Pentax k-7, whaddya think?

[ednorm]

I am looking to upgrade my old canon eos rebel, yep their first entry level, I was looking at the eos 50d as I like canon and have a tamron lenses 18-200mm that I like plus the kit lense that came with the camera. I like to take pics of lightning and pics when I go fishing, so I was also interested in the weather seals on the 50d that is when I seen the 7d of course its just too expensive for me.

I came across a Pentax k-7 review, weather seals, magnesium body live view and video sounds almost too good to be true. The review mentioned a problem acheiving focus with the live view in dim lighting, said it took lots of time but eventually got it right. Another review said the image quality and AF speed falls short of other cameras in this price range. I feel the image quality, they say dull images, seems an easy enough fix, I think I could also get around the AF thing in live view, I am capable of setting the aperture and iso speeds and manual focus so I feel this is not much of a problem. I also like the in camera "Shake Control", sounds like this name was designed to attract the mentally dim among the camera enthusiasts, image stabilization sounds more like an adult term.

With all the extra features, like the level meter and the three axis Shake Control this camera choice seems like a no brainer too me. The Shake control in camera allows the use of many lenses. Plus I have the added respect, in my view, of not using the big name cameras. Any users of the K-7 have any thoughts, is the AF focus time a major caveat, is the video really as neat as it sounds, is the camera a good value, easy to use while allowing enough control to be creative? Whats a good flash, is the flash controllable in camera? I know this is long, but I want to keep this camera for a long time, any help would be appreciated.

ed

[mattdm]

I love mine. It's a great camera, and very well thought-out even in areas which don't show up on the spec sheet.


AF in live-view is indeed slow — this is the case with almost all dSLRs with live-view at this point. I think it might be useful for careful macro work, and would be fine for landscapes or anything else that doesn't move.

AF speed in general, despite some complaining you'll see, is fine, especially in combination with the right lenses. The main problem is there's no predictive autofocus, and so the continuous focus isn't very good at keeping up with a subject which is, for example, moving quickly towards you.

In general, people who are complaining about image quality in the K-7 are either 1) complaining about some very specific difficult corner case or 2) doing something wrong.

So, yeah, I think particularly at the current price (barely more than a Canon Rebel entry-level camera!), it's a great deal.

[RubyT]

I have a K20D (the camera before the K7), and it's a great camera. I have never had a problem with autofocus. I don't shoot tons of of sports or wildlife, so I can't speak to those areas, but I know that when my niece and I were shooting pics at a recent family pool party (she has a D5000), she got splashed and freaked out and put her camera away. I wiped off my lens and kept shooting. I hear the white balance in the K7 is fantastic. If I had an excuse to spend the money, I'd upgrade to the K7 lickety-split.

[ednorm]

Matt thanks for your answer, and especially forthe guide to pentax flashes, I think this is the only such guide on the web! It was well written, even one mentally diminished as myself could understand it. Thanks.

Ruby thanks for your answer too, I read where Pentax K-7 has the best white balance setup being sold.

ed

[debbiey01]

I just received my K-7 today. It is the first DSLR I have owned and right out of the box it was very easy to use. I expect once I get it off auto settings it will do everything I need it to and more. I particularly like the feel of the camera, solid enough but not too bulky or heavy.

[ednorm]

Update.

I went ahead and bought a Canon EOS 7D, I figured I have two lenses now for it and the cost of getting new lenses for the K-7 would have put it around the cost of the 7d plus I could buy the 7D on my Sears card online. The main reason I went with the Canon was I found the info on Pentax lenses really confusing, they show crippled versions of lens DA*, DA, DA limited, D FA, FA, it was almost too much to comprehend and the varying sites all had a different take on what would work or not with each lens and what system they were hooked to. I did get to hold a K-7 and it felt great, solid and small enough and seemed like a great body. Thanks for all your input.

ed

[Mr Guy]

I'm sorry you didn't come to us with the lens questions first!

It's not that you'll go wrong buying Canon, of course, (and the price you paid will promise you a little self delusion even if it isn't perfect ) but Pentax lenses are actually extremely simple once you get used to the idea that lenses are supposed to be permanent and camera bodies should change!

The whole "crippled" lens thing confused me, as well. I'm still not entirely sure why they made that design decision, but it beats the ever loving crap out of coming up with an entirely new mount and not having any legacy support, like others did.

It's really not a big deal for most users, and if it confused you, that's probably not you. All it means is that some lenses are more manual than others, but with Pentax, you can still use ANY Pentax lens ever made.

The only thing my K-7 is missing from being my own personal ultimate camera is a split prism and microprism focus screen!

It's a shame too, because if you talked yourself into a 7D that easily, you'd have had a BLAST looking for old Pentax lens gems to play with!

[inkista]

Originally Posted by Mr Guy

...It's a shame too, because if you talked yourself into a 7D that easily, you'd have had a BLAST looking for old Pentax lens gems to play with!

OTOH, it's not like old manual-focus Pentax Takumars can't be adapted for used on Canon EOS mount. AND, unlike Pentax, we can use Contax/Yashica Zeiss, Leica-R, and Olympus OM lenses without having to rip the mounts off the lenses...

But yeah, it sounds like you were really jonesing after the 7D, all along.