Pentax K-5 16.3 MP Digital SLR with 3-Inch LCD (Black Body Only)

Pentax K-5 16.3 MP Digital SLR with 3-Inch LCD (Black Body Only)

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• 16.3-megapixel CMOS sensor; 80-12800 ISO range with improved noise performance
• Body only; lenses sold separately
• Widescreen 1080p HD video at 25 FPS, with sound via built-in or external 3.5mm stereo microphone jack
• 6-7fps captures fast action shots; 11-point SAFOX IX+ autofocus system with dedicated AF assist lamp and light wavelength sensor
• Large 3-inch LCD with 921,000 dots of resolution; fully weather-sealed and coldproof design
• SDXC memory card compatibility (via firmware update)

Buy Now : Pentax K-5 16.3 MP Digital SLR with 3-Inch LCD (Black Body Only)

Brand : Pentax
Category : Electronics,Camera & Photo,Digital Cameras,DSLR Cameras
Rating : 4.4
ListPrice : US $611.29
Price : US $611.29
Review Count : 206

Pentax K-5 16.3 MP Digital SLR with 3-Inch LCD (Black Body Only)

• This won\'t be a technical review. You can read technical reviews elsewhere, for instance on dpreview. Just 1 comment on these reviews. Most of them praise the K-5 and rank it higher than the very popular and close to the K-5 Nikon D7000 (they share the same sensor). Except for 2 things: high introductory price and lenses availability. Now the price has dropped and K-5 is now cheaper than any of its equivalent competitors. Lenses selection is not an issue in case you know that the lens you need is available (most of us do not need all 100 or 200 available lenses, right?).It is so common nowadays to ask a lot (more) of a product. I remember when I was choosing my first digital camera and it always seemed like there is no ideal solution - every option was lacking in 1 or more ways. Either the zoom was not enough or the size was too big or the price was too high or the quality was not good enough ... And this theme reappeared every time I was involved in helping my friends choosing a digital camera (including dSLRs)This is the first time ever I was so satisfied with a product I was not able to find anything extra to wish for for quite a while and even now after owning it for 5 months I can only think of a few very minor extras which could imho be added through a firmware update).I was shooting film recently and thus \"spoiled\" by Full Frame (35mm) format. digital FF was out of my price range though. After getting the K-5 I feel I don\'t need/want FF anymore.PROS:- according to reviews it is better and now also cheaper than any competitor = a win-win situation (closest and imho almost even competitor is Nikon D7000)- backwards compatibility with all Pentax-made lenses- the best body for adapting 3-rd party M-42 and M-39 lenses. Infinity focus = yes, focus confirmation = yes unlike Nikon or Canon which are either impossible to adapt or require tricky adapters which do affect image quality as far as I know.- a unique range of very compact \"limited\" primes.- great and tight Pentaxians communityCONS:- Pentax is not doing well as a company. It has been bought twice in the last few years and nobody knows if it will recover (personally I\'m optimistic)- Pentax is not very common in the US, which means you will have fewer opportunities to swap lenses with your friends or get first-hand advice from another Pentax shooter you know in person (in my case the closest Pentax shooter I know lives thousands of miles away). This might be a big issue for some.- consequences of the above is that used lenses for rental are hard to find and Pentax availability in BM stores is very limited.- biggest issue is maybe lesser selection of lenses than Canon or Nikon. An alarming fact is that 3rd party manufacturers (Tamron, Sigma etc) are disregarding Pentax mount more and more often. Hopefully this will change with newly instituted policies by Pentax-Ricoh. To me personally this issue is balanced by 2 factors: M-42 lenses which work best on Pentax and I have a bunch of them and the fact that the lens I needed was present in the Pentax mount line up (Tamron 17-50 f2.8) at the same price as other mounts.Note: the new owner of Pentax (Ricoh) seams to be doing a lot to rebuild the Pentax brand in the US so maybe soon the above will not be an issue anymore. It looks to me Pentax is on the right track now. Only time will tell if that\'s really the case though.How did I personally arrive to buying the Pentax K-5:I have no brand loyality what\'s so ever, however my search was driven by what are the most popular models nevertheless.When I was picking my dSLR in November 2011 I started with looking at FF options first. The by far best value at that time was Canon 5D MarkII, you could get body-only at ~$2000 (now even cheaper). This was definitely out of my price range though, so I started looking at higher end APS-C dSLRs.I started with Canon and Nikon offerings (Canon 7D and 60D and Nikon D7000). Not only was the Nikon newer than either Canon option, it was also ranked higher by most reviewers and was a better value. 