Отзывы о Фотоаппарат Pentax K-1 Mark II Kit

I have had the camera for over a month and have taken over 7000 photos with it, testing it extensively and this is my review based on my experiences. I am a hobby photographer, with about twenty five years' experience, coming from the old film SLRs, to a point and shoot and now I finally got the K30 as my first DSLR.

I did extensive research on this camera and the competitors before I got it, and there are many negatives and positives for each brand, which I will not go into here, but I will tell you why I chose the K30.

The main reasons were the proven sensor technology from the K-5, the cheapest weatherproof and most robust DSLR ever, and an improved AF system over the K-5.
The weatherproofing and excellent pictures are what drew me back to the K30 every time I considered the competitors.

Please note, the 18-135mm kit is resistant to dust and water, whereas the 18-55 WR kit lens is only resistant to water, and not dust. The AL lens pictured in the photo here at Amazon may be neither, and I would enquire before purchase to make sure. I purchased the kit in Germany with the 18-55 WR kit lens because I wanted to get a couple of other lenses as well and the budget did not allow the 18-135mm kit lens.

If I had to do it again, I would probably go for the 18-135mm off the bat, though the 18-55 kit, for the very cheap price does not disappoint.

Please be aware that this camera, even with the 18-55 kit, is not a travel compact camera. The 18-135mm is a tad larger than the 18-55 too. It is a good-sized and weight DSLR. If you are looking for a point and shoot or something you can stuff in your pocket this is not the camera you want. If you put the 40mm pancake lens on it, it makes it much smaller and inconspicuous for street photography and general tourism. The limited pancake lens is stunningly amazing, but so is the price, however worth every penny. Just look at the reviews here on it.

For those who like it short and sweet, in no particular order:

The good:

+ photo quality is fantastic

+ AF is quick and usually quite precise

+ menu is super and it is very easy to change all the parameters, two wheels also make this very easy and from the INFO button, you can change any parameter pretty much on the fly.

+ Two wheels for settings, this makes manual changes to the settings very comfortable

+ Very good build quality, it just sits well in the hand, and it fells very solid and robust. You can hold it in your right hand all day without thinking it may drop.

+ 100% viewfinder!! I use this almost exclusively. It is really that great, this was a big plus point for me too coming from a SLR

+ the meter on this camera is very, very good, giving good shadow details even in harsh lighting situations

+ Weather-resistant!! I have had this camera out taking pictures twice while it was pissing rain and the camera was completely soaked...not a worry at all, it takes a licking!

+ Excellent dynamic range

+ good shots at high ISOs

+ Looks great, very sleek and arresting in its style.

+ Built-in flash is quite good surprisingly.

+ quick menu changes, almost no lag at startup, shut down or when flipping between menus

+ fine focus adjustment for lenses (usually only found on much more expensive models), this means, if your lens if focusing in front or behind your chosen focus point, you can adjust this with the camera to compensate. This is really good news, because it would require a trip back to the seller for cameras that do not do this.

+ built-in time-lapse photography...this is cool! You usually need an external gadget for this

+ Focus peaking for those who like to manually focus is really nice, though I do not use it much as I do not use LV as I mentioned above.

The bad:

- My camera has front focus issues, and each lens I have needs compensation to make them focus properly, but this is pretty easily done, and with such a camera should be done for every lens you buy anyway, but I would have liked to just be able to plug n play as it were. Kit = -8, Tamron = -5 and 40mm limited = -5

- Video quality is good, but sound in MONO...in other words, you do not want this camera if video is your main thing. This is a super duper still camera, but will leave you wanting in the video sound department. Sure, you can do sound externally, but there are DSLRs out there that do not require that for the same price. Why Pentax did not include Stereo sound on this is really beyond me...

- No HDMI out, again hits the video guys, not so much the still guys like me. I do take the occasional video but always download it to PC anyway and have never played one directly to my TV even on my camera that could. For me no big deal, but make sure you know what y

I have had the camera for over a month and have taken over 7000 photos with it, testing it extensively and this is my review based on my experiences. I am a hobby photographer, with about twenty five years' experience, coming from the old film SLRs, to a point and shoot and now I finally got the K30 as my first DSLR.

I did extensive research on this camera and the competitors before I got it, and there are many negatives and positives for each brand, which I will not go into here, but I will tell you why I chose the K30.

