A Digital S.L.R. With Some Top-of-the-Line Features but Not the Higher Price
A Digital S.L.R. With Some Top-of-the-Line Features but Not the Higher Price
New York Times, United States
It is a classic gadget-world situation: features that start off in a top-of-the-line model eventually migrate down the product line. Some features from the K10D single-lens reflex camera, for example, which Pentax prices at $899.95, show up in the $599 K100D Super, which shipped this week.
Though it lacks its older sibling’s weather seals and 10-megapixel sensor, the 6.1-megapixel K100D Super does give you a removable 18-55 millimeter zoom lens, the same sophisticated processor and the same image stabilization and sensor dust cleaner. Strategies for keeping dust motes away from light-gathering surfaces are a rare new feature in digital S.L.R.’s
The camera is compatible with Pentax’s new SDM series of lenses with quiet supersonic motors, also shipping this week. And, with adaptors, any Pentax lens, even those from the ancient film era, can be made to work.
The K100D Super is small — 5.1 by 3.6 by 2.8 inches — and light, at 23.5 ounces with batteries. Interestingly, these are AA batteries, which may allow further weight economy by letting you pack just one charger for both the camera and an external flash. MARTY KATZ
Add comment August 10th, 2007