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The Pentax K10D is an affordable digital SLR camera which features a 10.2-megapixel resolution and dust-proof and weather-resistant body, as well as an effective shake reduction system. It is a really interesting digital SLR camera - it won the 2007 Best D-SLR Expert award from the Technical Image Press Association.

Its all-weather body features 72 seals throughout the camera to allow photographers to continue shooting even in dusty or rainy environments.

Users of Pentax film SLRs who want to shift to a digital system will be able to use their K-mount lenses. They will also benefit from its body-integral shake-reduction feature, which is quite effective within a maximum of 2.5 stops.

Another useful feature of the K10D is its dust-removal system, which incorporates a special coating on the imager's low-pass filter. The system uses the SR shift mechanism to shake accumulated dust off of the CCD.

The camera has very good performance and captures high-quality, high-resolution pictures. It took only 4/10 second from power on until the first shot was captured. Its shutter lag was less than 1/10 second pre-focused and between 2/10 and 6/10 second including a single autofocus of the 18-55mm DA lens.

During a test, the SLR captured well-exposed pictures with good colour saturation. Newcomers may take some time to familiarise and make the most of the camera because it has no pre-programmed "scene" modes on the mode dial. Users must learn to memorise an exposure mode and settings for instant recall by using the "user" setting.

The K10D compensates for this by providing two unique shooting modes that vary shutter speed, aperture and sensitivity to achieve proper exposure. The two modes are shutter and aperture-priority mode and sensitivity mode. Another drawback is that the K10D is quite heavy. It weighs 790 grams with battery and SD card. Its body measures 141.5 x 101 x 70 mm. The Pentax K10D is distributed in Thailand by Central Trading for Bt35,900.