Camera Labs

I couldnt agree more with the frustration over Pentax......I wanted a new Kx and a local shop in my home town here in New Zealand had tried to get hold of a demo model......yeah, right !!!

In the end I got hold of a run out model Canon 450D twin lens kit. Nice enough camera, but not impressed with basic kit lens.

Either the importer I.R Littles or Pentax just don't know what they are dealing with??? a damn good product. You cannot find a DSLR in a shop to try hands on and it's all internet sales based overseas.

Now I want a Kr or a K5.............but the large sales chain I deal with here will not deal with Little's....."blacklisted" I wonder why.

I see a few top review sites don't even have K5, yet and I can buy one on internet sites...how does that work???

Since my last post, have decided to take the plunge. I have sold my Canon gear 450d and 1000d on the NZ version of e-bay. I am not into bagging different brands, but you know what it's like when you don't quite get what you want..............
I have read a rather interesting site called snapsort, which does comparisons in very short bullett points, i.e. sensor sizes, image quality etc etc. Not sure how scientific, but does confirm what I read everywhere.
Pentax DSLR's when it comes to image quality, colour depth and dynamic range only seem to have one competitor .....thats Nikon.
So for dollar value, and image quality, I am going to get a Pentax......
Those are two most important things for me.....other than the most important fact that it's the photographer who makes the image.....but then we all love talkng about our gear a ??!! Otherwise we wouldnt have these great forums. Cheers Rob

Rob

I agree with you 100%... I am in the same boat you are... but I am coming from P&S cameras... I am not experience as you all are in the DSLR area... but I do understand electronics and I can do comparisons... I see what you see on snapsort... and I don't see anything even similar in hat price range. The K-X to me is just an unbelievable camera for the priced. There is one other that is close, that is the Nikon D3100... well the k-r too, but its a bit more in price. Now if the stats don't lie then it will be real hard to beat the k-x/k-r or the d3100 unless you move up to the higher end DSLRs. I'd like to know how its working for you...

I am still unsure to go with the K-X or the D3100....

Chukers

K-x is somewhat better than the D3100,but in the lenses category,you can get cheap & sharp optics with Nikon.

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Gear: Nikon D80, 18-105mm, 35mm F/1.8, 85mm F/1.8, SB-600
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chukers,
Yes, I did my homework and are absolutely impressed with the Kx. If the Kr is an improvement on that and the K5 its bigger brother must be phenomenal cameras. I got some good imges with the Canons, but the jpegs straight out of the camera were def better, especially with the equivalet 18-55 lenses, where the Canon is renowned and also in my experience poor quality.
The Kx and Kr have so much more built in modes and filters for fun photography,( but not everyones cup of tea ). Where the Pentax really shines is its dynamic range....can make a decent photo out of a high contrast image.
I have never operated Nikon, but by all accounts there operating menus are excellent, close to the Pentax in dynamic range and great quality optics, but where I come from, they are a bit pricey.
I think that Pentax have given the big boys a real fright, producing top quality entry and mid range products with awesome value for money.
I dont think you'll be disappointed either way, but value for money , Pentax speaks for itself.
I have just moved to Australia and the local hifi store salesman says he's selling a lot of Kr's.....up there with the canons numbers.

Believe it or not, I've been a fan of yours Gordon.
I graduated with a Computer Engineering degree in 2007 December, and needed a good camera for my convocation/commencement ... After reading all the reviews online, and finally after going through your review here, I've finally decided to purchase the K-10D.

Anyway, I just got back from Japan for a Chinese New Year vacation, I came home. I compared the pictures to my buddy's D3X, the pictures he took with the ISO1600/3200 and had very minimal noise. My K-10D had reasonable noise at ISO800, but totally unacceptable at ISO1600 (max setting). And I guessed it was time to upgrade, and I'm looking into K-5, because it is currently Pentax's top of the line. I've spent quite some money on 6 lenses and a flash. I was hoping that I could upgrade to K-5, but needed a good review, from a source which I can rely on ... but was very disappointed ...

I'm now deciding if I should just put all my Pentax K-10D with lens/flash for sale on eBay, and just start fresh with Nikon D7000?

Pentax, you've really disappointed me, you've lost a potential customer.

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Wilson - Pentax K-10D

you should consider the Nikon D700 if you want great low-light image quality. otherwise,go with the D7000 (mind you,the AF is not as fast & as the one found in the D300(s),not being a semi-pro camera & all)

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Gear: Nikon D80, 18-105mm, 35mm F/1.8, 85mm F/1.8, SB-600
Visit my work here

D700 is a bit too much. D7000 falls in the price range that I'm willing to pay.

But may I ask, since K5 has a max 51200 ISO, I'm curious, how's the noise level at 3200-6400? I don't really see the need for anything above 6400 at the moment.

I did read about the purple fringing, but was told it has something to do with the kit lens, but since I've got quite a few lens from my K10D, I want to know if K5 is worth the upgrade?

I'm really desperate to upgrade my K10D after seeing the D3X's picture, but D3X is WAY OUT OF MY BUDGET ...

Please advise ... I wish I could of had a good review from Gordon regarding a K5 ... or can someone give me a link to a reliable source?

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Wilson - Pentax K-10D

All cropped C-MOS sensors look awful in noise performance from ISO 1600 upwards,it's not really subjective when you lose all useful details from the photo. (& the color accuracy too)

Why would you need ISO3200 in the first place? get some fast lenses instead of doing that mistake.

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Gear: Nikon D80, 18-105mm, 35mm F/1.8, 85mm F/1.8, SB-600
Visit my work here

Wiz, don't think the k10-d is in the same leauge as the Kx or k5. You have a much older model there and even the K7 and K20-d before were great at low iSO, but struggled as soon as you went higher. The Kx Kr and K7 are far superior.
Keep your lenses and change the body....then you'll be getting far better results. I took some shots with the Kx at 1600 the other night and quite acceptable. Any higher iso, am surprised you would use it....start using a tripod.
Larger full frame cameras will always produce better results, like D3 and canon 1d, or Pentax 645d....Technology is always on the move.

It's nowhere near as thorough as Gordon's reviews but PopPhoto have reviewed the K-5 here.

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

http://www.cameralabs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25410

Not as simple as that.

Fast lenses are usually expensive, large, heavy, often soft wide open, and sometimes the shallow DOF is a problem.

Sure, some primes are small and some are relatively cheap, but you probably will need at least 2 of them.

I regularly shoot at ISO1600 (my Olympus' maximum) and I'm rarely pleased with the results.

I shoot in low light far more than I imagined.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/53061745@N02/

Panasonic G3: 9-18mm, 14mm, 20mm, 45mm