This looks like a pretty good deal, Pentax K-30
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steveniphoto
Well-known
pentax is easily the underdog in the camera market. the k-5 was a brilliant camera and hardly anybody talked about it. the specs on the k-30 look great and for the price it looks even better.
hans voralberg
Veteran
I had a chance to shoot the prototype of the K-30, it is really good with very sexy styling. The look alone is a serious consideration factor, looks very futuristic.
Corto
Well-known
Hans, I agree with you but to me the big thing is in the weather sealing.
I love shooting in "bad" weather and if this Camera can handle it that makes it very interesting to me.
I love shooting in "bad" weather and if this Camera can handle it that makes it very interesting to me.
charjohncarter
Veteran
Weather proofing is great and now Pentax has a few lenses that are weather proof. If I lived in a rainy or humid climate, I would go for one of these lenses. I have a weather proof K10d, which is old now, but it still feels good when I occasionally take it to a humid climate. Remember the first Canon Mark 5d that quit working in Hawaii and Sri Lanka? Besides they are smaller; so not so much to lug around.
Corto
Well-known
I'll have to find a local store that will carry these when they become available, I really want to hold one and get a feel for it.
btgc
Veteran
"sexy" camera look...probably you mean, it's wet right out the box, as pictured on Pentax site 😛
Corto
Well-known
Another thing worth mentioning about the K-30 is that it can use regular AA batteries too.
That's something I have not seen in a while.
Also would be interesting to see how the focusing works with older MF Pentax lenses....
That's something I have not seen in a while.
Also would be interesting to see how the focusing works with older MF Pentax lenses....
driver
Well-known
Focusing should be very good with old MF lenses. My K100d gives audible and visual confirmation with all my M-42 lenses.
thegman
Veteran
Yes, looks good, price is decent, and the weather sealing is great. Also, Pentax do some nice lenses with proper apertures rings etc.
Corto
Well-known
It would seem that these are offered with a few different kit lenses, But the lenses are not all WeatherSealed so that kind of defeats the purpose of this camera.
Buyers who really want the whole "WR" package need to make sure that the lens(s) are properly marked "WR" as well.
Like this kit:
http://www.amazon.com/Pentax-K-30-W...TF8&qid=1342052806&sr=8-1&keywords=pentax+k30
Buyers who really want the whole "WR" package need to make sure that the lens(s) are properly marked "WR" as well.
Like this kit:
http://www.amazon.com/Pentax-K-30-W...TF8&qid=1342052806&sr=8-1&keywords=pentax+k30
ChrisN
Striving
When I upgraded from the *istDS (which used AA batteries) to the K10D (which didn't) I was initially annoyed. However the dedicated batteries will work for so much longer, even the cheap after-market versions. I no longer pine for AA-battery support.
In fact it seems to vary considerably. IMO (and in my experience with several Pentax dSLR bodies and a swag of lenses) precise manual focusing through the optical viewfinder is not very good as the camera is designed around auto-focus, with the auto-focus system (including the focus-confirmation beep) being independent from the calibration of the ground glass. If I want precise focus with manual focus lenses (especially the 50mm f/1.2 used wide open) with the K5 I have to use the live-view function on the LCD (tripod use only of course). It is excellent used this way.
Agreed. It's a real shame that Pentax isn't offering new prime lenses in the WR designs. As yet the only prime with WR is the 100mm f/2.8 macro.
Argenticien
Dave
Agreed at least as concerns my K20D. I'd be keen for someone to get some hard data on how many users shoot MF either clumsily, using short-throw MF ring on the current AF lenses; or by mounting true MF lenses whether old or new. It seems like enough people might do that to warrant Pentax offering at least one factory-installed focusing screen with focusing aid (split-image or similar). Otherwise those of us who shoot manual focus have to buy the camera, then straight away buy a KatzEye screen. I realize a factory split-image screen might cost the same USD 100ish extra as the KatzEye does, but would simplify things and not leave me with a useless OEM autofocus screen sitting in the cupboard forever. I know modern supply chains want as few SKUs as possible, but how hard would it be to offer this? I'm not suggesting they offer 6 or 12 different screens/finders as the professional SLRs did 30 years ago.
