 A hands on review of Pentax's new flagship digital SLR |
| Review Date: May 9, 2008 |
| Reviewer: James E. Maynard, Seattle WA USA |
I have been a Pentax owner since the 1950's when the first Heiland Pentax SLR was introduced to the market. This is my 3rd Pentax digital SLR, the first two being the 6 megapixel 1stDS and the 10 megapixel K10D. This new model is a significant upgrade from the K10D, and at 14.6 megapixels, provides significantly more resolution in the crops I make from the original images. What this allows is for me to go to smaller crops (increased area enlargement) and still maintain excellent resolution. Another significant feature is the new imaging device from Samsung, producing, for me, low noise excellent quality photos at sensitivities as high as 1600 ISO.
To me, one of the most significant features of this camera, also found on my earlier K10D, is the RAW button on the left side of the camera body. This enables me to shoot most of my photos in JPEG, but allows me to go to RAW for a single image that I really want to get the most out of. This feature really conserves memory card space, but allows shooting of intermittent RAW images when they are really needed. This is a feature that I believe is unique to Pentax. At the highest quality (least compression) JPEG setting, the camera produces 10 megabyte images, which provide plenty of detail and excellent color.
The quality of the shake reduction capability seems, to me, to be improved over the K10D. I have been able to shoot sharp photos at F3.5 at a 30th of a second at a focal length of 250 mm.
The camera is extremely well built and, for this reason, is slightly heavier than other brands of comparable size. But the small extra weight and the fact that the camera feels well in the hand makes for really steady shots.
A new feature is live image production on the 2.7 inch rear screen, which is somewhat larger than that on the K10D. Being a long time SLR user, I don't use this feature very much. But it seems to be the up and coming thing on new digital SLR's.
The internal software of the camera has really been upgraded and includes an in camera capability to convert RAW images to TIFF or JPEG, a really neat feature if one is on the road and doesn't have access to the computer software necessary to process RAW images but yet wants to view them on other portable imaging devices.
I bought my camera without a lens and separately purchased the new 18-250 F 3.5-6.3 Pentax zoom lens and the 50 mm F 1.4 Pentax lens, which serves as a very short telephoto, wonderful for taking pictures of people. This is the combination I would recommend. The 18-250 appears to be manufactured for Pentax by TAMRON and is an excellent lens in my opinion. It is also quite versatile, giving a 28 mm field of view at wide angle and 375 mm at full telephoto. The 50mm F 1.4 is really inexpensive, at about $199 from reputable internet dealers, and is one of the sharpest lenses ever produced by Pentax. This lens is a real "sleeper" and should be owned by any Pentax DSLR owner for low light and portrait photography.
At about $1250-1299 street price for the body alone, the camera is not cheap. But it is a prosumer model and priced somewhat below comparable Canon and Nikon models. It is providing me with wonderful performance and I highly recommend it.
Dr. James E. Maynard |
Unquestionably best camera I ever touched. Unbelievable photographic tool!
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| Review Date: March 17, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Alex Vox, Winnetka, IL |
I had a pleasure to use this Pentax's baby for three days. This camera takes photography as far as it never was before under $8.000 price tag. The image quality is stunning. I especially like this rich tremendous color rendition that looks like mid format color slide of 6x9. The tone gradations are simply endless. If you take picture of sunset it will be the best sunset you ever seen.
I will not describe endless technical data details but I must stress how smart, convenient and relevant all the menus! You have a photography tools in your hands, not the computerized toy for browsing menus. The controls placement is the best I ever seen in any brand. Everything is under your fingers, everything is assignable. The camera reacts in the way you expect, it feels solid, complete.
It is pleasure to hold it, the balance is very good. This camera's software allows remote shooting (just like k10d) and if used in studio may be entirely controlled by computer. The ability to use the internal flash as a controller is very nice! The ability to store preview is very nice! The shift preview on shutter is super cool! The viewfinder is nice, clear and bright!If you had experience with K10D, you will find these awesome Pentax invented modes related to auto ISO settings.
The image quality is second to none. While there are many good cameras are around, this one of the league on itself. The tonality, sharpness, expressiveness of this cam is outstanding. What is even more outstanding is the combination of shooting experiences that end up in the final image. You feel that you control it to any degree you wish. The final image may be whatever you tune it to be. Make a profile and get it over sharpened as Canon, oversaturated as Sony or over contrasted as Nikon. Mix is in any way you pleased. You have any number of cameras inside. I personally enjoyed portraits and nature shots I made with it. With awesome tonal variations, countless gradations in shadows, natural and lifelike skin tones. This camera does equally good job on dark skins as well. And it looks real, photographically rich and not exaggerated.
In short, my three days of hands on experience with this camera I walked off very impressed. Hugely impressed. |
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