The main reasons were the proven sensor technology from the K-5, the cheapest weatherproof and most robust DSLR ever, and an improved AF system over the K-5.
The weatherproofing and excellent pictures are what drew me back to the K30 every time I considered the competitors.

Please note, the 18-135mm kit is resistant to dust and water, whereas the 18-55 WR kit lens is only resistant to water, and not dust. The AL lens pictured in the photo here at Amazon may be neither, and I would enquire before purchase to make sure. I purchased the kit in Germany with the 18-55 WR kit lens because I wanted to get a couple of other lenses as well and the budget did not allow the 18-135mm kit lens.

If I had to do it again, I would probably go for the 18-135mm off the bat, though the 18-55 kit, for the very cheap price does not disappoint.

For those who like it short and sweet, in no particular order:

The good:

+ photo quality is fantastic

+ AF is quick and usually quite precise

+ menu is super and it is very easy to change all the parameters, two wheels also make this very easy and from the INFO button, you can change any parameter pretty much on the fly.

+ Two wheels for settings, this makes manual changes to the settings very comfortable

+ Very good build quality, it just sits well in the hand, and it fells very solid and robust. You can hold it in your right hand all day without thinking it may drop.

+ 100% viewfinder!! I use this almost exclusively. It is really that great, this was a big plus point for me too coming from a SLR

+ the meter on this camera is very, very good, giving good shadow details even in harsh lighting situations

+ Weather-resistant!! I have had this camera out taking pictures twice while it was pissing rain and the camera was completely soaked...not a worry at all, it takes a licking!

+ Excellent dynamic range

+ good shots at high ISOs

+ Looks great, very sleek and arresting in its style.

+ Built-in flash is quite good surprisingly.

+ quick menu changes, almost no lag at startup, shut down or when flipping between menus

+ fine focus adjustment for lenses (usually only found on much more expensive models), this means, if your lens if focusing in front or behind your chosen focus point, you can adjust this with the camera to compensate. This is really good news, because it would require a trip back to the seller for cameras that do not do this.

+ built-in time-lapse photography...this is cool! You usually need an external gadget for this

+ Focus peaking for those who like to manually focus is really nice, though I do not use it much as I do not use LV as I mentioned above.

The bad:

- My camera has front focus issues, and each lens I have needs compensation to make them focus properly, but this is pretty easily done, and with such a camera should be done for every lens you buy anyway, but I would have liked to just be able to plug n play as it were. Kit = -8, Tamron = -5 and 40mm limited = -5

- Video quality is good, but sound in MONO...in other words, you do not want this camera if video is your main thing. This is a super duper still camera, but will leave you wanting in the video sound department. Sure, you can do sound externally, but there are DSLRs out there that do not require that for the same price. Why Pentax did not include Stereo sound on this is really beyond me...

- No HDMI out, again hits the video guys, not so much the still guys like me. I do take the occasional video but always download it to PC anyway and have never played one directly to my TV even on my camera that could. For me no big deal, but make sure you know what you are getting when you get it!

- The auto flash is wacky, sometimes giving too slow of a shutter speed when not necessary, but the pictures still come out fine.

What you should know before you buy this camera:

It takes excellent pictures, but it does require basic knowledge of ISO/Shutter Speed, and Aperture settings if you want to take full advantage of this camera's potential. It is aimed at the hobby enthusiast market, i.e. those who know about the basics, or are willing to invest their time to learn them, to t

I've had this camera for a few months now, and I love it. I bought the twin lens kit option. The camera feels very comfortable to hold and sturdy too. The menu and controls are very easy and intuitive to use. It's my first SLR type camera and after playing with the exposure settings (I spent the first few weeks only using Manual mode), I've been very happy with the results. I have found when using the 18-55mm lens that images benefit from post processing for lens correction and custom sharpening in Photoshop, which makes the results very satisfactory. Generally, I find with the 50-200mm lens that no post processing is required and that images have a really nice warmth - it seems great for family portraits.

The twin lens kit seems a great package, and since buying this camera have bought a Pentax 50mm f/1.8 SMC DA Lens - and this is the lens I use the most now - a really great match with this camera producing pin sharp images when compared with the two lenses that came with this kit,

I can't say how this camera compares with others, but aside from the post processing I feel I have to do when using the 18-55mm lens, I find it just about perfect.

Disclaimer, I own an older Pentax, but not this particular model, I plan to upgrade soon, but I can already tell you why you should consider one. I am in no way affiliated with Pentax, I'm just a snap-happy customer.