To be fair, same question applies to all DSLR makers, not just Pentax.
--Dave
Steve Bellayr
Veteran
Nice photo but actually most old professional (and I assume modern) cameras are waterproof. I have in my possession a 35mm Pentax that was used in Vietnam in the war (not by me) and I assume in that year long tour the camera saw high humidity and rain and it still functions as the day it was made. When I purchased a Nikon F3hp I inquired about weatherproof. Unless the camera would be touring the most extreme weather conditions (Artic or Desert) it was not necessary. Unless you are planning to photograph in a rain forest then probably any new camera in that class is going to be weatherproofed to some extent. Will you be standing in the rain for hours waiting for that photo?
NickTrop
Veteran
Love Pentax bodies, but don't like their modern lens line up. Top heavy with zooms, hardly any primes. You can keep your slow zooms. On a APS-C body, 35mm = 50mm. They have a 31mm f1.8 that's close to $2,000 dollars. The Nikon 35/1.8 is around 1/10th the price and it's a fine optic. Sorry. No sale for this amateur at 2 grand. They have a 50/1.8 but I hate this focal lenght on APS-C. Too short for portrait, too tele for much else. If Pentax had an affordable modern 35/1.8 which is the equivalent of the classic "50mm/1.8" of yore I'd probably own a Pentax right now. I'm a "Nikonian" only because they were the first to come out with a good, affordable 35/1.8... my modern "nifty-fifty".
Corto
Well-known
Well of course, but the K30 is not priced like a Pro DSLR.
And I have a thing for shooting in the pouring rain and freezing snow. So at this price point I am somewhat interested.
Corto
Well-known
I hear you Nick, but for some reason I never really had a problem with either slow zooms or slow primes....If the IQ is there I never missed the speed.
And I'm very much a Nikonian as well, And a Minoltian, And a Canonian And..........😀
ChrisN
Striving
I tried a KatzEye, and while it had the split-image focusing aid, it also suffered from the same problem as the original - it was not placed at the correct height (in its mount) to accurately coincide with correct focus at the sensor plane. So I could very accurately focus the lens at a setting that was not focussed at the sensor. Some folks have had success with shimming the focusing screen. Unfortunately the internal focus micro-adjustment that can be applied with modern lenses doesn't work really well with older manual-focus lenses as the camera will not "recognise" the lens mounted, and therefore does not store and recall the adjustment applied. I might play with that again and just make a note of the adjustment for the particular lens.
Nick, the 31/1.8 Limited is listed at $989 at B&H right now - in fact I thought it was even cheaper than that recently. But that's the same price I paid five years ago. Some folks would say that the build quality and image quality is good enough that it should be selling for $2k.
Pentax do have a good affordable 35mm focal length in the 35mm DA L F2.4 AL, which is a screaming deal at under $200. If it was WR I'd grab one. OK, it's not a f/1.8 but with good high-iso performance that's less important (subject isolation issues aside). For even better performance keep an eye open for that lens' forerunner, the 35/2 AL. This one's been out of manufacture for a year or so but they do turn up. (Edit: in stock now at B&H!) The 35/2 AL is a bit of a sleeper lens, very overshadowed by the 31/1.8, but the 35/2 is much lighter and more compact, and my personal testing (on film) puts its performance up there with a Summicron. (I'm talking real-world photography here - not lab testing.)
EDIT: lest anyone think the Pentax is no good with a manual focus lens - here's a sample used as I described above.
Attachments
Argenticien
Dave
I was lucky in that mine seems to have landed at the right height in my K20D, so I can shoot with my 45-year-old Takumars. But I know experiences like yours are not uncommon. All the more reason camera makers should offer these DSLRs with a factory option for a screen with focusing aids -- because otherwise we manual focus users have to futz with shimming and adjusting, and if that doesn't work, we end up dissatisfied with the camera because we can use only AF lenses. Is it our own fault, and/or KatzEye's fault; did we technically violate the warranty or something by opening it up? Maybe. But it still leaves us dissatisfied with a camera with their brand written on the front. Manual focus shooters may be the minority, but probably are disproportionately among the early adopters, mavens, opinion movers, bloggers, and review writers...
--Dave