PENTAX?

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Dirty Shoe

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Its seems that there is just this two horse race at the moment with consumer SLR's, but what does anyone know about the Pentax Kx, and its kit lenses? Currys Digi are offering a great deal on this with a twin lens set, but whats it like, and is it any better/worse than similar priced Canon/Nikon products? Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
i've jus bought one - there are plenty of reviews for the kx - look on photographyblog, dpreview etc

these made my mnd up - along with price, image stabilisation and the fact that the kx is nice and small
 
i'd read the recent thread by justa1972 titled 'about to splash £450 on a Pentax K-x..should i?'
to summarise; everyone on here has there preferred brand and for the majority of people thats Canon and Nikon who are undeniably the market leaders
but if you like the look/feel/value of the K-x then its defo a good alternative
the key as loads of other people on here say is to have a hold of all the models you are interested in
4 months ago i was debating between the entry level Nikon/Canon/Pentax+Sony and after much debate and research it only took 5 minutes in a shop holding/playing with them to decide upon the Pentax K-x and i've not been disappointed since
 
I started down the Pentax route, but now find myself changing to Canon.

The Kx is in a lot of ways a remarkably good camera for the money.

The problem (for some) is that Pentax lenses stop at 300mm, Pentax AF can be very slow and there are not as many accessories made for Pentax as for other cameras.
 
Have a look over on the "Pentax user" forum, you'll find many happy owners. I use a Pentax K20D & find it great for landscape photography, the inbody IS & weather proofing are particularly useful.

The main weakness I can see is that Pentax don't really support sports/wildlife photographers too well - their bodies are not the quickest (K7D excepted) and their range of long telephoto lenses is quite limited

Simon
 
Pro's:
Well built, best weather sealing of a non pro camera bar none, in camera anti shake so works with any lens and even telescopes!!, any pentax mount lens will fit and work with it without adaptors (bar M42 and tamron adaptal)
Well supported with third party accessories and lenses including fast and long lenses.

Cons:
heavy compared with competition, new pentax lenses thin on the ground especially long lenses.
Software supplied is bloated and can be glitchy on some systems
It's not canon or nikon so most will see it as inferior when its not.

I had a samsung which is a rebadged pentax, in fact I had two of them, the only reason I changed was I could no longer handle the weight and needed a lighter camera.
 
iancandler said:
Pro's:


Cons:
1. heavy compared with competition, new pentax lenses thin on the ground especially long lenses.
2. Software supplied is bloated and can be glitchy on some systems
3. It's not canon or nikon so most will see it as inferior when its not.
Click to expand...

1. More or less Sorted with the K-7/K-x
2. Rewritten and updated with K-7/K-x

Can't argue with the new lenses (although there are supposedly some being announced in 2 weeks time at Photokina)

3. Agreed.
 
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Thanks for your response guys I realy like the look of this camera and have read some positive reviews since i posted. I bought a Canon 1000D with the two kit lenses 6 months ago and was so disapointed with the pictures, and then by the coments posted here about the supplied 75-300 lens that I took it back! I just dont want to make the same mistake again.
 
Dirty Shoe said:
Thanks for your response guys I realy like the look of this camera and have read some positive reviews since i posted. I bought a Canon 1000D with the two kit lenses 6 months ago and was so disapointed with the pictures, and then by the coments posted here about the supplied 75-300 lens that I took it back! I just dont want to make the same mistake again.
Click to expand...

Stick to good lenses and it will be fine. Canon L series, Nikon equivalents (usually have ED somewhere?), pentax *, sony zeiss, etc and faster primes. Cheap glass is horrible on any brand body. 75-300mm is unfortunately the very best (worst) example around, followed by 18-55mm non-IS. I fail to understand this Canon marketing decision.
 
I have just sold my Pentax K10D to upgrade to a Pentax K-7.

These Pentax have weather seals, which is a requirement of mine + good build quality.

Lots of users of the Kx are on the "Pentax user" forum, and there comments about the camera are good.

Regards
 
I am not sure the Kx is weather sealed. I think that is just the K7 and K20.

(Hi Scott, Mike and WB.)
 
I also looked at the K-x but decided to go for Canon as it felt right in my hands and i liked the menu / buttons.
 
Mike.P said:
1. More or less Sorted with the K-7/K-x
2. Rewritten and updated with K-7/K-x

Can't argue with the new lenses (although there are supposedly some being announced in 2 weeks time at Photokina)

3. Agreed.
Click to expand...

1 - 754 grams (a saving of around70-80grams over older models) is hardly sorting the problem, especially when the canon's come in 200 grams lighter, so that's a whole 1/2lb lighter, a huge difference if like me you have mobility issues with your hands and also 200grams extra weight a lens can have.
I appreciate it has vastly superior weather sealing but its still far to heavy for me as it would limit my lens choice even further than it already is due to weight issues.

2 - its based on silky pix, ie re written silky pix, I wouldn't hold out much hope myself. I never used mine, just the drivers and relied on windows to import, adobe to process.
 
iancandler said:
1 - 754 grams (a saving of around70-80grams over older models) is hardly sorting the problem, especially when the canon's come in 200 grams lighter, so that's a whole 1/2lb lighter, a huge difference if like me you have mobility issues with your hands and also 200grams extra weight a lens can have.
I appreciate it has vastly superior weather sealing but its still far to heavy for me as it would limit my lens choice even further than it already is due to weight issues.
Click to expand...

Horses for courses. I actually find the K-7 too small compared to it's predecessors and use a grip purely to get the size and weight back to that of my K10D/K20D.

If you have mobility issues then yes,obviously lighter is better.


As Oggy says ... no weather sealing on K-x
 
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