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

1. 157 of 158 people found the following review helpful

   
   Finally!, December 9, 2010

   By 

   Robert Petkus (New York) –
   
     
   
     

   Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

   This review is from: Pentax K-5 16.3 MP Digital SLR with 3-Inch LCD (Black Body Only) (Camera)

   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.

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2. 123 of 127 people found the following review helpful

   
   K-5 Flawed but Fabulous, April 19, 2011

   By 

   Barbara Chambers “Tekgirl” (San Francisco CA USA) –
   
     

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   This review is from: Pentax K-5 16.3 MP Digital SLR with 3-Inch LCD (Black Body Only) (Camera)

   I’ve shot with the K-5 for a month now, and I’d like to share my viewpoints on it.

   First, the noise level in the high-ISO images really is as excellent as the technical reviews say it is. This means that you can use a higher ISO number and get results equivalent to other cameras at lower ISO numbers. You can take your shot with either a faster shutter time (better motion freezing) or smaller aperture (better sharpness, etc) or just enjoy the reduced noise. This puts the camera at an advantage over all other APS-C cameras and a few of the full frame cameras.

   Next, the movie mode is a mixed bag. It has the 1920×1080 at 25fps setting, as well as 1280×720 at 30fps settings, and lower settings too. The 25fps setting is often quoted as a major problem, with videographers wanting to shoot 23.976fps as a “cinema” mode, but it takes only a bit of video conversion to change the frame rate to 23.976 and resample the 32k s/s stereo signal to match. So, if you’re desperate you can manage, but even then it is clear that this is not a camera for someone who wants video as a major use. The biggest problem is the inability to autofocus while shooting. The worst-case test of this is shooting a 2-year old running around in a house. Being indoors with available light, the aperture is open and depth of field is short; as soon as the child runs towards you the focus is way out. The camera is simply not usable in this kind of situation. On the other hand, with available light and a subject which is not in wild motion, the results are acceptable, but even then, a much less expensive camcorder often gives superior results. The only place where the K-5 shines in video is if you are outdoors, and you have a 500mm telephoto mounted, and you want video of distant wildlife – then, you have a system giving nice results. However, again, if you want a camera with great video capability and very good but not quite great still capability, go for the Panasonic-DMC-GH2.

   Next, color gradient linearity. A partly subjective criteria, not an easy item to quantify, but not too hard for a professional photographer to see. This is the quality of a color image which makes it as lifelike and genuine-looking in the shadows and highlights as in the midranges. A face is a good choice, especially a baby’s face – a fair skinned baby should have subtle colorations in the midranges perceivable because their skin is so thin it is nearly transparent. The shadows should look like skin in shadow, not various types of dirty brown, and the highlights should look like brightly illuminated skin not just brightly-colored areas. Being able to set the K-5 with 14-bit linearity may be the key to its terrific color gradient linearity. The K-5 has a wonderfully realistic treatment of living things, and subtle colors which extend from bright to dark look authentic in a way which the eye can see but which are hard to describe – to put a phrase on it, the beauty of the image is deep. The genuineness of the color gradients give a realistic sense of depth which stay in the image even after you have blown it up and put it on your wall. Again, this is hard to quantify, but you won’t see this much in the Panasonic GH-2. Or even the Canon Rebel 550D. Pentax has gotten this just so right. I’ve seen Nikon D7000 shots with similar qualities, but I’d have to still give the K-5 the advantage here. To me, this is one of the deciding features of the K-5, and it has nothing to do with all the technical tests at which it has excelled.

   Let me say a few words about the image stabilization, which unlike most cameras is in the camera body. You can put any lens on the camera, including old classics, and get modern image stabilization. If you try this with Canon, you will end up stuck on your tripod. Why don’t other manufacturers do this? And yes, it works extremely well. Even for long lenses.

   Now, auto-focus. I have to say, when shooting a still subject the K-5 is near perfection. It is fast and positive in bright light, slower but certain in fairly dim light. If it fails to find a focus in autofocus mode, it will not acknowledge the shutter press. The focus-assist LED is excellent and works well for darkened rooms, but only for distances less than about 5 feet, above that it gets a little less reliable. I sometimes take flash shots in absolute darkness of subjects over 5 feet away, and I’ve gotten good results using a small hand held flashlight to get a temporary focus, then hold it and turn off the flashlight, and take the shot. This gives you the ability to get dramatic shots like an animal in water at night, splashing, with every drop suspended in air. On the other hand – the situation with a baby running around in circles in front of you, the test I gave for the video mode focus problem, remains a worst case. Moving to continuous focus mode, you get excellent sharp shots, but the timing…

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3. 68 of 68 people found the following review helpful

   
   K-5: the best APS-C DSLR camera, January 13, 2011

   By 

   y1985s –

   This review is from: Pentax K-5 16.3 MP Digital SLR with 3-Inch LCD (Black Body Only) (Camera)

   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.

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