Pentax (aka Richoh Imaging), just from my personal experience, have a great US based support organisation, Real People on the end of a telephone, who answer when you call. You know the old fashioned style of customer service where you could ask a question without hassle? It may be a dying art, but Pentax seem to be old school on this one. OK, the web site is also somewhat old school, but I will forgive them that.

I am writing this review as I had reason to contact them today, for an issue I had upgrading my old "K-100 D Super". I called them on the phone, as the web form looked intimidating. After a polite, "So sorry, we may be delayed due to snowfall" message, I nethertheless quite quickly got through to a support agent. It turned out the problem I thought I had was in fact a simple case of me getting confused over model numbers and firmware versions, it was a little embarrassing, but I followed up with a few questions about the more recent models, and whether I could use my old lens collection (yes), the guy was well informed, no need to hand off to sales, he was polite and communicated clearly, I am a little hard of hearing.

What good experience, As soon as I got off the phone I decided to look around on Amazon for a good deal, got here, and wanted to share something that otherwise could be overlooked when making a camera selection.

*** Quality of Support ***

Fantastic bit of kit, compares favourably to its Nikon and Canon counterparts. It is a beginner to intermediate level DSLR, and once you understand that, you can really appreciate its well-crafted fully weather sealed body shape and the tech that lies beneath. It is not a flagship model and nor should it be. It wouldn't be my first choice as a studio camera because it has no dedicated flash sync input and it also has a cropped sensor rather than full frame one. It has a slightly clunky sounding shutter release, but you can forgive it for those little quibbles as soon as you hold it in your hands and start shooting

It's nicely weighted and it feels good and sturdy in the hands. Pentax has a great reputation for its lenses and crystal clear optics so you won't be left wanting when it comes to getting sharp, clean images. Improvements over its predecessor, the Pentax k30 - better iso capabilities for night time photography, ability to use eye fi wireless SD cards to transmit photos directly back to a PC - make it a great choice for most types of photography.

I had been put off by the large size DSLR's and matching huge lenses. I looked around and had (for the added image quality and enhanced low light ability) decided to get a full frame (FF) Canon or Nikon, but the entry price and enormous files didn't appeal; this is no joke, huge files take a fast processor and a LOT of hard drive, something you may want to consider. I took a look at the Pentax K5 and found a relatively compact camera with some large advantages. It's constructed with a magnesium and stainless steel frame and feels it. It feels solid and the switches have a positive and solid feel; it fits the hand well. It is weatherproofed, something important with electronic gear -a light rain can be an expensive one without this feature; weatherproofed lenses are also available. It has a nearly 100% viewfinder which is a rarity, what you see is what you get with no guessing at the edges. Using a viewfinder for composing is advantageous, since the camera is held to the eye it also is anchored by the head, arms and body, something the two arms outstretched stance to view with an LCD screen will not do. It also closes off extraneous elements that might otherwise distract. It has a built in shake reduction system, so any lens, regardless of manufacturer, has this benefit. It allows the lenses to be smaller, a welcome feature. It does not have the vast number of lenses available that Nikon/Canon have, so if you need or want that many lenses, it might be best to look elsewhere. Having said that, the lenses available are extremely well regarded for sharpness and contrast, for example a macro that actually goes 1:1 instead of the common 1:2 magnification, and the limited series of lenses that are not only sharp, but exquisitely made of metal. It's entirely possible to carry a camera and keep 2 other prime lenses comfortably in your pockets. Last, it is backwards compatible with all Pentax lenses, which is a considerable number. Using a viewfinder to compose makes the battery last an impressively long time; using the Live View will proportionately decrease battery life. The K5 is an excellent low light performer with little noise, in fact it continues to surprise using a relatively high ISO rating(ISO is the relative sensitivity to light). The camera uses DNG format for its RAW files, which is a good thing since it gets away from the proprietary files some others use. It can be shot in JPEG, RAW, or JPEG and RAW. A RAW file enables you to adjust for lighting and other parameters when you process it; a JPEG is considered a lossy file since bits of information are not kept to keep the files smaller. The JPEGs from the K5 look very good and many will not find the need to use RAW, but the DNG files are very good indeed and worth the extra effort for the micro-details. It comes with a program to use DNG, or they can be processed in the camera. Other programs, such as DXO, are also available for this. Pentaxforums dot com is a superb place to gather information about this, and other Pentax cameras and the marketplace is a great place to pick up a lens, or camera at substantial savings. I suggest that you upgrade the firmware as soon as you receive the camera. I am very pleased with the performance of both the camera and lenses; I prefer the 50macro and the 43 ltd. The kit lens, BTW, is very good. The disadvantage of this camera is that your local camera store is probably not going to have them, something that is very surprising considering the solid value for money. The K5 is a photographer's camera with a great deal of control. This camera and system will not fit all needs, but if it meets yours I feel you will be pleased. I hope this will be useful to those looking.If you use an LCD screen protector, one you might consider is the GGS DSLR optical glass screen protector. The pros are: it's glass so no bubbles and it's easy to clean, no distortion. The con is that it is glass and while it will protect your delicate LCD screen, if broken it will have sharp glass shards. I am pleased with mine and it's well priced. Oddly enough, the one that will fit the K5 is for the Nikon DSLR 3000. There are other excellent screen protectors that will do an excellent job, such as Giottos, but cost more and some are still glass, a choice you will have to make.There is a great deal of confusion regarding the APS-C sensor size vs Full Frame. What appears in the viewfinder for a given focal length, say 50mm, will seem to be approximately 50% larger in the APS-C (Pentax); in this example the 50mm acting as a 75mm. This is misleading, it is actually a change in the field of view (FOV)which is a cropped image from the smaller sensor size. I would refer anyone interested in a full explanation to pentaxforums dot com and use the search function to look for: APS-C does not increase focal length over FF, it decreases field of viewThis is an excellent discussion that makes this confusing subject understandable.

