I’ve been going back and forth between a Nikon D80 and the Pentax K10D. I really wanted a nice DSLR that’s not too tight on the budget. Nikon’s are usually on the expensive side, but the D80 wasn’t too bad and it was something I can afford. However, the K10D is a little cheaper and it has better features (more features). But Pentax does not produce that many lenses, and Nikon lenses seem to be everywhere. Granted, there are other lens makers out there that produce specifically for Pentax. And considering that I’m not a professional (although I am a hobbyist), I should not really worry about the availability of lenses out there for now. For the past two weeks, I’ve been reading up on the K10D. I haven’t gotten my hands on it yet, nor have I seen one physically. But it has really good reviews!

It is somewhat comparable to Canon’s 30D (basically, it’s just an expensive 20D – which is a revamped 10D – which is an older version of another Canon camera…). And the K10D is between the D80 and the D200. I know that on my “Photgraphy” link on my website, I mentioned that I really wanted a D200, but let’s be realistic here… it’s too much for me. Not to mention, I’m expecting a baby soon! But I will leave that dream for someone else – if anyone out there wants to give me a D200, please do so. I will gladly accept it. For now, I will settle for something cheaper.

So, D80 or K10D? From the reviews I’ve read so far, both on the D80 and the K10D, I’m leaning more towards the K10D. It is dust and weather-proof, and has shake reduction. Not to mention, you can choose to shoot RAW on the fly – instead of fiddling around for that perfect setup.

I tested the D80, Sony A100, and the Canon 400D (Rebel xti). The 400D was out of the question because it just felt too cheap for me. The Sony alpha A100 was really nice, however, I read bad reviews about it. And when I tested it, it felt like it was lacking something. To be fair, Sony is kinda new in the arena since they just bought Konica/Minolta. They will probably get better, but c’mon… it’s Sony! The problem with them is most of their stuff is proprietary (think Blu-Ray, Rambus, BetaMax, etc.,..). So, I kinda have some beef with them.

The Nikon D80 was really, really nice. It felt like it belonged in my hand. I actually wanted to take it home. It had the best kit lens out there! (The same one they have for the D200). But the battery on the one I was testing was probably dying out. I couldn’t test shooting continuously! So i’m not really sure about it’s capabilities.

And so, I guess i’m buying the K10D! A friend actually told me about it. He has the Pentax K100D… a cheaper 6mp camera. But he also told me that I should get the best body out there I can afford, and just worry about the lenses. It’s really the lenses that captures the best photographs (and the photographer, of course!).