Hello everyone! As many of you know I have been shooting with a Pentax K7 DSLR for a couple of weeks and just in the past few days I have really started to take it with me everywhere. The K7 is the top of the line in the Pentax DSLR line and for about $1000 you can get a full featured pro body that is actually very small in size. I LOVE small! Included is a fully pro build, weather sealing, top display, 720P HD video, in body IS, manual controls, and enough options in the menus to keep you busy for hours if that is your thing.
I made a quick First Look video for this camera and will be publishing my full review within the next couple of weeks. All I have with this camera right now is the 18-55 kit zoom and I have some great fast primes on the way and I am excited to see how they perform on this camera. So far I like everything about the Pentax K7. The main weakness with this body is the high ISO performance which seems to be falling behind compared to other DSLR’s in this range.
But for the money I can already say that it would be pretty damned hard to find a better DSLR. Here is my video which goes over the camera and the menu options. In the review I will have more video including samples from the K7’s 720P HD video. I also want to mention that the in-body Image Stabilization of the K7 kills the Olympus E-P2 in-body IS. It is so smooth that when doing video with a wide angle it almost appears that you are using a steadycam. I can lightly jog and the video stays smooth. Pretty amazing for a $1000 DSLR. Very cool.
For now, here is the video. Look for the full review within 2 weeks with images from the 31 and 77 1.8 limited lenses included!
Here are a few of my first samples with the camera and the kit lens, which I think is a $130 lens. Not bad!
Pentax K7 with kit zoom at 24mm – f4.5 – 1/125s – iso 200 – click for larger 1800 pixel wide version
Pentax K7 with 18-55 kit zoom at 55mm – F5.6 – ISO 250 – 1/80s
Pentax K7 with 18-55 Kit Zoom at 18mm – F3.5 – ISO 400 – 1/30
Pentax K7 with 18-55 Kt Zoom at 18mm – f3.5 – 1/250s – ISO 1250
B&H has the Pentax K7 body for just over $900 HERE. From what I have seen SO FAR this may just be the best bang for the buck DSLR out there today.
Steve, I am happy that you are waiting for the fast glass. On my K7 and K20 I use the 21 and 70mm DA (pancakes) and a 50mm 1.4. Really small, sharp when you need them to be and capable of creamy background blur.
Love that muted K7 shutter sound! And the video… pretty cool. As far as ISO and noise, I am quite happy up to 1600.
Pentax has found a home in my camera zoo… next to Olympus, Nikon and Leica. I just cannot seem to commit to one system… 😉
I see your wife is also playing with fire (strapless on the M9 😉
From my experience, the K-7 goes safely up to around ISO2000 – that’s my personal threshold for the K-7 🙂
The Kx performs like the D90/D300/7D in regards to high ISO performance.
Buy some fast glass, and you will be fine.
/thomas
Steve, great stuff. The K7 based on other reviews I read, is known to have poor image in low light and high iso. Do you feel the same?
Some even said the the cheaper Kx performed better in low light situation due to better noise control.
If you have the chance, you should try and get your hands on some of the DA Limiteds – like the DA 40mm f2.8. I’m sure you’ll find the size, image-quality and build quite nice.
Kind regards
Thomas