Product Description

Samsung GX-10 Professional digital SLR camera with 10.2 M image- sensor OPS shake reduction system with image sensor shift mechanism Image sensor dust removal system Sealed build, resistant to water & dust Field of view 95%, bright Pentaprism viewfinder (0.95X magnification) SCHNEIDER D-XENON Lens

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #67218 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Samsung Camera
• Model: GX10 Twin Kit
• Released on: 2006-12-19
• Dimensions: 4.41 pounds

Manufacturer's Description

		Optical Image Stabilisation OIS utilises a "floating" sensor system that offers 3-way stabilisation by shifting in the opposite direction to horizontal, vertical or diagonal movement correcting even the tiniest of camera shakes. This allows you to take clear, natural pictures without blur, even in low light conditions.
		Dual Dust Reduction Special anti-dust coating keeps pictures free from blemishes. A gentle vibration removes any particles of dust.
		Pentaprism with 95% field of view A glass pentaprism guarantees that what you see is exactly what you get. Plus, a wide (95%) field of view gives you a broader, brighter shot, and the ability to crop accurately within the viewfinder.
		Precise Auto-Focus Precise auto focus points make it ideal for shooting subjects at both short and long distance.
		Weatherproof body GX-10's body is specially crafted to resist the influx of water or dust. A secure silicone seal has been implemented at 72 different points, including the shutter and other important buttons, to ensure that nothing harmful enters the camera.
		One-Touch RAW Button A convenient One Touch RAW button saves images in their "pure", uncompressed state, so that you can fully manipulate the photograph later without losing clarity.
		Continuous Shooting A high-speed motor drive shooting function (3 frames/sec), enables you to capture movement without blur. When shooting in JPEG mode, continuous shooting is limitless (within the memory capacity).

Customer Reviews

The Forgotten Champion!
[...]

This D-SLR camera has a 10.14 mega pixel CCD sensor with a focal conversion factor of approx. 1.5 which means that if you fit a 50mm length prime lens onto this camera it then becomes a 75mm lens which is great as a portrait lens. However, if you like to use say a 20mm wide angle lens then it becomes a 30mm lens in effect. These are but two examples of what is commonly known as the 'Crop Factor'.

The usual Auto, Program, Aperture and Shutter priority modes are present together with Manual. There's also a Sensitivity Priority mode in which you can set the sensitivity of the camera to suit to the lighting conditions and the camera will automatically set the correct aperture & shutter speed.

The D-XENON 18-55mm kit lens manufactured by Schneider-Kreuznach (Who? Well they are a well known German manufacturer of Optics, especially lenses that are used in Hollywood for the movie business.) is as good as any kit lens from the likes of Canon or Nikon etc..

However, the D-XENON 50-200mm telephoto-zoom lens has got to be the best value for money lens going. When I view photos I've taken with this lens I'm blown away by the crip, contrast images that I see. I don't see any chromatic abberations nor lens distortion at all (I have not done any clinical tests yet so I'm going by what I can and cannot see.) This is the lens that I usually fit and they attach to the body using the Pentax K mount, which means you can use all lenses with this mount as from year dot. Of course there's some restrictions, for instance if you attach a manual focusing lens to this camera, don't expect it to become an auto focusing lens as if by magic, and on some lenses you will have to set the aperture ring manually (Ah, the good old days).

However, the trouble I have with the Samsung GX-10 is that wherever you look on the Internet for information you'll only find reviews for the Pentax K10D. This is by no means a bad thing of course but I get the impression that if it a'int a Pentax, it a'int worth having. Take no notice of those snobs, this is a Pentax in Samsung's garb. The only differences I can see are cosmetic and that the Samsung has, in addition to the usual JPEG file, a single .DNG RAW file format which is used by Adobe. Pentax have these two files formats plus their own PEF RAW file.

There is of course the in body image stabilizer known here as OPS (or as I call it "Oops" lol) and this means that any lens fitted is an image stabilized lens at a fraction of the cost of say a Canon or Nikon lens. There is also the many wheather protection seals incorporated into the design and there are wheatherproof lenses coming from Pentax later this year.

Another downside to the Samsung is that they are way behind Pentax when it comes to releasing firmware updates and drivers. I keep checking their website but nothing new yet. However, you can use all of the Pentax K10D accessories on this D-SLR. I haven't Emailed Samsung yet to find out if the Pentax version 1.10 firmware release is 100% compatible with the GX-10. It's not a chance I'm willing to take without proof.

There's also Samsung's Digimax Master and Digimax RAW Converter software supplied but I cannot comment on these as I use Photoshop, but as far as I can tell they're good enough for the job. (as my comments about Pentax only reviews on the Web).

