Pentax K100D or Canon Rebel XT?

[rxintern]

Hello. I'm having trouble deciding between the Pentax K100D and the Canon Rebel XT. I found the Pentax with an 18-55mm lens to be $699.99 or $619.99 without the lens. I found the Rebel XT to be $699.99 with a similar 18-55 lens.
I could save some money on the pentax by using a Tamron 60-300mm f/3.8-5.4 Telephoto Manual Focus Zoom Lens that I already have(plus a 3x tele converter and 24mm lens). I also like the anti-shake built into the camera.
I've seen good reviews on the Rebel XT, and I'm surprised I could get it at the same price as the Pentax w/ lens. Is that Rebel XT significantly better? I will not have a telephoto lens for it..and I'm not going to buy a lens anytime soon. Also, I'm not too fond of the anti-shake being lens-dependent. However, is that extra 2 megapixels and more options worth not having a telephoto lens...for now?
I have my trusty old ricoh kr-30sp, and a maxxum 5 with 28-90, 100-300 lenses for my film needs. I really wanted to get my feet wet with DSLR so its easier to print off my epson r800.
If anyone owns the Pentax k100d and the canon rebel xt, or have tried both, I will be grateful for your opinions. I'm willing to listen to anyone with their 2 cents too
Thanks in advance,
Angelo

[mwfanelli]

Hello. I'm having trouble deciding between the Pentax K100D and the Canon Rebel XT. I found the Pentax with an 18-55mm lens to be $699.99 or $619.99 without the lens. I found the Rebel XT to be $699.99 with a similar 18-55 lens.
I could save some money on the pentax by using a Tamron 60-300mm f/3.8-5.4 Telephoto Manual Focus Zoom Lens that I already have(plus a 3x tele converter and 24mm lens). I also like the anti-shake built into the camera.
I've seen good reviews on the Rebel XT, and I'm surprised I could get it at the same price as the Pentax w/ lens. Is that Rebel XT significantly better? I will not have a telephoto lens for it..and I'm not going to buy a lens anytime soon. Also, I'm not too fond of the anti-shake being lens-dependent. However, is that extra 2 megapixels and more options worth not having a telephoto lens...for now?
I have my trusty old ricoh kr-30sp, and a maxxum 5 with 28-90, 100-300 lenses for my film needs. I really wanted to get my feet wet with DSLR so its easier to print off my epson r800.
If anyone owns the Pentax k100d and the canon rebel xt, or have tried both, I will be grateful for your opinions. I'm willing to listen to anyone with their 2 cents too
Thanks in advance,
Angelo

They are both excellent cameras. Go to a store and pick them up, look through the viewfinders, manipulate the controls. Which one do YOU like best?

I own Canon equipment now but have a bias towards Pentax. Pentax has always had much better ergonomics for me and the metering has always been better. You have the advantage of using the telephoto you have right now until you can affortd another.

Image stabilization works well both ways. In-the-lenses seems to work a bit better but, as you say, you have to pay for it each time you buy a lens. Is the better performance worth the extra money? Will you personally see the difference? Only you know!

You can't go wrong with either of these cameras.

[rxintern]

Thanks for the input. My birthday is in a month, so I'm I have that long until I can treat myself to the camera. I'm leaning toward the Pentax K100d and have ruled out the rebelxt. However, I've noticed the sony alpha and I'm tempted to go that route especially if I can ok a $200 budget increase from 699 to 899. I just found out that I can use my Minolta lens from my maxxum 5 (28-90mm, 100-300mm) and its 10mp instead of 6mp. If I can find a way to generate 200 more in my budget, the sony will be mine. Otherwise, I think the Pentax will be a fine camera nonetheless.

Thanks

[mwfanelli]

Thanks for the input. My birthday is in a month, so I'm I have that long until I can treat myself to the camera. I'm leaning toward the Pentax K100d and have ruled out the rebelxt. However, I've noticed the sony alpha and I'm tempted to go that route especially if I can ok a $200 budget increase from 699 to 899. I just found out that I can use my Minolta lens from my maxxum 5 (28-90mm, 100-300mm) and its 10mp instead of 6mp. If I can find a way to generate 200 more in my budget, the sony will be mine. Otherwise, I think the Pentax will be a fine camera nonetheless.

Thanks

Just a hint. If you want the Sony, wait a while. It just came out and is the first DSLR under the Sony name. My well-proven rule-of-thumb is NEVER be a first adopter.

Also, don't get caught up in the magapixel nonsense, there is so much more that contributes to a good image. The difference between 6 MP and 8MP is not as large as it sounds and I doubt you could tell the difference.

[danag42]

Hello. I'm having trouble deciding between the Pentax K100D and the Canon Rebel XT. I found the Pentax with an 18-55mm lens to be $699.99 or $619.99 without the lens. I found the Rebel XT to be $699.99 with a similar 18-55 lens.
I could save some money on the pentax by using a Tamron 60-300mm f/3.8-5.4 Telephoto Manual Focus Zoom Lens that I already have(plus a 3x tele converter and 24mm lens). I also like the anti-shake built into the camera.
I've seen good reviews on the Rebel XT, and I'm surprised I could get it at the same price as the Pentax w/ lens. Is that Rebel XT significantly better?
I will not have a telephoto lens for it..and I'm not going to buy a lens anytime soon. Also, I'm not too fond of the anti-shake being lens-dependent. However, is that extra 2 megapixels and more options worth not having a telephoto lens...for now?
I have my trusty old ricoh kr-30sp, and a maxxum 5 with 28-90, 100-300 lenses for my film needs. I really wanted to get my feet wet with DSLR so its easier to print off my epson r800.
If anyone owns the Pentax k100d and the canon rebel xt, or have tried both, I will be grateful for your opinions. I'm willing to listen to anyone with their 2 cents too
Thanks in advance,
Angelo

The difference between 6 megapixels and 8 megapixels is not worth discussing. Both are fine cameras.

The Pentax has the better viewfinder, and if you hand-hold the camera a lot, anti-shake is a good thing. It's built into the body of the Pentax, so every lens becomes an anti-shake lens. For a lot less money!!!!!

Since your lenses will fit the Pentax, it's a no-brainer. Buy the body that your lenses will fit on!! No point spending a lot of money to get what you already have. Either system is excellent!