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By Tan Peng Koon
Jan 15, 2007

The K110D is Pentax's entry-level dSLR with a 6.1-megapixel sensor, an 11-point autofocus system and auto sensitivity control up to ISO 3,200. It runs on four AA-sized batteries which makes it easy and convenient to find replacement power almost anywhere. The camera uses the K-mount which ensures that it is backward-compatible with the legion of lenses that the company has produced over the years. However, if you're looking for a shooter with a built-in anti-shake feature, opt for the K100D instead.

Design
The Pentax K110D is not the lightest camera in its class, but neither is it overweight. It sits well in hand and carrying it around for long periods isn't a problem. The camera is well built, feels solid and sturdy enough for rugged use. Its textured rubber grip instills confidence, but the finger grip has a sharp edge that feels a little uncomfortable.

A directional key controls the autofocus point selection and, when pressed together with the function button, provides access to white balance, ISO, flash control and various shooting modes. The simple and clean user interface makes the learning curve gentler for beginners, yet intuitive enough for more advanced users. What we didn't quite fancy was the placement of the thumbwheel. If you look through the viewfinder with your left eye, you'll probably grumble about the uncomfortable positioning of the thumbwheel.

The connection ports are protected by a plastic lid instead of rubber seals and there's a door on the lens hood that slides, allowing quick adjustment to lens filters during shooting. The kit lens also feels solid. Although the zoom ring was a little stiff initially, it feels nicely damped after a while.

Features
The K110D has a 2.5-inch color LCD screen for the viewing of images as well as menu settings. Playback is bright and clear, and didn't wash out even under strong sunlight. The main display shows camera settings briefly during startup so users know which shooting mode they are in. There's also a top panel for users to take a quick glance at current camera settings, something which Canon's EOS 400D didn't have. One complaint is that the K110D does not display the current ISO setting in the viewfinder and on the status LCD.

Another nifty feature that Pentax engineers have included is the instant shot preview function. It can be accessed by pushing the on/off switch clockwise past the On position. What this does is that it allows users to take a picture without writing to the memory card which is useful for quick checking of exposure, focus, depth-of-field etc.

Part of the K110D's selling point is the in-camera picture-editing function, which Pentax has named "digital filters", for post-processing pictures to black-and-white, sepia, and other color overlays. The "slimming" filter takes the cake for stretching and distorting pictures to make your subjects look slimmer. This we figured would be a hit with the women. Users also have the option of saving their edited work as a new frame.

While still somewhat rudimentary and not as robust as advanced photo-editing software, this feature works great when users prefer to print directly from the camera using PictBridge or don't want the hassle of having to upload their pictures to their computers to do basic editing.

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