K5 - User Reviews?

[GeoffWessex]

It's been very quiet in this corner of the PhotoRadar Forum so I thought I'd ask about the K5.
Those that got K5s have had them for a few months now, and no big problems are being reported here, so is it simply a good camera, or does it have a few problems?

It's been getting some very favourable reviews lately in UK magazines..... one of which put it at least level with the Canon 7D - but better value.

[Mr Bump]

Hi Geoff,

You certainly started something back last September with your 'New DSLR - Pentax K5' thread. Nearly fourteen thousand views so far and 250 replies.

Despite the number of replies there seem to have only been four or five K5 owners actually contributing and unfortunately we seem to have lost HinFrance and Sue Allen, who both regularly submitted very informative posts.

As for user reviews, you may recall that HinFrance wrote a full user review back in January but was frustrated to be told after submission that a 250 word limit was imposed by PhotoRadar, so his review was not accepted. Here is a link to that thread.

I have sometimes considered posting a review but never seem to get around to it. All I can say is that after nearly six months use I am absolutely delighted with the K5 and would not swap it for anything. It is a joy to use and the images it produces are superb. I find the menu system totally intuitive and all camera settings easy to access and change on-the-fly. Really, there is nothing I can fault and at the new lower price recently announced by UK dealers it is unbeatable.

Regards

Bump

[GeoffWessex]

Originally Posted by Mr Bump

All I can say is that after nearly six months use I am absolutely delighted with the K5 and would not swap it for anything. It is a joy to use and the images it produces are superb. I find the menu system totally intuitive and all camera settings easy to access and change on-the-fly. Really, there is nothing I can fault and at the new lower price recently announced by UK dealers it is unbeatable.

Bump

Well, that's good enough for me then! Yes, as Pentax users we are always seeing fairly derisory reviews of Pentax kit..... but this time around I've yet to see anything bad about the K5. The last one I read, which I mentioned above, appeared in Digital Camera World magazine and - for some weird reason - it was in a group review alongside the

Nikon D3x "If money's no object, incredible camera" (4,900 pounds),
Canon 1Ds MkIII "Hardcore pro camera but showing its age" (5,300),
Nikon D300s, "Superb image quality", (1,000)
Canon 7D "great for landscapes and just about everything else", (1,150)
Olympus E5 "isn't a bad performer but you can get much better for the money" (1,500).

Pentax K5 "A superb camera that really takes the fight to the big boys", (975).

They do, however, suggest that the K5 overexposes occasionally (easily fixed by keeping EV compensation at plus 0.3).

So, this time next year, I think - but I might have to think again if Pentax brings out a full-frame camera in that time.

All the best!

[Mr Bump]

Originally Posted by GeoffWessex

Yes, as Pentax users we are always seeing fairly derisory reviews of Pentax kit.....

...They do, however, suggest that the K5 overexposes occasionally (easily fixed by keeping EV compensation at plus 0.3)....

...So, this time next year, I think - but I might have to think again if Pentax brings out a full-frame camera in that time.

Yes, there's been a lot of Pentax-bashing in the past but cameras like the K5 and Kr hold their own with the best. In fact, the K5 betters the equivalent Nikon and Canon offerings in most respects. It is the lens range that Pentax needs to catch up on.

I have not found any consistent overexposure issues with the K5. In fact, compared with the K10 and K20 which did tend to underexpose I think the K5 gets it about right. Like all matrix metering systems it can sometimes be confused by dark landscapes with a bright sky, depending on how the shot is framed, but that's really just a matter of getting used to the camera and choosing the appropriate metering method.

Full frame, aaaah if only. But would the images be that much better for double the K5 cost?

Bump

[GeoffWessex]

I think I'd be prepared to pay up to about 1700 pounds for a Pentax FF - below the Sony A900. The FF sensors are no longer 'cutting edge' and the R&D has been done by others. I'm still thoroughly impressed by images from the Nikon D700.... and I'd have thought that Pentax should be able to make their own version of that and undercut it slightly...... 1650-1700 pounds perhaps? (Compared to 1900 for the D700).....

As you say, though, the lens range needs to expand - the people most likely to go for a FF Pentax will want a better choice of lenses.... perhaps not as many as Nikon have but certainly a few more than they have now.

[mkauff]

I too am absolutely delighted, but have a question. Having purchased the Sigma 17-70 lens, I find that it does not always go below f4.5, ie not to its maximum 2.8: what could be the reason for this? I have cleaned the contacts, but find that the only solution is to remove, fit another lens, vary the aperture, then refit the Sigma. I know it could be either a lens or a body fault, how would I go about identifying which it is?

[GeoffWessex]

The lens in question has an aperture range of f/2.8 to f/4.5...... which will mean that you can only get f/2.8 at the short end of the zoom range. There would be a 'crossover' point between 17 and 70mm where it would switch between the two widest apertures, but usually it's going to be just a little higher than the shorter end... perhaps at around 28mm. It won't be a gradual change, either.... one moment you'll be on f/2.8 and the next at f/4.5.

I see there's also a Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-f/4....

[Mr Bump]

Hey mkauf, I seem to remember that you posted a very similar question in the K5 thread about three months ago and that I gave an answer very much like the one Geoff just gave.

If it is not simply a matter of the zoom focal length being too long to allow maximum (f2.8) aperture, which presumably was the first thing you checked, it would seem like the lens might be faulty. Didn't you contact Sigma about it? What did they say?

BTW although Sigma rightly claim f2.8 max aperture @ 17mm focal length you will find with this lens that by the time you have zoomed to little more than 20mm the f2.8 max is long gone.

Shame you didn't buy the Pentax 17-70 f4, which is a really nice performing lens, - but I know the Sigma is about £50 cheaper.

Bump

[Mr Bump]

Originally Posted by GeoffWessex

As you say, though, the lens range needs to expand - the people most likely to go for a FF Pentax will want a better choice of lenses.... perhaps not as many as Nikon have but certainly a few more than they have now.

The most glaring omission from the Pentax lens range is the ubiquitous 24-70 f2.8. I know that lens is usually coupled with FF cameras but it is still very useful with cropped sensors, particularly if teamed with the 12-24 (which Pentax does offer as a DA lens).

By the way, I have been told by Park Cameras that the D-BG4 grip for the K7 and K5 has been discontinued by Pentax. If that is true I wonder what the reason could be, particularly as both cameras continue to sell well. Perhaps everyone has been buying cheaper compatibles like HinFrance did?

Bump

[GeoffWessex]

Well that's odd - I can still get a battery grip for my K10 here in my local 'big-box' shop (though they do have to order it).