I have already got some great shots with this body and my existing Pentax-fit lenses, much better than I was able to achieve with my previous body, the K-m. The K-50 has much better default colour balance, and much better low-light performance.

The ability to use either the Pentax rechargeable battery *or* ordinary (but preferably lithium) AA batteries via a separately bought adapter is great.

Firstly, this camera has a lot of good things to it and I genuinely wish Pentax great future - unlike the big two (Canon and Nikon) they put more emphasis on R&D than on marketing.

Downsides;
1.In this particular model there is autofocusing issue acknowledged by Pentax. The issue was not resolved and the customers not offered redress. Shame.
2.Recently the lens release button on my k-r...just fell out. I did not subject the camera to any abuse so this suggest that there is a design problem here. Looking at forums it appears that newer "k" models have similar issue.

Upsides:
1.The k-r and many subsequent models are compatible with the pentax GPS unit which gives you one great feature - Startracer. Basically the unit determines your location and allows for reasonably sharp night sky images to be taken without extra equipment. It uses the built-in sensor stabilisation mechanism to follow the moving sky during long exposure times required for taking pictures of the stars.
2.I got my set for great price and given that the kit lenses are good value. recently added Pentax DA 55-300 and delighted with the quality if this lens.
3.pentax cameras tend to be backwards compatible with older lenses which gives you a lot of flexibility.
4.Pentax tends to give more value for your money (as long as there are not quality control issues as described above).
5.As I mentioned above they seem to work hard on introducing genuinely new ideas in their products and very little on marketing. This is how business should be done rather then spending large chunks of the revenue on heavy marketing like their competitors do.

currently I am looking at getting Pentax k-3 but this will be largely dependant on how pentax handles my complaint about the fallen off lens release button.

Pentax have aimed this DSLR at the newcomer in this area, but rest assured professional results are obtainable from this camera.

Comparing the K30 body to it's bigger brother, the K-5 II it is around a 3rd smaller in physical size and a little lighter in weight, there are a few less buttons than the K-5 II but it not a detriment to the functions offered by this camera. The body fits very nicely into the hand and its rubberised hand grip makes for a sturdy grip.

I charged the supplied battery up and then found a spare SD card I had laying around and booted the camera up, usual setting are required on start-up(time/date/timezone), the menus are great - clear and concise and very user friendly.

On the weekend of receiving this camera we went to the touring car championships at Donington park, so this was the ideal chance to put the K30 through it's paces, I took around 550 shots with the K30 and the battery was near empty, not bad at all really, also you can use AA type batteries(with adapterHahnel AA Battery Holder for Pentax K-r/K-30 DSLR Cameras) in this camera as well, I think this is a great idea but will cost extra, a second battery would probably be a better and cheaper option.Maxsima - Battery for Pentax, K30, K-30, K-R, KR, K2, K-2, D-Li109, DI109. 1154mAh- fully compatible.

