Pentax K-7 14.6 MP Digital SLR with Shake Reduction and 720p HD Video (Body Only)

Pentax K-7 14.6 MP Digital SLR with Shake Reduction and 720p HD Video (Body Only)

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• High-resolution, 14.6-megapixel CMOS sensor; compact, magnesium alloy body
• Body only; lenses sold separately
• Weather resistant, dustproof, and coldproof (14 degrees F, -10 degrees C)
• Fast 5.2 fps shooting with the new PRIME II Image processing engine; top shutter speed of 1/8000 sec freezes even the fastest action in well-lit settings
• 3-inch LCD; Live View mode, with contrast AF, Face Detection, and optional histogram, grid, and bright/dark area display
• Capture images to SD/SDHC memory cards (not included)

Buy Now : Pentax K-7 14.6 MP Digital SLR with Shake Reduction and 720p HD Video (Body Only)

Brand : Pentax
Category : Electronics,Camera & Photo,Digital Cameras,DSLR Cameras
Rating : 4.2
Price : US $1167.44
Review Count : 88

Pentax K-7 14.6 MP Digital SLR with Shake Reduction and 720p HD Video (Body Only)

• Starting with the impressive Pentax K10 a few years ago, I later welcomed the arrival of the K20 for improvements over a very capable camera. The K20`s 14.6mp CMOS sensor provided much improved high ISO performance so that shooting at ISO 2000 for concert photos was no problem. The individual lens adjustment for auto focus was also a huge plus since lenses that were barely usable on the K10 due to front or back focus problems functioned normally on the K20. I even found that the live view feature was pretty handy for such things as sunrise or sunset pictures where it would be impossible to look through the viewfinder without damaging your eyes. What remained a bit of a disappointment on the K20, however, was the often slow and inaccurate auto focus, the slow burst rate and the finicky white balance performance that much of the time needed constant fiddling to get close to accurate hues under various lighting conditions. There was also the anticipation that high ISO performance would be improved as well. Knowing the K20 limitations, I could usually work around them and still get impressive shots. But there\'s always the expectation of improvement, especially when you start bumping into those limitations and seeing how the competition is moving ahead of what you\'re shooting with.So when the K-7 was suddenly announced, I had hopes for another measureable step forward to answer to the shortcomings of the K20. The first feature that caught my attention was not the HD video capability at 30fps, but rather the entirely new 14.6mp sensor \"built from the ground up\" with the intention of improving high ISO performance, especially in shadow details, as Pentax claimed. Additionally, there was the new 5.2 fps burst rate and improved autofocus performance. That was all I needed to buy the K-7. You can read about all the improvements this camera represents in the other reviews from those who also bought the K-7, so I\'ll keep my comments to those things specific to my experience after a month shooting thousands of JPEG pictures (no, I haven\'t played with RAW yet, and I understand that\'s where the K-7 really does well).Pros:The new smaller size is not what I would have liked. I actually was hoping for a slight increase in the size of the K20 since I just like the feel of a larger camera. However, the solid construction and layout when combined with the optional battery grip made for a satisfying package for comfortable handling. I also like the battery option of standard Pentax K-7 battery or 6 AA batteries in the grip. Without the battery grip, the small size does have advantages for portability/storage, however.The auto white balance improvement over the K20 is huge! Even under various artificial lighting conditions, the white balance is surprisingly accurate. This will save me many hours of post-edit work just to adjust the color balance as I did with my indoor K20 shots.The new shutter is much quieter and smoother. I never really cared for the shutter sounds of the K10 and K20 compared to Canon, Nikon and others. Although still not as smooth and \"precise\" sounding as other cameras, I can live with the K-7 shutter noise. In fact, the quietness is a big plus for taking candid shots when you don\'t want to draw attention to yourself.The 5.2 fps burst rate is a substantial improvement from 3 fps for action shots and is still workable compared to the faster rate of other cameras in the 6 to 8 fps range.The autofocus performance does seem to be improved, although the type of lens you use can make a big difference in focusing speed. I\'ve found that in bright light the fastest focusing lenses are the ones not using the quiet SDM mechanism in the lens, but rather the noisy screw drive in the camera body, although these lenses tend to have less focus travel, helping with focusing speed. I\'ve noticed less \"back-and-forth\" indecision in focusing with the K-7 in low light situations, but the overall speed is probably average amongst the various DSLR makes. The AF assist light is also a nice addition that helps in near-dark situations. Update: A leading photo magazine just tested the K-7 auto focus speed, and compared to their test of the K20, the K-7 looks to be almost 10% faster in all light