7D looked way overpriced, a bit outdated (it is 1 year older model than 60D or D7000) and seemed to have less features on-paper. It is supposed to be a higher end camera and I\'m sure those who know what it offers that the lower-end models do not have can benefit from it. 60D with its plastic body was a noticeably more lower-end than the Nikon. Anyway my conclusion was that unlike with Full Frame Canon doesn\'t really offer a good option in the $1k-2k price range, unlike the Nikon with its D7000. So I was set to get the Nikon.While reading Nikon D7000 reviews I\'ve learned of the almost equivalent due to the same sensor Pentax K-5. Reviews were ranking it (slightly) higher than the D7000 (both were the same price at that moment ~$1200 for the body). I was still inclined towards the Nikon, as it was a much more popular and widespread camera. But then there was a $230 discount on the Pentax and I have jumped on it. Lens selection was not an issue, I\'ve glanced at lens options and noticed that you can build your system with either brand at similar cost especially if you consider 3rd party offerings.I have never regretted the decision to go with Pentax K-5. In addition to being the best in its class and being the best value I got compatibility with my M42 and M39 lenses I have not been fully aware of at the time of purchase.I will only mention 2 of the presumed technical issues with K-5:- AF front-focusing in some conditions (tungsten low light) - I have experienced this myself, though it\'s not a big issue to me and can be easily avoided. There is an extensive analysis on this issue by a German Pentaxian who also holds a PhD in theoretical physics :) Falk Lumo.- Pentax TTL flash mode is overexposing sometimes. Many reports on it are user error though. I\'m not 100% sure that what I have experienced isn\'t consequence of my errors either. Not a big issue for me as I tend to use manual flash mode more often to achieve the desired flash effect anyway. Flash own exposure mode (the A-mode) works fine.It seems to be commonly accepted that Nikon offers better AF and better flash system. I don\'t know how true is that. (Nikon D7000 btw also had some AF issues like the Pentax K-5).Both issues are easy to go around though unless your needs are very specific and happen to rely a lot on these 2. Note: as far as I know Nikon is not issue free either, so do your research carefully.Bottom line:At current prices you can\'t go wrong with Pentax K-5 provided the lens you need is available and its price is competitive with other brands.Note: Pentax K-5 is not issue free as any other camera.I give it 5 stars for being exactly what I want. The issues I have mentioned proved not to be limiting to me in any way and thus do not affect my rating.
• Pros:Image quality is amazing.FeaturesCons:Price.AF system still lacking, albeit improved *UPDATE: Download the 1.03 Firmware and reset your camera to fix low light front focus *Purple fringingBottom line:This camera is what the K-7 should have been 1.5 years ago. This is a superb Pentax, definitely the best APS-C Pentax to date. However, I can\'t help feel that the camera is overpriced, even though the image quality does make it almost worth the asking price alone. Again, if this camera were released 1.5 years ago instead of the K-7, I would have given it 5 stars. The market has changed since then.Review:The first thing I did with the camera was shoot a fund raising gala in a moderately lit banquet hall. The first thing I noticed is how little improvement there was in focus for this situation. The lenses were still slow to lock on and had trouble with the differing light (Sigma 30mm f/1.4, SMCP FA 77 f/1.8, and SMCP 60-250mm f/4). The flash exposure was about the same as the K-7 (P-TTL doesn\'t work well for bounce flash at any sort of distance), so the first thing I did was change the flash to \"A\" mode (auto thyristor where the flash sets exposure) and got much better results.When I reviewed the pictures I was shocked at how noise free they were. Even the ISO 6400 shot from the 60-250mm was relatively clean, probably about like ISO 1600 on my K-7. I could even recover underexposed ISO 1600 shots, something I would never dream of doing on the K-7.The shutter is like the K-7, and it might even be quieter. Definitely the quietest APS-C sensor camera I have used (quieter than a D300s or 7d), and also refined feeling. Not the squeaky sounding shutter in some of the older Pentax\'s.The next thing I noticed when shooting in bright high contrast situations was how much purple fringing it shows. Doing side by side comparisons between it and my K-7, I noticed the K-7 was relatively purple fringe free, where this camera fringed quite noticeably. Think the difference between the K10d and K20d (K20d had almost no purple fringing where K10d had a lot). This shouldn\'t be a deal breaker for most, but be aware of it. Proper RAW developing can take care of much of it.Recommendation:This is certainly the best Pentax to date. The image quality is amazing, the feature set of the K-5 is excellent, and the camera is certainly a step up. If it is worth the asking price is a decision each individual has to make. I think with a better AF system it would easily be worth the asking price.

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