In summary
A solidly-built, high-resolution DSLR camera with an above-average feature set and some innovative and useful functions.Samsung continues to re-badge Pentax DSLR cameras with its latest GX10 model, this time selecting the excellent Pentax K10D as its base. The strategy has helped both companies to spread the distribution of the camera as the Samsung model will sell well in countries where its brand is more familiar and the Pentax, likewise. Some subtle differences can be found in the menu displays but just about every feature that made the K10D so good is duplicated in the GX10. That’s not a bad thing – and it’s helped Samsung to produce its best DSLR camera yet. . . [more]
Full review
Samsung continues to re-badge Pentax DSLR cameras with its latest GX10 model, this time selecting the excellent Pentax K10D as its base. The strategy has helped both companies to spread the distribution of the camera as the Samsung model will sell well in countries where its brand is more familiar and the Pentax, likewise. Some subtle differences can be found in the menu displays but just about every feature that made the K10D so good is duplicated in the GX10. That’s not a bad thing – and it’s helped Samsung to produce its best DSLR camera yet.
Physically, the Samsung GX10 closely resembles the Pentax K10D.
Bundled with the GX10 is a Schneider-Kreuznach D-Xenon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens, which covers a focal length range equivalent to 28-84.2mm in 35mm format. This lens is compact in size and, at 225 grams, relatively light. But it’s not particularly fast. The lens has comfortable rubber-coated focus and zoom rings and comes with a petal-shaped lens hood, which is easy to attach and reverses over the lens for storage. Filter size is 52mm.
The following features have been carried over from the Pentax K10D:
1. The weather-resistant body sealing and locking SD card compartment..
2. The Pentax-developed, body-integrated ‘Shake Reduction’ (SR) system, which gives roughly one stop of exposure advantage.
3. The overall body design and control layout – including the one-touch raw button.
4. The CCD image sensor.
5. The mode dial with its expanded range of shooting modes.
6. All the white balance options.
7. The built-in flash.
8. The dust minimisation system.
We recommend readers refer to the K10D review on this website for details of these features.
Some minor variations have been introduced by Samsung to distinguish the GX10 from the Pentax camera. One of the more noticeable of these is the labelling or the focus selector on the front body panel, where Samsung uses SAF and CAF in place of Pentax’s AF.S and AF.C designations. Styling of the lever control also varies slightly between the two cameras. The Pentax’s button controls and labels are generally slightly larger than those on the Samsung but some of Samsung’s menu labels are easier to identify and understand.
One significant difference between the Samsung and Pentax cameras is the GX10’s exclusive use of the universal DNG format for its raw files, whereas the K10D offers the choice of PEF and DNG. Samsung doesn’t use the Pentax SAFOX VIII branding for its AF system but appears to offer a very similar 11-point TTL phase-matching method.
Both cameras’ user manuals are very similar, although the way the contents have been arranged differs slightly. In some ways the Samsung manual provides a more logical flow of information for novice users. However, both manuals present plenty of illustrations and comprehensive instructions to make it easy for novice users to operate the cameras. Both manuals provide instructions for cleaning the CCD.
Software
The GX10 is supplied with Digimax RAW Converter, which offers a similar range of adjustments to the version of Camera Raw used in Adobe’s Photoshop Elements. Colour adjustments are provided in the White Balance section, which includes a drop-down menu of white balance pre-sets similar to those provided in the camera. Sliders allow fine tuning of colour temperature, tint and saturation. The Exposure section contains sliders for adjusting EV, Shadows, Brightness and Contrast with Auto-adjust check boxes for all four parameters.
The main page of Digimax RAW Converter.
Page 2 of the Settings menu covers Sharpness, Smoothing and Colour Noise Reduction, while page three covers Lens adjustments to correct Chromatic Aberration and Vignetting. Two sliders are provided for correcting each aberration. The final page contains a fairly standard Curve adjustment with a drop-down menu that has four settings: Linear, Medium Contrast, Strong Contrast and Custom (which allows you to drag selected points on the curve in or out).
Some of the controls provided by Digimax RAW Converter.
Saving options are limited to JPEG or 16-bit TIFF, which creates files that are about 57MB in size. The main window of Digimax RAW Converter carries adjustments for fitting the viewed image in the window, displaying it at 1:1 size, enlarging a selected portion of the picture and moving the enlarged section. You can also use the eyedropper tool to adjust the colour balance of the shot by clicking on a neutral hue and rotate the image clockwise or anti-clockwise. A magnifying slider with plus and minus settings is located in the top right corner, while a Picture Tray column runs down the right side of the main window.
Straightforward to use, Digimax RAW Converter should suit most photographers who require a capable raw file converter. Missing functions include cropping and straightening controls but these actions can be performed in editing software after the raw files have been converted.