I was using a Sigma 70-300mm f4-5.6 Macro DG Lens For Pentax Digital & Film SLR Cameras for most of the shooting I did at Donington and I have been astonished with the results, even in auto mode results are crisp and clear with vibrant colours, playing around in program mode (P) yet again produces stunning results, seeing as cars were passing at 100mph+ I was even more impressed, focusing is lightening quick and shutter lag in none existent, continuous shooting is around 6/7 frames a second , the low light capability of the K30 is excellent with an ISO range of 100-12500 in normal user mode, this can be extended to 25600 in manual modes. The K30 is simple to use and unlike it's bigger brother, the K-5 MKII would be less daunting to a novice.

I have uploaded a few of the photos taken at the Donington meet, Sunday was sunny/overcast with a little rain in the afternoon, I'll let the photo's speak for themselves!!

The K30 has a number of scene settings, these are automatically selected according to photo you are taking, but these can be selected by the user in SCN (scene) mode, other modes include program, user 1, user 2, Bulb, full manual, Tav(shutter & aperture priority), Av(aperture priority), Tv (shutter priority), Sv(sensitivity priority) and a full HD video mode, although this will eat your memory card up in no time and sound is in mono.

Build quality of the K30 looks OK, but one thing that I would criticise is the battery compartment cover, this is a simple push latch that could easily be caught and result in the battery compartment coming open, I much prefer the twist and lock type closure. The body on the K30 is water resistant, a great feature for shooting outdoors but remember the supplied lens is NOT water tight.

The K30 comes with a Pentax 18-55mm DAL lens, adequate for beginners and produces quality images, I would recommend a longer lens for outdoor/wildlife/sport shots(see lens above).

Supplied in the box.
Pentax K30 body.
Pentax 18-55mm DAL lens
Battery
Battery Charger
Camera Strap
USB Lead
Software CD
User Manual CD
Full instruction book (very welcome)

If you want quality photo's then the K30 is a winner, for a beginner it will be a pleasure to use, excellent ease of use (even if you just use point and shoot mode) delve deeper and the Pentax K-30 is a great photographers tool and will be a welcome addition in anyone's kit bag.

It was a rough day when I finally decided to upgrade my inherited Pentax ME Super. Of course I'd shot on other digital cameras before, but never a Pentax DSLR. I HAD to have a Pentax since my library of lenses are Pentax K Mount manual focus lenses anywhere between 30-40 years old and Pentax has generously made their cameras backwards compatible.

Knowing the limitations of a Pentax (minor ones that are easily corrected in camera), I opted for the K-30 as it seemed to be the perfect balance between my beloved ME Super and the latest tech. It took some fiddling around to get the settings where I wanted them, and the K-30 almost color balances too warm for my taste (nothing the programmed settings can't fix), but the images are spectacular. Crisp and beautiful. You get to be in charge of a lot of variables and I like that a lot.

My only regret was paying the extra for the kit lenses. I've used them maybe once. My older lenses work beautifully and, as some of my older lenses are f1.8 and f2.2, whereas the kit lenses are, at best, something like, f4.5, you can see why I'm partial to my lenses.
These older lenses never came with the advantage of auto focus and you can't have that option now with them, but I don't care. You also have to shoot in manual with the older lenses, which is fine. If you're scared to shoot in manual, the K-30 has a button to help you with a starting point.
Using newer DSLR lenses affords you the ease of autofocus and all the other auto settings at the expense of some f stops unless you are willing to pay extra for faster lenses.
All in all it's a great camera and I prefer the images I get to a Nikon or Canon any day.

I love Pentax cameras and this one is no exception.
It takes great photos in automatic mode. It has many other pre-set modes as well. If you are a camera buff with some experience, it allows you to adjust the settings to suit your own creativity.
It also does a good job when taking videos. In short, this is a camera worth owning.

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 is

This camera is definitely not worth the money, considering there are Nikon's in the same price range that perform a lot better. I was drawn in by the features, the high ISO, the fact that it came with 2 lenses, built-in videos, etc. After taking this on a trip to NYC, and doing a lot of night shots, which is my thing, I was very quick to notice that all higher ISO images (800+) came out VERY grainy. I attempted night videos in rather well lit areas (Time Square) with the same grainy results, even though I kept the ISO rather low. Another problem is the auto focus, which is a one time thing when shooting video (ie. it focuses before you start filming, once you start and your subject moves, you zoom, or move the camera, it does not refocus to the shot). This can be a pain if you are attempting to film anything that is not at a stationary focal length.

