 |
Pentax K5
by clarkjames
Pentax have never been that popular compared to canon/nikon, but what they offer is something different and unique, they're not trying to beat canon/nikon they're trying to carve their own niche.
If you want to read stats and talk about noise then DP review if where you should go, but if you want to read about how it feels to ... own a pentax, and why they exist compared to canon/nikon then read on.
I see pentax as the leica of the SLR world, small (the smallest SLR on the market) with very high quality prime lenses.
Pentax cameras have great viewfinders, much bigger than competing canon/nikons of this size and price.
The k5 has a silent shutter- a dampened mirror box that provides a very quiet shooting experience that until the 5d3 has not been emulated by canikon.
In body IS, this is amazing- while not as effective as in lens IS, it means that all your wide angle lenses are stabilised, and even your 50 year old manual focus 50mm is stabilised.
The weather sealing on a pentax is best in class, much better than the canon/nikon equivalent, I trust my pentax to keep on shooting.
Another advantage is availability of great quality, cheap K mount lenses. Every canon camera can take these lenses with an adaptor, but when you use them natively on this pentax you don't have to stop down before the shot is taken!
Nikon has a similar advantage but their old lenses still carry a price premium, old pentax lenses are cheap cheap cheap, where as their newer pro zooms like the 50-135 2.8 are expensive- don't buy pentax to shoot professionally, buy pentax to shoot with old glass, or the wonderful limited primes (expensive but very nice).
The downsides: owning a pentax comes with a price premium (just like a leica), accessories are just rarer and lenses much more costly. Also there is no upgrade path to full frame.
Video mode isn't anywhere near as good with the pentax, it's quite clunky, and feels like a bit of an after thought.
My main gripe with pentax is their menu system, I never really got it, changing AF points takes way too many button presses, and I prefer to shoot the camera like I did with film, with a manual lens, iso 400 and changing shutter speed and apperture to get the correct exposure- the pentax is a camera for photographers, and purveyors or finely crafted lenses.
If you are in the market for an APS-C camera, and you don't fancy full frame, and you don't want/need the complex AF of the 7d, then the k5 has it's own charm and comes highly recommended.
But if you want to do flash photography, or shoot with fast zooms, then maybe canon or nikon is a better option for you.
Read the complete review |
 |
Pentax K 30
by clarkjames
The pentax k30 is an incredibly ugly camera, it looks like a frankenstein camera with the range of different textured plastics they use. Looks aside it's a great camera.
For the price of a entry level canon you get a pentax which although entry level has some features that rival the flagship canon's.
Pentax aren't a ... very popular brand compared to canon/nikon but I have no idea why, they really do make great cameras and although they had been playing catch up for a number of years I feel that in the last year or two they have leaped ahead, the k5 was better than the 7d/d7000, and now the k30 is better than the 600d.
2 things you don't expect on an entry level camera are 1) 100% viewfinder, so you see exactly what you are getting in your picture, and 2) weather sealing, so you can take it outdoors and not worry about it.
Pentax' weather sealing is the best in the business, and despite this not being as well sealed as their flagship k5 camera it should still be as good if not better than the competing canon and nikon models.
The af system on pentax is still relatively primitive compared to canon/nikon models, but works reasonably well in decent light, although the competition and even the flagship k5 does better in low light- but this is to be expected for a product in this price bracket.
Also expected is the plastic shell, it is polycarbonate (which is what they use in police riot shields) so it's not cheap plastic, but it's never going to be as tough as the magnesium alloy cameras out there, as long as you're not in the habbit of dropping your camera onto concrete you should be ok with a polycarbonate shell, and it helps keep the weight down- the k30 is a very small and very light camera.
That's pentax's niche, they don't compete with canon/nikon to product professional cameras, they create cameras that are firmly focused (pun intended) on photographers, and even their flasgship k-5 is tiny compared to say the canon 7d.
Like all 'budget' cameras there's a real lack of hands on controls, and again the k-30 disappoints, you might find yourself outgrowing this camera.
Battery life is another budget camera foible, and here the battery lasts around 400 shots, which is about equal to a canon 600d, but less than half that the professional canon's can do (even the 60d which is mid range can do 1100 shots per charge). pentax does have a trick though, they can take AA batteries through the use of an optional adapter, which can be a life saver when you run out of juice (as long as you're near a city), this is a very traditional pentax touch and i'm glad they do their own thing instead of trying to copy canon/nikon.
Another pentax touch is in body IS- this is an amazing feature and although lens based IS has some advantages (mainly that it stabilises the viewfinder), having IS on all your lenses, even super old school vintage prime lenses is a real bonus and is a feature that canon/nikon are really lacking, to be able to stabilise a £20 lens is a treat, but the availability of cheap lenses for pentax has angered many a wife as their husbands photography collection spirals out of control
Read the complete review |
|
|
Pentax Optio WG1
by lambchop83
I bought this camera before a recent trip to Egypt in June specifically for the purposes of underwater photography for my first time in the red sea - and I am so glad that I did!
I already have an excellent Samsung digital camera, and bought a protective underwater case for it on ebay - waste of money, I couldn't get at the ... buttons properly and the plastic over the lens wasn't clear enough for good quality shots, so I decided to invest in a camera that could be completely submersed without the need for a protective case so all of the buttons were accessible.
There aren't really that many on the market, and after much deliberation and searching on the net the Pentax appeared the most capable without being too expensive (some of the professional ones are hundreds and hundreds of pounds)
First impressions out of the box were very good - very robust camera, small enough to fit in your pocket, comes with a useful clip and as I bought mine from pixmania they included a really useful lanyard in the box, which was very useful underwater (I tied it securely round my wrist while snorkelling, as the camera will sink underwater if you drop it)
It's very easy to use and the menus on the camera are very simple, I was impressed with the wide range of settings it has, to name a few, sport mode for fast moving action (used this at the olympic football and it's fab), pet mode which captures great shots of your pets and has a kind of motion sensor and produces great quality shots of those hard to capture pesky critters, and it has specific underwater settings for still shots and video which compensates for the different light under water. It also has settings for very dark and very bright settings - all you'll ever need really.
Underwater I was extremely happy with the pentax - the battery and memory card slot is securely sealed from moisture getting in with rubber seals and I have had no problems with the display or lens misting up as I have read in previous reviews for this product. I was very careful to not open any compartments without being sure the camera was completely dry.
The shots of the tropical fish in the red sea we took with this camera were phenomenal, I didn't expect it to be so good - the face recognition worked in the same way underwater to focus on the fish, picked up on all of the amazing colours of the fish and coral and the deep blue of the sea. The ease of use was a blessing, as the last thing you need when you are underwater near coral is to be stressing about making your camera work and faffing with buttons - it was as simple point and shoot. We even used it in the swimming pool. The underwater video even picks up audio really well.
We took this camera everywhere with us on holiday, we weren't scared of getting it wet by the pool or the beach, there are no moving parts so sand can't get into it.
It's really been the best purchase I've made in a long while, so much fun to be able to capture images underwater, we also take it on days out, camping etc, as it's perfect if its rainy as it won't get damaged.
Apparently it's crush-proof as well but I have no intention of standing on it anytime soon :)
Read the complete review |