conditions - according to their tests. That same magazine also tested cameras like the Canon 50D and Nikon D300s where they were about 50% to over 100% faster than the K-7 in medium to low light conditions. Hands-on experience still shows that the Pentax autofocus system is far slower than the competition in lower/low light situations. This can be very frustrating when focus response slows significantly or continues to hunt back and forth while your one or two second photo opportunity has passed before the camera could finally achieve focus and get the shot. In bright light, however, the K-7 and the others are all about the same in focus speed.Cons:I\'m most disappointed with the performance of the new sensor. Throughout my picture-taking with this camera, I noticed an overall tendency for my shots to be just a bit \"noisier\" than the K20 at all ISO settings. After careful JPEG comparisons between my K20 and the K-7 at ISO 2000 using the same lens and same settings, I found that the K-7 had slightly more \"grain\" than the K20. This was especially noticeable in shadows - which is where the biggest improvement was supposed to be. The K20 sensor would best the K-7 at all comparable ISO noise reduction settings with the exception of the highest NR setting. Detail would certainly be reduced in both cameras at that setting, but the K-7 does seem to show more detail despite the increased noise reduction. The only thing I noticed is that the increased detail, or resolution, is accompanied by harsher edge detail like over-sharpening or the way watercolors can bleed along an edge. These issues considered, I would have been no less disappointed if the K-7 had come with the K20 sensor so long as the auto white balance improvement came with it. Not clear what the story is behind the K-7 sensor development (by Samsung) unless it somehow didn\'t quite measure up to what Pentax was expecting in time for the launch date of this new camera.Despite the greatly improved auto white balance, I found that the K-7 still has a bit of a problem rendering red such as red lighting or red colors in stage performance situations. They end up looking a bit washed-out and pinkish.I remain concerned about Pentax quality control. The first copy I did most of my shooting with turned out to have a \"noisy\" flexible back that squeaked and creaked near the buttons and thumb rest. Amazon was spectacular in getting me a replacement in a couple days. The new K-7 is solid - very solid, but I\'ve noticed that pictures on this copy are slightly underexposed. I\'ve been told that there have been some other copies purchased with the same flexible rear body issue.Forgot to mention the little issue with the SD card door: the card is way too close to the door hinge when it\'s open such that I can barely get my fingers on the card to pull it out. I almost resorted to needle nose pliers to do the job.Overall:The K-7 is still a worthy improvement over the K20 despite the disappointing \"non-improvement\" in ISO performance: for me the K20 now becomes a solid backup camera to the K-7. The multitude of features and improvement of the menu and controls and the overall quality of the pictures it can produce, hold up well to competitors in the same general class resulting in a really fine camera choice and better deal in the balance. Mounted with the best Pentax glass, I feel just as capable standing next to the pros shooting with high-end APS-C class Canons or Nikons - the resulting pictures speak for themselves. With the K-7, Pentax is a high-value option for serious enthusiasts.Update 9/23: The 2nd copy I received turned out to have an apparent defective sensor/light metering system - or very odd normal behavior. At all ISO settings above 1250, the image (JPEG and RAW) is underexposed by at least one full stop. A \"problem\" of underexposure with the K-7 is covered in more than one professional review but Pentax says that they are not aware of such issues - so this may be isolated. Looking back at pictures taken with my first copy, it also appears the problem existed to some degree with that one as well. As a result, I\'m personally not confident in the integrity of the new sensor/metering system on the K-7 (and certainly not in the quality control) and will wait until next year before possibly trying my luck with a third copy. In summary, I feel the K-7 needs some serious improvement with the sensor, autofocus system and quality control to better compete with the likes of the 7D and D300s and be a truly outstanding camera as a result. Looking forward to seeing these improvements on their updated K-7 model in the hopefully not-to-distant future. For now I\'ll continue to enjoy my still capable K20.
