subject: Review Pentax K 7 [print this page] I would like to echo EI would like to echo E. J Tastad's review. He basically nailed every point you can make about this camera.
Its a wonderfully small compact body, that allows use of any of the millions of Pentax lenses built to date. This is a huge advantage especially since there are a lot of legendary Pentax lenses out there that still shoot with the best of today's glass. This also can ease your budget quite a bit, since you can pick up superb manual primes for under 60 dollars. When I first moved to Pentax I had about 15 old manual lenses that shot like a champ with my K-7... if nothing else, it will give you a huge appreciation to all the photographers that had to catch all the memorable shots that we have today... without the help of Autofocus, Advanced Metering, Auto Aperture... etc.
I use this with my DA* 16-50 and DA* 50-135 lenses, and get nothing but fantastic photos from them. Both those professional grade lenses and the K-7 cost less than half the cost of competing brands would have cost me for the similar features of the K-7 and IQ and of the glass.
Weather sealing is splash resistant as well... which is more than most camera bodies can claim. I have had this out in pouring rain and had the basic (the K-7's kit lens if you buy the kit) 18-55 WR lens on it, and never had an issue.
Pentax is a name that doesn't get a lot of recognition due to lack of advertising, but they are alive and well making outstanding cameras and glass.
Cheap weather resistant lenses than Pentax makes are the 18-55WR and 50-200WR... you can both of those for just over 300(total, not each)... and they are the best "kit" classed lenses I have ever used.
Pro: Features & quality per dollar, you may not find a better value than the K-7. This DSLR provides extensive features and options of a camera that would cost more.
Cons: ISO performance is noisy at the high end. This in turn limits quality low light shots unless you are capturing stationary subjects.
I am coming from a Pentax K10D and considered moving on to another brand. Other than being a full frame camera the K-7 has all the features I wanted. The build quality is not quite where the K10D was but still a very durable camera. All the other new features such as Live view and the HD video are great along with the advancements in the metering and the larger view in the viewfinder along with boasting 14+ megapixels. I use mine with the DA* lenses and they are a match made in heaven.