This is good for a beginner who maybe only shoots in daylight but wants to 'feel' like they're a photographer, but this is not something anyone with some skill would want to touch.

So, of course, when I go to make good on Amazon's return policy, it conveniently says that I cannot return it because it was too late, though it was before 30 days. I have spent the last week or so trying to get a hold of someone, but now, Im just giving up on trying to get my money back and considered this a lesson learned about shopping on Amazon.

nice camera at the price beats the big names ibboth in terms of features and image quality.I used nikon and canon unto getting this as a backup it works as it should fast auto focus and god se of features i will get the k3 when funds allow pleased with pentax wen wort considering if looking for a good rugged water sealed work horse with good images to boot

I bought this camera yesterday at a local camera shop for £260, and as an upgrade from my cheap compact, this does its job perfectly. It's got great image quality, and you get used to it very quickly. I would definitely recommend this, but not from Amazon until the price drops below £400

I did a lot of research before making this purchase, which was to replace a very disappointing point and shoot Nikon. I had been waiting for the price on DSLR cameras to come down to a level where it made sense to make the leap. I realized during the research process that every camera I considered buying or have used in my life, I still compare to the sweetest camera I own, which is the Pentax ME Super, circa 1980. So I was interested and excited to find this Pentax/Ricoh entry level DSLR, at a very competitive price compared to similar Canon and Nikon models. And I was really happy that my old and very nice Pentax lenses were compatible and could be used on this camera in manual mode. The first time I picked it up I knew I had made the right decision. I was finally holding a real camera --beautiful balance and feel, a crystal clear optical viewfinder. Boy, had I been missing the ability to hold the camera up to my eye and frame a photograph. The standard lens that comes with the camera is a cut above --amazing bokeh effect even in autofocus mode. I won't give a technical rundown because others have done a fine job, and much better than I can. I will say that the only issue I was concerned about was the 16 megapixels, when other entry level DSLRs have 18 or 20. I've been completely happy with my photographs, however, and frankly wouldn't want the data storage issues with super-high megapixel files. The Pentax K-50 is a great buy for anyone looking to get into a DSLR and its features and quality may make it the only camera you will ever need.

Everyone can read the technical specs and get resolutions and feature set... so I'm going to focus on feel. For those in love with photography - how a camera feels in your hands is big.

I purchased this for my daughter who turned 14 - and loves photography - her next step from a nikon cool pics and iphone photography. Opening the compartments for battery and memory and plugs all have a nice solid connection feel. You can hear and feel the rubber gaskets making you confident it is cold proof and dust/dirt proof and shock resistant.

The camera has a perfect weight to it - enough to make you steadier but not to heavy. The buttons all have a "free" movability but not loose. Meaning it feels like quality.

Securing the lens in - is snug, effortless and tight.

This may sound silly but the shutter sounds confident and responsive.
I have always been myself a Nikon user - but "white" had my daughters attention and I have to say - the camera is aesthetically awesome - a nice matte finish gives it this finished industrial sturdy look but the white is classic and clean looking.

The response on auto focus is quick - the menus intuitive with bracketing options and dials really comfortable so you don't have to take your eye out of the lens viewer. Which is a must have but the LCD screen view is nice for other times.

The camera feels nothing but incredibly durable, comfortable, responsive and strong with a great classic feel with it's white color.

Bought as a replacement for my ageing K20D that had developed a sensor problem. Only been out with it for a couple of days so far, using a standard (DA 18-55 WR) zoom and an HD DA 35 f2.8 macro, but results with both are excellent. The focusing and metering in full auto seem very hard to fool. For small neat camera it is very easy to handle even with my big paws. I was worried by the dire warnings in the manual about non-Pentax flashes, but a bit of research established that my old Metz 32Z1 (4.5v trigger) was ok to use in manual mode.

Looking forward to a break in a couple of weeks when I'll have more chance to explore its capabilities. Thinking about picking up a HD DA 70 f2.4 if I can sneak it into the house past Mrs.Tikka.

This is a great Camera kit and I managed to buy it when the price was really good plus I have sent off the docs for a £40 cash back from Pentax. As a complete ameteaur photographer, into around my 4th or 5th week with the camera, I am already taking some great shots. It is very easy to use and has plenty of really useful features particularly for beginners. I am trying to avoid as much as possible the autoshoot where it does absolutely everything in setting up the shot automatically because if I was going to do that I only needed a point and shoot camera. Exploring all the other options is great fun and a massive learning curve. If you are new, like me, to DSLR photography and you want to learn to do it properly you wont go wrong with this camera.

