The Best Pentax Digital SLR Camera

Selecting the best Pentax digital SLR camera is straightforward.

Pentax offers three cameras, each one more feature-rich than the next and each one with an appropriate increase in price.

Which one of these three should you choose?

The answer to this question is a balance between the level of your photographic skill and how much you're willing to pay for a digital SLR.

Beginner / Inexpensive

If the following two statements apply to you...

You have never operated a digital SLR camera of any kind before in your life
You don't want to spend more than $500 on a digital SLR camera

Then the best Pentax digital SLR for you is the K110D.

It's small, it's light, it's easy to use (since it doesn't have a gazillion features) and it won't cost you an arm and a leg to get it.

If you don't see yourself leveraging a lot of features like aperture, shutter speed, ISO, anti-shake and just want to take snapshots of family vacations, then this is the camera to start with.

The best part? Even if you start out with a fairly simple camera like this one and purchase a few lenses to go with it, those same lenses will work with a more advanced Pentax digital SLR if you upgrade later on.

Intermediate / Moderately Expensive

The next camera in line is the best for you if:

You've never used an SLR but are familiar with the advanced controls of your compact digital camera
You're not familiar with how SLRs operate, but you'd like to learn more
You think that you'll take a lot of photos in low-light conditions
You don't want to spend more than $600 on a new camera

In this case, the Pentax digital SLR that fits the bill is the K100D.

This camera is notable because it features built-in anti-shake, a feature that helps you get clear shots when you hold the camera in your hands. It works with every lens that you can attach to the K100D.

Is it a feature that you will use all the time? Not necessarily.

That's why I think the K100D is the best digital SLR for photographers who already know a bit about SLR cameras and want to push the limits of what these cameras can capture.

If you're taking pictures in broad daylight, then you'll never need to use a feature like anti-shake.

But if you're more inclined to take photos indoors or in low-light conditions then anti-shake is a valuable feature that you will take advantage of many times.

Advanced / Expensive

Finally we come to a camera that has been getting rave reviews, and is certainly the best Pentax digital SLR if you have used these cameras before.

This camera will be the best Pentax digital SLR for you if:

You want to make huge prints of your digital photos
You've used either digital or film SLR cameras before
You live in an area where there's a lot of water and/or sand
You want to exert a lot of control over your camera settings and expect to change them frequently

The camera in question is the K10D, a 10 megapixel camera that is challenging other competing models from Canon, Nikon and Sony.

In order to play in this market, you have to bring a lot of features to the table, and the K10D does just that.

It has the same built-in anti-shake as the K100D, a dust-repellent sensor, 11 autofocus points and weather sealing (making the camera resistant to dust, grit and rain).

Additional notable features of this camera are the ones that only advanced amateurs will truly appreciate:

A button that instantly switches from JPG capture to RAW
Sensitivity Priority mode - you change the ISO setting and let the camera do the rest
Digital previews - the camera takes a photo that it doesn't save to the memory card and displays the image on the LCD so you can fine-tune camera settings

It's because of special features like these that I don't recommend this camera for beginners.

If you're looking for a camera to grow into over the next couple of years, then the K10D may very well be the best Pentax digital SLR for you.

If many of the features that I just listed read like an alien language (which you have no desire to learn) then stick with one of the other two cameras that I've listed above.