Pentax K-5 16.3 MP Digital SLR with 3-Inch LCD (Black Body Only) -

By 

Robert Petkus (New York) –

  

  

When the Kx arrived, K7 owners who were more than content with their current bodies coveted the superior high-ISO (low light performance) capability of the Kx. At least I did. And while the K7 was a capable tool, I often found myself compensating for its weaknesses (which were limited to high ISO and autofocus continuous (AF.C) performance). Not so with the K5.

I won’t go into the specifications since those can be found elsewhere but I’ll give my overall impression – what I like and what could be better:
+ Great ergonomics. Love the compact, solid body which is identical to the K7 save for a heightened knob and elongated AF lever. I was even able to use the same split prism focus screen I had purchased for the K7.
+ Fantastic high-ISO performance – clean and offering far more flexibility than the K7. I’d try never to breach ISO 800 on the K7 whereas the K5 is routinely pushed past ISO 3200. While I wouldn’t give it equal footing to a full frame camera, it’s arguably the best APS-C out there in this application.
+ Outstanding dynamic range — shoot in RAW and leave your graduated ND filters at home.
-+ Improved auto-focus, especially AF-C compared to the K7, but not quite on par with either the D300s or 7D in AF-C.
+ User-friendly, easy to navigate menu system – white balance adjustments are a breeze.
+ Good WB and JPEGs “out of the box”
-+ Yes, 1080p video but at 25FPS vs. 24 — surely a firmware update in the future
- Audio records at 32KHz sample rate
- Only has a single SD/SDHC slot – would prefer dual with Compact Flash
- Limited to 1/180 X-Sync speed – but this is ample in most scenarios
- Images shot in portrait don’t autorotate on playback – but did on the K7(?) – again, a likely firmware update
+ Blissful near-silent shutter
+ Compatibility with all those great manual K-mount lenses of yore.

Although I’m a long time Pentax user, I considered and evaluated both the Canon 7D and Nikon D300s without bias. While both are outstanding DSLRs, I preferred the Pentax K5.

An all-around excellent camera and a joy to use. A noteworthy upgrade.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 

Was this review helpful to you? 

|

 Comments (12)

I upgraded from the K-7. K-5 keeps the excellent design, unparralleled build quality, super quiet shutter sound and outstanding ergonomics of K-7, has the best APS-C sensor. High ISO performance is stunning. What worth mentioning is that the Low ISO performance is also outstanding, noticably better than the K-7. Also, the super high Dynamic Range is very helpful. AF speed is not much improved, but much more decisive. For DA* SDM lenses, the speed is not improved at all. All my lenses are SDM, but I find the speeds are fast enough. The AF-C mode is much improved, but can be improved further. The camera is fun to use, I bet everybody who has a K-5 loves it.

I’d like to comment on the following two problems:
1. stained sensor problem was solved already, all cameras having serial number larger than 3973*** are fine. Basically this problem is now worry free.
2. The bad Auto Focus under artificial light condition. I believe this is a relatively unusual problem that happens on a few bodies. Don’t be afraid about this, just buy one and try it at home. If it does happen (very little chance), then exchange for a new one.

I have hand-on experience of Canon 7D and Nikon D7000, I would say the D7000′s image quality (from ISO100 to ISO3200) is on par with K-5, both of which are better than the 7D. 7D’s build quality is on par with the K-5 but K-5 is much smaller, D7000 falls behind in this regard.

I highly recommend the K-5.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 

Was this review helpful to you? 

|

 Comment (1)

I just got my k-5, and it is pretty much exactly what I was looking for. I upgraded from the k20d, in the k-5 surpasses that excellent camera in every respect.

The AF is so much faster than previous pentax models. It can still struggle sometimes in very low light when pointed at low contrast area, but so does pretty much any camera ever made. Liveview AF if very fast as well, even faster with the new 1.02 firmware.

The dynamic range is astounding, and equals or beats pretty much any digital camera up to this point (and probably equals the exposure latitude of negative film). I can pretty much dispense with multiple exposures for HDR, because i can now just expose for the highlights and then bring the shadows up in photoshop with almost no added noise. This is probably the most revolutionary feature.

High ISO is fantastic, getting pretty close to the performance of the best FF cameras of the current generation. It is at least 2 stops better than my k20d, and probably closer to 3 when you factor in that you pretty much cant make it produce banding noise at any iso, which makes the files much easier to clean up. I can use iso 6400 at A3 size and it looks great, just a quick pass with noise ninja or topaz. The ISO performance of this camera was unimaginable a few years ago when talking about aps-c sensors.

The build quality is awesome, and it just feels great in the hand (i have average sized hands). Its very compact for a camera in this class (compared to nikon d300s. canon 7d, etc..), but is very solid feeling due to the magnesium alloy shell and steel frame. It is fully weather sealed and very rugged. Try doing this with any other camera besides the olympus e-5 [...] . It somehow manages to squeeze a remarkable number of manual controls in without feeling cramped.

Ergonomics is a particular strong point for Pentax in general, and specifically the k-5 is probably the best pentax yet camera in this regard. All the major controls fall easily under your fingers, with no need to take your eye away to change aperture, shutter speed, iso, metering pattern, af mode, etc.. The great high iso performance makes the pentax TAV mode truly useful finally (lets you set aperture and shutter speed, and changes the iso to get proper exposure within your set auto iso range). More than any other company it seems like the pentax engineers are also photographers, and everything is laid out in a way that is logical and well conceived. Also there is the pentax unique hyper program and hyper manual modes. Hyper program lets you easily switch from your set program mode to AV or SV mode by just turning the control wheel of each. Turn the back wheel and you are in aperture priority, turn the front and you are in shutter priority, hit the green button and you are back to your program mode. In manual mode you can make your adjustments to shutter and aperture, and the green button will take a meter reading and make an exposure suggestion for you, which quickly gets you in the ballpark. Its great.

The shutter/mirror sound is whisper quite, a very nice change from the loud thwack of my k20d. When i shoot with my flash, the flashbulb pop is the loudest sound coming from the camera. Its very refined and unobtrusive. The max continuous speed is an impressive 7 frames per second, and mine can go for an equally impressive 25 frames before the buffer fills. This is all pretty much class leading.

This camera pairs exceptionally well with the tiny Limited primes, making it possible to have exceptional IQ with very small size, yet retaining all the control of a pro camera. Street photographers should seriously consider this combo.

I can recommend this camera to anyone without reservation. It is the best camera I have ever used, and it makes the other cameras in its class feel gigantic and clunky.

Pros:
Fast AF
14 stops of DR
Clean High ISO, usable ISO 6400
Compact, rugged build
Ergonomics
Great color, tonal gradations
Very customizable

Cons:
AF tracking not that great, but pretty good for all but the most demanding circumstances.
Needs high quality lenses to shine, but why put crap glass on a camera like this anyway?

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 

Was this review helpful to you? 

|

 Comments (3)