I recently upgraded to the Pentax K-3 from a couple of aging Canon DSLRs (40D and 50D).

The feature list is very strong, comparable to Canon and Nikon cameras that are far more expensive - high resolution sensor (24 MP in this case), weather sealing, 100% viewfinder and twin card slots all being important for me. There are some nice 'fun' features too, such as integrated intervalometer (letting you shoot time-lapse sequences or videos) and multiple exposure shooting.

I find the button layout and the menus very intuitive - better than Canon and far better than Nikon, and the grip extremely comfortable. The low-light (high ISO) performance is very strong - from what I've seen it's rather better than the latest Canon 7D mk II, and the images produced have great colour definition and shadow details. Noise, when it appears, is relatively unobtrusive - certainly more attractive than what I've seen from Canon sensors. I've found the autofocus performance a little on the slow side, and while it does keep up with my needs I don't think I'd want to rely on it for shooting sports.

The K-3 has also given a new lease of life to some old manual lenses from my Dad's Chinon film SLR, which fit directly onto the K-3 without an adapter. The sensor-based shake reduction system means shooting with these lenses handheld can potentially get sharper images than ever.

+ Fantastic image quality
+ Fast and accurate auto-focus in most situations including low light (system could be better at tracking focus)
+ Extremely sturdy build quality and weather-sealing
+ Easy to use but also plenty of advanced features and controls
+ Stellar lenses
+ Extremely comfy to hold
+ Decent low-light performance, usable shots at ISO 1600 and even 3200 in most cases
+ Good resolution sensor
+ Quiet shutter
+ Fast burst mode great for capturing sports/movement

- Video is just about adequate but no where near as good as competitors, photos are this camera's strong point
- Not the most attractive camera, though it feels premium

Owned since January 2014, my first DSLR. Extremely happy with my purchase and I intend to continue using Pentax systems. I have been using it with the weather resistant 18-55mm kit lens and a Sigma 30mm F1.4 Art lens. The camera performs fantastically with both lenses.

I would consider myself an intermediate photographer now and the dual dials (front and back) are so useful for manual modes. Although I am confident technically now, I was a beginner when I bought this camera and - with the help of some online resources and books - this camera was ideal for learning. Even if you don't intend to learn the technical aspects of photography and just want something that will churn out high quality images every time, this camera should be ideal. I often put it in full auto mode to hand to friends or family and the camera produces great quality images simply from them pressing the shutter (though of course no amount of auto modes can fix composition/framing).

An all round good camera with more features for the money than it's rivals from Canon and Nikon. However, do consider Canon and Nikon if you intend to upgrade to full frame in the future as Pentax does not offer a full frame body at the moment.

This is my 2nd pentax dslr camera was always impressed with my last one thjs one is also a great product. The level gauge in the view finder is good. The camera is quick but perhaps a little loud on it shutter. Wish the aa battery holder had been included in the price but the supplied recharable battery seems to be good and long lasting bearing in mind it powering a fairly large screen as well which is really easy to read even in bright light.

This impressive piece of kit continues Pentax's return to form which started with the excellent K-5. It's similar in some ways with it's weather resistant magnesium body but has some interesting improvements.

The first is a 24MP sensor (made by Sony) which delivers resolution on par with the very best lenses available for APS-C (at about 3600LPH for the more technical reader)and manages to have noise levels close to those of the K-5's, which are still class leading.

The second is a moire filter that can be switched on and off; it's achieved by vibrating the sensor to slightly blur the image and works beautifully.

The in built image stabilisation, which also works by moving the sensor, seems a tiny bit better than the very good K-5's.

Next is the faster AF and increased number of AF sensor points and the claimed 8 frames per second shooting speed (I make it about 7.5 fps in practise). Shutter noise is reduced compared to many of it's rivals.

Controls have been reorganised slightly and ergonomics are good, making it a delight to handle and shoot with. The screen is a bit larger; being 3:2 ratio rather than the 4:3 of the K-5 and most current Nikons and Canons and the processor is more powerful so operations such as reviewing a stored image happen very quickly, with no perceptible lag. Storage has been improved with two SD card slots - a feature of pro DSLRS.

As always with Pentax, the K-3 is backwards compatible with almost all Pentax lenses made since the late 70s.

