Pentax K-7 initial impression

[zuikologist]

TKH - I agree. A small and nimble DSLR is preferable for me, use in a similar way to an RF fil camera. I have the 21 and 40 Limited. I also like the FA35/2.0, which is full frame.

 

[zuikologist]

Yes its with the 55mm. A great lens for details:








But I think Pentax mastermind Jun Hirakawa designed it for portrait. Look at the background. Its like painted:

Very nice. The first one is very 3D and the second does show off the bokeh.

 

[fleetwoodjazz]

Yes, Nikon is a big player in the DSLR marcet. But where are the nice primes under 100mm??
No one in the DSLR world is selling more sexy prime lenses than Pentax with the small Limiteds, I think.
In big and heavy zooms Nikon of course is better placed than Pentax.
But IMHO I dont want to carry around 5 to 10 kg camera stuff. So the new Pentax K7 has a place in my heart.

Rainer

For you, the Limiteds are sexy but for me, only the FA Limiteds are sexy. I simply don't have money for "cropped lens".

I was searching for a 77mm as a gift to a friend and I realized how rare the FA Limiteds are now. I have a feeling that Pentax is gradually phrasing out these lenses so it is my best interest to move away.

I started learning photography with large format cameras so every bit of image circle counts. There's simply no way I will pay my money for the smaller image circle of DA Limiteds.

 

[zuikologist]

For you, the Limiteds are sexy but for me, only the FA Limiteds are sexy. I simply don't have money for "cropped lens".

I was searching for a 77mm as a gift to a friend and I realized how rare the FA Limiteds are now. I have a feeling that Pentax is gradually phrasing out these lenses so it is my best interest to move away.

I started learning photography with large format cameras so every bit of image circle counts. There's simply no way I will pay my money for the smaller image circle of DA Limiteds.

That's a fair comment, but there are many reasonably priced full frame AF and MF lenses, and you only buy them once and of course they are image stabilised on the later Pentax DSLRs. However, the D700 is also very sexy machine with primes.

 

[amateriat]

Too bad I don't grok SLRs the way I once did; the K7 seems to hit a lot of right notes (100% VF accuracy, solid construction, small size, apparently very quiet, and a fair number of primes available). As dSLRs go, I like the sound of this one a whole lot. Were I in the market for one, I'd give this a very close look.

(Perhaps unrelated, but I noticed Adorama is selling the Olympus E-3, body only, for just under a grand...)


- Barrett

 

[rover]

Just a brief report--I got the new Pentax yesterday. .........
Ultimately, though, all I care about, beyond IQ, is ergonomics and design--I want to feel, as I do with the LX or the Leica M2, that the tool is not resisting use in any way. This camera seems to have that feel. I still need to do some serious shooting with it, obviously, but all the little things that bother me about other DSLR's, including the K20D, are nowhere to be found.........

Hey, a little off the FA Limited talk, did you get the new sealed kit lens with the K7? I was thinking it would have been nice to have with me today while I was out fishing. I would use it on my K10d not the K7 if I had one, wouldn't want to risk the good camera. I really think that weather sealed inexpensive kit lens is a nice little product too.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

I just got the body, but I agree, the new weathersealed zooms seem like a great idea. Being an RF guy, I really like to shoot with primes, but I think Pentax has taken the right tack here, offering a unique set of features at what, by year's end, will be a very reasonable price.

A local RFFer, sparks12kv, came over today and seemed to dig it, too. He suggested that it would be nice if Pentax would introduce a stripped-down camera built along the lines of this new body, with the new AF, WB, and sealing, but not the bells and whistles, as a kind of new K1000. This seems like a blockbuster idea to me.

 

[jky]

Too bad I don't grok SLRs the way I once did; the K7 seems to hit a lot of right notes (100% VF accuracy, solid construction, small size, apparently very quiet, and a fair number of primes available). As dSLRs go, I like the sound of this one a whole lot. Were I in the market for one, I'd give this a very close look.

- Barrett

...take a look just for kicks....! Without extensive use of it, I'm really digging it's size, shutter and VF... three major reasons I love RFs...