nikon D80 is a very good camera, indeed. But as you found out it hasn't
> any weather seals which K10D have. Both use the same Sony sensor so I
> expect image quality to be comparable.

Where have you seen that it is the same sensor, the only photo of the sensor
I have seen from the K10D it looks different, I would like to see more info
on this.

> Stig Vidar Hovland

Cheers.

Pete D

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Stig Vidar Hovland - 25 Sep 2006 09:44 GMT

> Where have you seen that it is the same sensor, the only photo of the
> sensor I have seen from the K10D it looks different, I would like to
> see more info on this.

In this thread on dpreview. http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?
forum=1036&message=20154746

I know the image for the D80 is no longer there, but they showed identical
sensors. Yes, I know there could be some differences anyway, but I don't
think these differences are substantial and images from D80 and K10 will
still be comparable and very similar in quality.

Stig Vidar Hovland

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Pete D - 25 Sep 2006 12:56 GMT

>> Where have you seen that it is the same sensor, the only photo of the
>> sensor I have seen from the K10D it looks different, I would like to
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> Stig Vidar Hovland

I have a large shot of the D80 sensor but not the K10D, anyway as you say
they can still vary a fair bit, apparently the A100 uses the same one as
well but I am not impressed by the A100 shots, yet the D80 shots seem pretty
good. Of course the real test is how well they print, I had a 12x18 print
done today from a shot I took on a 6MP D-SLR and the result is what I would
call excellent, really looking forward to some bigger prints from my new
10MP D-SLR. :-)

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