Performance
Not surprisingly, pictures taken with the test camera were similar to those from the Pentax K10D. Colours were bright and images had plenty of detail with no evidence of over-sharpening. Raw files were excellent and the supplied software allowed a full dynamic range to be extracted, even from shots taken in bright, contrasty conditions. Backlighting was very well handled and we found little flare in our test shots.
Image noise levels were generally low and the resulting files were clean. Long exposures at night produced better results with the Samsung GX10 than the K10D. Even at ISO 1600, noise was barely visible and colours were natural looking. Noise reduction processing is applied by default for exposures longer than a second. It doubles file processing times but can be switched off by the Custom menu. No stuck pixels were detected.
Imatest showed the test camera to be capable of high resolution but revealed a slight edge-to-edge softening with the supplied lens. This was confirmed by checking general test shots. Colour accuracy was significantly below that of the Pentax K10D, with shifts in cyan and olive green and elevated saturation in red and orange hues. We also found noticeable purple/green fringing at the edges of shots taken in bright conditions, which was similar to the fringing on the test shots from the K10D. However, lateral chromatic aberration was generally low.
Auto white balance performance was equally unimpressive and although the pre-sets produced more natural colour rendition, some colour casts remained. Manual measurement produced close-to-accurate colours and the camera’s fine-tuning facility allows user to correct minor casts. Flash performance was as good as the K10D, with evenly-balanced exposures from ISO 200 upwards and only slight under-exposure at ISO 100.
White balance fine-tuning.
We measured an average capture lag of 0.3 seconds, which reduced to less than 0.1 seconds with pre-focusing. Shot-to-shot times averaged just over three seconds without flash and around five seconds when flash was used. In continuous shooting mode, RAW+ JPEG files were recorded at intervals of 0.5 seconds for eight frames, after which frame rates slowed to just over one frame/second.
Conclusion
Like its Pentax ‘cousin’, the Samsung GX10 is a well-built DSLR with above-average performance. Its well-designed and solidly built body is comfortable to hold and it includes plenty of premium features for its price. The kit lens is a good complement to the camera body and covers a useful focal length range and its performance is close to that of the lenses offered with the K10D.
Whether you should choose the GX10 over the K10D is a moot point as the two cameras are so similar. On the basis of the sample cameras we used for our tests, the Samsung model appeared to have better noise reduction, while the Pentax delivered more accurate colours in outdoor shots. But the differences are slight enough to be irrelevant to most potential buyers.
IMATEST GRAPHS
SAMPLE IMAGES
Close-up.
Auto white balance with incandescent lighting.
Manual measurement plus fine tuning allows natural colours to be reproduced.
An enlarged section of a long exposure at ISO 1600.
Backlighting.
Skin tones.
Outdoor scene.
Specifications
Image sensor: 23.5 x 15.7 mm CCD with 10.75 million photosites (10.2 megapixels effective)
Lens mount: Pentax KAF
Focal length crop factor: 1.5x
Image formats: RAW (DNG), JPEG (Exif 2.21)
Image Sizes: 3872 x 2592, 3008 x 2000, 1824 x 1216
Shutter speed range: 30 ~ 1/4,000 sec. plus Bulb
Self-timer: 12 sec. or 2 sec. delay
Image Stabilisation: Image sensor shift mechanism; OPS (optical picture stabilisation)
Dust removal: Image sensor vibration system
Exposure Compensation: ±3EV in 1/3EV or 1/2EV steps
Focus system: TTL phase-matching, 11 points wide AF
Focus modes: Single, Continuous AF plus Manual focus
Exposure metering/control: TTL open-aperture 16-segment (coupled with lens and AF information); Multi, Centre-weighted & Spot Metering; Auto, P, A, S, S+A and M shooting modes.
Colour space options: sRGB, Adobe RGB
Custom functions: 17
ISO range: Auto, 100, 200, 400, 1600
White balance: Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent (W, D, N), Flash, Manual; Kelvin settings plus fine-tuning.
Flash: Built-in retractable P-TTL auto pop-up flash; GN 11 (ISO 100); 1/180 sec synch.
Sequence shooting: 3 fps for JPEG (memory dependent) and for 9 RAW frames
Storage Media: SD or SDHC card
Viewfinder: Pentaprism, Natural-Bright-Matte Focusing Screen, FOV: 95%
LCD monitor: 2.5-inch Low-temperature polysilicon TFT colour display with approximately 210,000 dots
PC interface: USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
Power supply: D-LI50 rechargeable lithium-ion battery
Dimensions (wxhxd): 142 x 101 x 71.5 mm
Weight: 710g (body only)
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Ted’s Cameras
1800 186 895
Big range of cameras and photographic products with stores in most states and online.
Rating
RRP: $1599
Rating (out of 10):
- Build: 9.5
- Ease of use: 8.5
- Image quality: 8
- OVERALL: 9