kshapero
South Florida Man
If you gotta go DSLR the Pentax K-5 seems like a beauty. Agree?
Who is a Pentax k-5'er?
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aad
Not so new now.
I'm thinking of getting one to replace my TLR, and I have Pentax stuff now. Though the X100 is cheaper.
MCTuomey
Veteran
Agree, as along as its lens lineup is sufficient for your purpose(s). The K5 looks like a straightforward small-form dSLR, simple and right-featured, providing most of what anyone needs and little of what one doesn't. Trying to think of negatives, if you're a real wide-shooter the 1.5x crop will be limiting compared to full frame, of course. It'd be an even better proposition if it were full frame, but then its cost and size would not be so attractive.
Reid Reviews wrote up the K5 earlier this year - very complimentary.
Reid Reviews wrote up the K5 earlier this year - very complimentary.
zuikologist
.........................
I have a Kr, the smaller brother of the K5. What fantastic machine. I usually have a 21/3.2 pancake or 35/2.4 on it and use it like an fr - no zooming, in af mode or hyperfocal. Very quick and intuitive. The K5 is another step ahead - well built, weather sealing, great low light performance, well executed live view and video. What's not to like.
willie_901
Veteran
If one is staring from scratch, the K5 seems really interesting. I like the IQ and small size.
Uwe_Nds
Chief Assistant Driver
Since Christmas, the K5 complements our K200d.
I am very impressed by the high ISO performance.
Cheers,
Uwe
Tamron 70-300, f=8, ISO 3200
I am very impressed by the high ISO performance.
Cheers,
Uwe
Tamron 70-300, f=8, ISO 3200
btgc
Veteran
I read K-5 has pentaprism. How is VF in K-5 when focusing manually with standard screen?
Uwe_Nds
Chief Assistant Driver
Haven't tried, yet.
But I am anyway thinking about changing the screen to one from katzeyeoptics.
Cheers,
Uwe
But I am anyway thinking about changing the screen to one from katzeyeoptics.
Cheers,
Uwe
ChrisN
Striving
Good, but not as good as a film SLR like the LX. To get really accurate focusing (even with a replacement screen with a split-prism) you need to spend time and effort to shim the focusing screen to the correct height, found by trial and error. There's been a fair bit of discussion of this issue, and the nature of the focusing screens themselves, on Pentaxforums.
tstermitz
Well-known
I really like my K5 for the handling, size and prime lenses. The handling is great, especially the way all the control buttons are easy for the right hand fingers to find, and the utility of the famous "green button" in manual. Image stabilization is in-camera so any lens is automatically stabilized.
You can set up a good kit with essential lenses a lot cheaper than for Nikon or Canon, but you probably will have to shop second hand and/or ebay for some of them. For longer or specialized lenses, you may have to buy from Asia. I have had no problems finding the lenses I wanted, over time. (Forget about finding a great super-tele lens, even a 300mm f/2.8 is extremely rare.
I feel the autofocus quality isn't as good as Nikon or Canon when it comes to darker situations, or for action sports where you need fast autofocus and focus locking.
I like my full-frame limited lenses because they are fast and quite small (and have Leica-like build quality), but they are forced to live on a crop-frame camera. So my 31mm is a 46mm equivalent and my 77m is 105mm equiv. That isn't so bad, but my 35mm equiv is an out-of-print 20mm or 24mm. I chose the 20mm FA for the wider angle, but I think the 24mm FA* would be a slightly better choice.
You can set up a good kit with essential lenses a lot cheaper than for Nikon or Canon, but you probably will have to shop second hand and/or ebay for some of them. For longer or specialized lenses, you may have to buy from Asia. I have had no problems finding the lenses I wanted, over time. (Forget about finding a great super-tele lens, even a 300mm f/2.8 is extremely rare.
I feel the autofocus quality isn't as good as Nikon or Canon when it comes to darker situations, or for action sports where you need fast autofocus and focus locking.
I like my full-frame limited lenses because they are fast and quite small (and have Leica-like build quality), but they are forced to live on a crop-frame camera. So my 31mm is a 46mm equivalent and my 77m is 105mm equiv. That isn't so bad, but my 35mm equiv is an out-of-print 20mm or 24mm. I chose the 20mm FA for the wider angle, but I think the 24mm FA* would be a slightly better choice.
nanthor
Well-known
Because the rendering of most Pentax lenses, even the zooms, looks a lot like RF lenses with the subject popping out of a nicely oofed background, I too own a K5 and lenses. Bob.
Flinor
Well-known
I shot rangefinder cameras for years and really struggled with the transition to digital. Bought a K5 and am no longer struggling. I kept and still use a couple of my old rangefinders, but the K5 is number one.
Rhoyle
Well-known
I couldn't afford a K-5, so I got a used K-10D. A couple of things I like about it are the weather sealing, and the anti-vibration built into the body. It operates much like a traditional film slr, so the transition was pretty easy. The best thing I like about it is that I can use all of my 30+ year-old Pentax glass.
ChrisN
Striving
Another nice thing about the K10D is that you can turn off the noise reduction (which you could not do with the K20D. Much better for shooting multiple long exposures for star-trails. The K5 also allows full control over the noise reduction setting.
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