• The image quality is definitely noticeably improved from the k10d. I typically only use ISO 100, but I still notice a big difference in the noise, much less on the k7. I can only compare this camera to the k10d as that is what I own. Some of the pro features I mention below may be in the k20d, but for that, I cannot say.Big pros compared to the K10d:The live view: This is a huge help if you are using manual focus lenses like the M\'s and A\'s. You can zoom in 8x on the live view and get the focus spot on. It is like a viewfinder magnifier, but way better since it is 8x and since it is not just zoomed at the center of the frame, you can move the view around with the arrows.IR remote in Bulb Mode: On the K10d, you had to use the wired remote to lock the shutter open in Bulb mode. On the k7, you can select in the custom menu for the shutter to be locked with one press of the shutter, then stop the exposure with a second press to the shutter. This was a common sense thing that I always wondered why the k10d did not have that capability.One touch bracketing: Another common sense thing that was not capable with the k10d. In the custom menu you can set it up where if you have selected exposure bracketing (which I do most of the time), then you can hit the shutter once, and it will cycle through all the bracketed exposures that you have selected (either 3 or 5). This is a huge plus for me. Again, on the k10d I had to use the wired remote and lock the shutter for it to cycle through the bracketed exposures one after the other. Now it seems, with this feature and the bulb feature, I can\'t see myself even needing the wired remote anymore, which will save me some time.Composition option: Haven\'t really messed with this one yet, but the ability to move the composition around a little bit (it uses the shake reduction system) without having to move the camera is a plus, especially when using a tripod.Lens correction for da lenses: again, haven\'t tested this in detail to see how well it works, but if it does, this is pretty nice, if it helps reduce chromatic aberration. It definitely does not get rid of chromatic aberration, but it does reduce it. I kind of wish the camera would let you `de-fish\' the fish eye lens, but the zoom fisheye is exempt from the `distortion correction\' option.Image Finishing Tone: This is a cool feature that allows you to adjust the image finishing tone, even when shooting RAW, which is all I shoot. Big plus. I know some may say you can apply this in post processing, but many times you can\'t get it to look the same. Also many times you are taking a picture thinking it would look good in black and white, but then forget to convert it in post processing. This allows you to shoot it in black and white (with color filters), so you don\'t forget later. However, the black and white will not show up in Lightroom, but if you bring it into the included Pentax software it will. That is a downside to it. Make sure to download the newest firmware for the camera, this adds the `reverse film\' finishing tone option which gives a nice warm tone to pics.Small cons:The size: I know you can\'t please everyone, and the majority of people think the smaller the camera the better, but if you have big hands, you will definitely want the grip. I feel my hands cramping on this one when I hold it for a while, without the grip. I had the grip on the k10d, which is a bigger body overall, so the size is a huge shock to my hand. I ordered the grip right away after holding it for a bit.Multifocus points: if you are using the focusing option where you select from the 11 focus points, you have to hit the `ok\' button before moving the focus around. On the k10d you could move them around from the get-go without pressing the `ok\' button. I understand they had to do that now that they made the directional arrows, also menu keys. UPDATE TO THIS: There is actually a custom menu option where you can reverse this. You can set the default for the arrows to move the focus point without hitting the ok button. Then, when you hit the ok button you select the menu options each of those arrows point to. I started getting used to hitting the ok button before moving the focal point, now I have to train myself not to do that!Extra step for exposure bracketing and shake reduction: Before you could do these options without going into any menus, now you have to go into the info menu to select/deselect these. I figured the best way around this for me is just saving my most typical settings in the USER menu. I set my user menu to have exposure bracketing x5, shake reduction off (I use a tripod most of the time), aperture priority... which I will use about 95% of the time, so not a big deal if you are like me and have a setting you use that frequently that you can save in the USER menu.It seems like there is some common issues with the rear edial on this camera for some people. They vary, and the latest firmware update was supposed to fix some of those issues. However, the first one I received when I moved the rear edial to the left it would sometimes decrease my aperture value and sometimes increase it, so it was not working correctly. (it did the same thing when using it to zoom in and out on a photo, it would zoom in a little, then zoom out a little). FYI, this one is not a grip issue as it did it with the grip connected and disconnected, and I had the latest firmware. So I sent that one back to Amazon. The new one seems to be working fine, although I haven\'t shot a ton with it, but I will be this weekend.In closing, a big step up from the k10d, but I cannot speak to if it is a big step up from the k20d. They should be releasing the k5 here pretty soon so you may want to wait for that one, or hit that perfect window right after it is released and get the k7 for cheap.

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