PentaxLife » Digital SLR cameras » K10D Forcing RAW As Default

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  • Started 11 months ago by RacerX69
  • Latest reply from cyberlord

  1. RacerX69
    Member

    Hello,

    I have used Pentax cameras and lenses for over 37 years. I recently entered the digital arena with an *istDL. Great camera and it hooked me on the new digital world. When the K10D came out I had to have one and when the price came down a bit I picked one up. It is wonderful to have the instant gratification of seeing my images and not having to wait for (or pay for) the film processing. It is also nice to only print those images that I feel are worth the investment of paper and ink.

    The only complaint I have is that I cannot figure out how to set the camera to use RAW as the default picture format. Every time I use the camera I have to go into the menu and change the setting from JPEG to RAW. If I let the camera set idle long enough for it to go into standby when I touch the shutter button it has returned to JPEG. This has frustrated me to no end! In my humble opinion, JPEG is a waste of time and space. Sure, it has its place and use, but if I want a JPEG I can always choose to "save as" on the computer when I am reviewing and processing the results of my amateur photographic efforts.

    So am I the only one who suffers from this frustration? If not does anyone know of a way to force RAW as the default?

    Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

    Thanks,
    Bob

    Posted: 2007-12-08 17:45:06 #

  2. keithw
    Member

    Hi Bob

    You can do this using the Menu button. You should have the Rec mode visible. Scroll down onto the next screen and select the File Format option. You can now choose between JPG, RAW, & RAW+ (both RAW & JPG). Having selected RAW the next option down allows you to selct the RAW format; PEF or DNG. PEF is Pentax's proprietary RAW format whereas DNG is the Adobe format. The main advantage of PEF is that it produces much smaller file sizes while still being lossless.

    Hope that helps, happy shooting!

    Keith

    Posted: 2007-12-09 11:06:02 #

  3. RacerX69
    Member

    Hi Keith,

    Thanks for the reply. With your suggestion I figured out how to do it. I set the Mode Dial to User, pressed the Menu button, in the User menu I changed the File Format to RAW, then navigated to Set Up/USER and pressed OK. This saved RAW as the default image format permanently, but only for the USER Mode. So I set the Mode Dial to Aperture Priority and did the same process and viola!, now RAW is the default image format for all settings.

    It would be nice if the user manual wasn't so vague and lacking with this type of information. There is a steep learning curve when a person steps up from film to digital cameras, so much more to learn and know. My old film cameras had like, 3 or 4 dials and buttons. The K10D has 23 and many are multi function. With time and help from folks like you I'll get there.

    Thanks for the help.
    Bob

    Posted: 2007-12-09 19:49:31 #

  4. elhocid
    Member

    I have RAW+ forced as default for every exposure mode. It is easy, you just have to select which settings will survive camera restart and which you want restored to factory default.
    It is very convenient to use and kudos to Pentax for this feature which I missed badly on my previous digital cameras.

    Posted: 2007-12-12 11:22:07 #

  5. cyberlord
    Member

    Yes I agree, all Pentax manuals are very vague and sometimes incorrect or misleading.

    I've started a blog about the K10D camera and currently am discussing the menu settings.

    Check out this entry on how to set camera to RAW mode.

    Posted: 2007-12-12 14:02:32 #

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