Mine appears to have no bugs or problems and feedback from other users on the internet suggests that Pentax (now owned by Ricoh) have got it right from the start, rather than launching a half-finished product onto the market.

The only things missing some people might want, is a tiltable or vari-angled rear screen and built-in Wi-Fi compatibility. I'm undecided about these as I owned a Panasonic micro 4/3 G3 body with a vari-angle screen and, in practise, rarely folded out the screen and now own a Sony NEX 5R with wifi, a tiltable screen and the ability to link to a tablet and rarely use these facilities either (Both these cameras have their uses, being very light and compact, but cannot match the picture quality of the K-3).

One does wonder where Ricoh Pentax can go from here, as they are closing in on the limits of resolution and noise reduction for this size of sensor as defined by various laws of physics and optics. Perhaps better dynamic range (The ability to pull detail out of very dark and very bright parts of the same image) will be the next big target, although the K-3's dynamic range is already pretty good.

In conclusion: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED...

Since I own both cameras I thought I'd do little comparison between the two. Both are very excellent cameras and neither one would be a bad choice. The K5 has image stabilization built into the camera body which means it will work with any lens. Supposedly VR built into Nikon's zooms and longer lenses is a little better than in camera image stabilization but older lenses and most primes don't have any VR so I suppose the advantage depends on what lens you are using. The way both cameras work with older lenses is quite different. With the D7000 when you use an older manual focus AIS lens, you set the widest aperture and assign a number to the lens. As you change the f stop on the lens there is a mechanical connection to the aperture of the lens so the camera knows the f stop and you can use aperture priority mode. The camera sets the shutter speed which will change as you manually move the aperture on the lens. Pre AI lenses can't be used unless they have been modified. Nikon's AF lenses have electrical contacts that communicate with the camera body so all modes are available. The K5 has what they call a crippled mount which means that there is no mechanical connection which allows the camera to know when you manually change the aperture on an older lens. However you can press a button that momentarily stops down the lens (obviously this is done mechanically) and during this moment the camera meters and sets the shutter speed after which you press the shutter and take the picture. What I really like about Pentax though is that long before AF lenses came out they produced their A series of lenses which have electrical contacts to convey exposure information to the camera and also to enable the camera to electrically set the f stop of the lens. These lenses were being produced while Nikon was still making the AIS lenses which had no electrical contacts. Third party lenses also came in the A series with electrical contacts. These lenses are sometimes quite reasonable on the used market and allow you to use program mode on the K5 which means you have basically everything except AF.To sum it up you have three kinds of mounts for Nikon, pre AIS which need modified, AIS where you manually set the aperture and AF. On Pentax you actually have four. The older screw mount which requires an adapter, the PK M mount which has to be stopped down to meter, the PK A which has automatic metering features and the full AF mount. With both Nikon and Pentax you have AF lenses that use a screw drive from the camera and some with built in focus motors. Supposedly Nikon's in lens focus motors are better???The disadvantage of the K5 is that there are a lot more lenses for Nikon including both new, discontinued and third party so there is more competition in the Nikon lens market both new and used. Also it is harder to find extension tubes, teleconverters, etc. for Pentax. Two very nice lenses available for Nikon and not Pentax is the Tokina 11-16mm wide angle and the Tokina 100mm macro. One very nice lens for Pentax is the DA 300mm f4 which is the lightest most hand holdable lens in it's class.The K 5 is presently $200 cheaper than the D7000. The K5 is slightly lighter weight, smaller and fits nicer in your hand especially when combined with some of the smaller primes. The K5 has a sensitivity mode (ISO priority) which the D7000 doesn't have. I have two very nice Vivitar series one macro zoom lenses by Komine 70-210 f2.8-4. that don't extend when zooming like many other zooms. They are identical except that one has a Nikon AIS mount and the other a Pentax A (PK A) mount. With the Pentax version I get full programing mode plus image stabilization which I don't get with the Nikon version. One thing with Pentax A lenses is the focal length information is not sent to the camera so with a zoom the camera doesn't know the focal length as you zoom in and out. Of course the AF lenses do send focal length information to the camera. My conclusion is that they are both really great cameras. When I was in high school my first camera was a Contaflex one. It was a single lens reflex but didn't have interchangeable lenses nor a light meter and was expensive considering what a dollar would buy in 1957. By comparison these two cameras (in combination with my Mac mini) are absolutely amazing.