The Pentax K10D has an auto mode that takes over the camera – exposure, ISO, white balance, flash, metering mode, focus and focus mode – what's left is to point the camera, zoom, and press the shutter. The auto mode is activated by turning the mode dial to the green rectangle.

 

Movie Mode

The K10D has no movie mode. DSLRs just aren't built for making movies.

 

Pentax says the K10D will shoot 3 frames per second indefinitely when recording JPEGs, or up to 9 frames in RAW mode. We couldn't verify these figures with the disabled camera at the Photokina booth. The speed is useful for portraits and weddings, but slow for sports. Competing cameras, such as the Nikon D200 and the Canon EOS 30D, hit 5 fps, with longer RAW bursts.

 

The K10D has a self timer that can be set to 2 or 12-second delays.

 

The limits placed on the demonstration camera limit our understanding of the Pentax K10D's playback mode. It clearly offers magnification high enough to check sharpness – apparently, up to the point where a pixel on the display corresponds to a single pixel in the image. Pentax literature indicates that full exposure and shooting parameter data are also available, as well as red, green blue and luminance histograms. The camera also has a gamut warning

 

There is a slideshow function, and editing functions including 4 types of black and white conversion, 3 choices of sepia toning, 18 color effects, and a slimming filter. We look forward to describing these fully in our complete review.

 

The Pentax K10D does not offer custom image presets in the typical sense, but users can create one of their own with the USER mode. The features usually set by cameras’ presets can be saved in this mode. The lack of presets indicates that Pentax does not see the K10D as an entry-level camera, or one for the casual shooter.