Pentax K5 DSLR Camera Review

 

Developed using the highly acclaimed Pentax K7 as its base, the Pentax K5 inherits the exceptional reliability, user-friendly operation, array of advanced features and compact, lightweight body of its predecessor.

However, it is more resourceful and flexible in photographic expression. Combining a new high-speed, low-noise CMOS image sensor with the high-performance PRIME II imaging engine, it produces super-high-resolution, rich-gradation digital images with approximately 16.28 effective megapixels, even when shooting in the continuous shooting mode at a maximum speed of approximately seven images per second.

It also offers an extra-wide sensitivity range between ISO 80 and ISO 51200 (when expanded via a custom function) and full HD-proportion movie recording at 1920 x 1080 pixels to expand the boundaries of high-quality visual presentation.

Adding other improvements and refinements–such as a faster autofocusing speed, an upgraded HDR (High Dynamic Range) function now usable in handheld shooting, and better operability through an overall review of the design and shape of all components — the Pentax K5 is designed to be more functional and maneuverable in every detail, and in its response to the demands of the photographer.

With the Pentax K5 DSLR camera in your hand,  for you, capturing that great shot isn’t a casual interest. It’s a part of your life. This camera is the perfect piece of equipment to help you get your photo fix. With the Pentax K5 digital SLR camera, the world is truly your own studio.

 

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Pentax K5 DSLR Camera Review

We have collected some comments from Amazon website to give you some information before you decide to buy this camera.

A brilliant camera

By Michael McKee “Mystic Cowboy” (Port Townsend, WA United States)

This is quite simple the best camera I’ve ever owned. It takes great photos and is very well built. I wasn’t going to upgrade yet. I’m the type to wait until a new electronics product has been out for a while and dropped in price, but the reports I’ve seen about this camera triggered my choice to take a chance.

The first thing I noticed is how petite the K-5 looks, though looks are deceiving. This baby is dense and weighs much more than you’d expect from the size. I’m sure that the magnesium body and extensive weather seals have a lot to do with that. This is one solid piece of kit. The camera has plenty of external controls, about what you’d expect from a body in this price range. I’ve shot with my sealed K20D in the Pacific Northwest rain a lot with no problems. My two shoots with the K-5 in the wet show it to be as least as good. Though Pentax has dropped the multiple exposure button. You can program the custom program button to duplicate that feature. As far a programming, the K-5 has the extensive customizability I came to love with my K20D. The feature list is extensive and way too long to go over in a short review.

And the photos! This camera has a huge dynamic range, over 14 stops! Even at ISO 800 it has the same exposure range of my K20D at 100 ISO. The tonality you can get from a print is beautiful. Another nice feature is the ability to choose 14 bit as opposed to 12 bit RAW files. It’s a small thing but brings the camera in line with Nikon’s offerings. I can’t comment on the many shooting modes and effects available. They only apply to JPEG images. I don’t understand why anyone would buy a camera this costly and capable and throw away so much potential image quality by shooting JPEG. That’s not to say that the JPEGs from the K-5 aren’t perfectly fine. They are. It’s just that RAW files from this camera hold so much more information than a JPEG can. And that information translates into a very real difference in what you can print if you take the time and care to. My experience seems to mirror the incredible sensor abilities that DXO Labs has published for the K-5.

One other huge advance is the focus speed. This is the fastest and most accurately focusing camera Pentax has ever built, easily in line with Canon and Nikon’s offerings in the price range. One small disappointment is that the fast focus and 7 fps capture rate makes the camera suitable for sports and wildlife photography, but the camera has a somewhat limited buffer. The 40 frames of JPEG is reasonable but the 15 image RAW buffer is a bit cramped. But then Pentax doesn’t make the long lenses for that kind of photography anyway. Though Sigma does make some with Pentax mounts. With the few ballgame or bird photos I take, I haven’t found the buffer limit to be a problem.

Looking at my histograms shows that the K-5 has a tendency to underexpose about a third of a stop. That’s really no problem as I’ve pulled usable photos out of totally black portions of the initial image, great reason to shoot RAW. Another is the great low ISO capability of the K-5. the quality of my 6400 ISO photos is slightly better than what I get with the K20D at 1600 ISO, easily 2 1/2-3 stops improvement depending on situation. And the camera focuses much faster in low light, too.

If I were a video shooter I might find a problem with the lack of autofocus in video mode. The newest Canon and Nikon cameras have that ability, though the autofocus is slow on both during video capture. That’s the nature of phase detection focusing that true DSLRs use in Live View or Video. The couple of videos I’ve shot look great. It’s enough for me. And the camera does allow for an external microphone.

P.S.
It was commented that this review is to impersonal and that I use terms that people don’t understand. To make this more clear:
14 stops of DR means in the real world is that my photos look better than any I’ve ever taken. Color gradations are smoother and more subtle. It means that I’m able to pull usable details out of parts of the image that I would have given up on before because they were too dark. It means that I can take single shots in situations where before I would have used HDR or exposure blending to pull in detail in both bright and dark areas of a scene. It means that I can the same tonal range at ISO 800 that I get with a K20D at ISO 100. It means that this is a terrific camera. I guess I’m a bit excited that a Pentax camera finally gets great press. I’m a bit tired of having equipment that I very much like ignored by most photographers.

 

Pentax K-5 An Awesome Camera

By Diego  (Marion, IA)

The Pentax K-5 is by far the best dslr I have ever owned. I recently upgraded to the K5 from the K7 and have noticed some big improvements. For one the autofocus on the K5 is much better than the K7. I like to do “action photography” such as sports, dance, birds in flight, etc and the Pentax K-5 has really made things easier for me. It also has better dynamic range. I really like the TAv exposure mode which is unique to Pentax. In TAv exposure mode the photographer sets shutter speed and aperture, and the camera sets a matching ISO so that correct exposure is obtained.

I’m not much of a review writer but I just know I love this camera. Here is a summary of the Pentax K-5 by Pentax Forums “It is a fantastic DSLR with exceptional image quality, fast autofocus, high sensitivity, a compact and lightweight design, weather-sealing, and shake reduction backwards-compatible with old lenses even from the screw-mount era. We highly recommend it for three groups of photographers: serious amateurs who have sufficient experience with DSLRs to be able to take advantage of all the K-5′s features, outdoor photograhpers who frequently travel and are looking for a complete weather-resistant DSLR system, and professionals who are looking for a camera with high image quality but are on a budget. If you fall into any one of these groups, we feel the K-5 will be the perfect match for you!”