The last Pentax SLR we reviewed, the K100D, was pleasing enough but disappointing in certain respects. The main issue was that it's cosmetically and technically hard to distinguish from all the Pentax cameras that have gone before, even down to the now ordinary 6-megapixel sensor.

The pictures are rather good, in that they have some of the richness and depth that many digital photographers might think have gone forever in the switch from film to digital. But that isn't enough on its own. All the other major players have introduced 10-megapixel models, and it's apparent that this increase in resolution really does make a difference to the level of detail in the images.

Pentax really needed a 10-megapixel SLR. But would a 10-megapixel variant of its existing SLR design really make much difference? Well, the question's academic, because the K10D is emphatically not a higher-resolution version of the same camera. It's a completely new model.

This isn't obvious from published pictures of the K10D, but it's immediately apparent when you see it in the flesh - and when you pick it up and feel the weight. Where previous Pentax cameras were solid but a bit toy-like in their dimensions, this one clearly means business. Any thoughts of comparing it to the dinky Canon EOS 400D are banished.

Instead, you start to compare it to the Nikon D80 (which looks a bit plasticky by comparison) and find it rivals the pricey EOS 30D for smooth-cornered solidity.

RAW power

With two control wheels rather than one, it's easy to make quick and intuitive adjustments to the shutter speed and aperture. The mode dial is completely free of amateur-orientated scene modes, and you can shoot in two RAW modes.

You can shoot standard Pentax RAW (PEF) files and convert them using the bundled Pentax Photo Laboratory software, or you can shoot Adobe DNG files and open them in many different RAW converters, without having to wait for a camera-specific update.