There is so much more to this camera that I could go on all day writing about it, so I won't.

However, one last piece of advice, regardless of what lens you fit to whatever camera, and regardless on how much it costs, FIT an UV lens filter at least to it to protect the outer glass element. These cost only a few quid as apposed to [...]s that some lens can cost.

A very Fine Camera
Let me explain up front that I am an Ex Sony Alpha user. I will refer to the Alpha in this review just for comparison purposes. OK lets kick of with the Is it a Pentax thing..... Well yes it probably is. It certainly costs less but the real point here is does it take good pictures and the answer to that is yes too. The supplied lenses are probably the best I have seen bundled with a camera. The 18-55 is also a realy pleasant surprise. I was thinking I would need a specialist Macro lens, but not a bit of it. This lens does the job very well at close range.Overall it's performance is very good, good strong SHARP images from a lens designed for a digital camera. The 200mm is not as sharp and still comes up a bit short from 300mm lenses I am used to. But it is still very good with a level of detail that is really impressive. To give you some idea a 2 person head shot shot with some surrounding fill can be cropped to 1 single eye and a bit of surround and printed at 5X4 and look like it was shot at full resolution, yes that good.

If you are wondering why I have said so nuch about the glass it really is that important. I dipped out on the Sony alpha because I used Ex Minolta SLR glass I had to decide if I was prepared to spend several hundred pounds on new glass to get some decent, ghost free, shots. I didn't like the camera controls so I binned the lot for this. It's the best decision I ever made, the Samsung is a joy to use. The Sony is not a bad camera but if you want to move away from Point and shoot 35mm compacts this is not the camera to go for. It retains too many budget features that distract. It takes to long to setup. Then when you switch it off it resets itself. No such problems with the samsung. It deals in the important basics, allowing the photographer to be creative and work quickly. Get the white ballance right (and the camera will often do this for you) and you have a quality piece of equipment that will produce top rate images. It will shoot indoors in low light and give stunning results. I really could go on more but I am sure you have got the picture, this is a fantastic camera that is way underpriced because it does not carry a pentax badge. Buy it before everyone else does, and good luck with your photography.............Sorry Sony.

Stunning
I hasten to say that I did not purchase this camera from Amazon because if I was lookng at parting with the sum they are asking I would have bought the Pentax K10D only due to the residual value that I believe the Pentax name may have. Fortunately though I only paid £599.99 from Argos for the twin lens kit and my initial impressions when examining the 200+ photos taken so far is that it is excellent.

I was concerned with reviews that said the camera was noisey when focussing, took a while to lock on to subjects, the shutter clanked, that it was quite heavy and that there was the sense something was loose in side due to the OPS system.

Well let me tell you the focussing is spot on and I cannot tell the difference when comparing it to like priced cameras. It is by no means excessively noisey although the USM of the canon lens is quieter and as far as shutter noise goes it sounds a great deal better that the Sony A100, marginally better than the canon and as refined as the nikon D80.

The knocking inside the camera, when you do notice it, is reassuringly dampned indicating to me that it is part and parcel of the camera and I am not concerned in the slightest with this. Also you do have to deliberately rock the camera with a bit of force to get it to make any noise.

When it comes to the weight 200g which is about the difference between this camera and the ones from Canon and Sony is a bonus as the camera feels better balanced. The extra size also allows you to position your fingers for comfort as opposed to having this decision dictated to you by the lack of room and, on the sony at least, over moulding of the hand grip.

Yes this camera is a rebadged Pentax K10D (so what!) with some tweaking from Samsung on design and interface but it is a quality DSLR with weather/dust seals, proper locks on the battery and memory compartments, both lenses have metal mounts and it comes with a 2 year warranty and I feel it warrants being recognised as a camera in its own right in the current line up.

I did not already own any SLR equipment as I traded my old film SLR an EOS30e when I bought a Minolta A1 3 years ago, This camera suffered from the dreaded sensor fault and was given the lethal injection by my insurance company hence the releasing of funds for this venture into DSLR land. If I had owned some lenses and flash units etc from a certain marque then the choice would have been different but as I don't the GX10 made financial sense.

I bought the camera on its merits and to take quality photos and not to advertise brand loyalty, also lets face it technology moves on so quickly now that within 3 years most of the current crop of DSLRs and their "kit" lenses will have little resale value anyway.

I would not hesitate in recommending this camera, but a word of caution if you are a real beginner in photography be prepared to do some reading on the finer details of technique re shutter and iso speeds, aperture settings and the like as the camera is not adorned with the various scene modes as found on the point and shoot and entry level DSLR cameras, you are very much put in control of the camera, thankfully the auto setting produces amazing results whilst you study!