Anybody try the K5?

[Sage97]

Hello all. Newbie here from TX.

Had to return a newly purchased but defective Nikon D7000 to Best Buy and was thinking about a K5 instead. They don't stock it so I can't get my hands on it but they can order it. I thought I'd compare it to the D7000 but I only had it in my noob hands a week or so. I took ok pics with it but its obviously not the camera's fault.

Let me know if you have any thoughts. I'm just excited to learn and get started.

[Ads]

[Sage97]

Oh....I'd like to take close up pics of my guitars and amps as well as my 15 year old playing ball, vacation landscapes, candids and macro shots of flowers and insects etc.

[loopy]

Ive had my k5 since October and I love it. I do not know much about the D7000, but this site has a comparison between the two:
Nikon D7000 vs Pentax K-5

Perhaps another camera store has one in stock, so you can hold one before purchasing.

[Sage97]

Thanks loopy.

Saw that link before. Best Buy has a 30 day return policy so I can get my hands on it and shoot like crazy. I saw pics at another forum and they take fantastic pics. It will be a long while before I learn how to take pics like that. Learning through experience plus investment in lenses.

Thanks again.

[cgipson1]

K5 is a good camera! What I would look at is the other options available in whatever systems you are looking at. How many GOOD lenses are available? Flashes? Good support? Third party support? Professional level support if ever needed?

Curious.. what was wrong with the D7000?

[jaomul]

Curious.. what was wrong with the D7000?[/QUOTE]

It was a Nikon

[Sage97]

K5 is a good camera! What I would look at is the other options available in whatever systems you are looking at. How many GOOD lenses are available? Flashes? Good support? Third party support? Professional level support if ever needed?

Curious.. what was wrong with the D7000?

The Auto Focus just stopped working. I put in different lenses and it just wouldn't work. Rebooted and reset everything to factory defaults and still no go. Put the lenses on a friends D5100 and they worked perfectly. Nikon tech support was highly responsive and supportive and walked me through various troubleshooting items over the phone and agreed that the AF/M button was defective.

Excellent advice re: buying into a system. Next step is for me to do homework on lenses and accessories. At this point, I'd really like to have a macro lens for flowers and insects, a nice 300mm zoom and maybe a good prime, maybe a 50 or 35mm.

[Sage97]

K5 is a good camera! What I would look at is the other options available in whatever systems you are looking at. How many GOOD lenses are available? Flashes? Good support? Third party support? Professional level support if ever needed?

Curious.. what was wrong with the D7000?

Excellent pics on your flicker site. I especially like the guitar pics and the spiders. I have a few guitars and want to take pics of them too. Were all these pics taken with the D7000?

After seeing a ton of sample pics like yours, I've come to the conclusion that either the D7000 or the Pentax K5 would give me the pics I want. The biggest limiting factor will be ..... me and my limited abilities.

[jaomul]

You wont go wrong with either, I nearly went for the Pentax k5 lately but bought the 7d because I have canon accessories. The pentax is built great and with IS built into the body any lens can have stabilization. The kit lens if you buy it also is weather sealed, also its less expensive than the nikon. It is definetely a strong contender

[Sage97]

Thanks Jaomul. Cork, Ireland? Never been but somehow I think you have access to the one of the best landscape sceneries. The 7D looks like a top notch camera. Too much moolah for me.

Is the Pentax kit lens decent?

[KmH]

Such is the nature of consumer electronics. Regardless the QC (quality controls), it is cost prohibitive to completely test every new camera that is produced on the assembly line.

Consequently, some % of new consumer electronics, from every brand, will get shipped with defects in materials or workmanship.

[Sage97]

Such is the nature of consumer electronics. Regardless the QC (quality controls), it is cost prohibitive to completely test every new camera that is produced on the assembly line.

Consequently, some % of new consumer electronics, from every brand, will get shipped with defects in materials or workmanship.

I completely agree. My brother used to work for Pentax and he says that the K5s are QC'd per unit not per batch but still perfection is not an expectation.

I just thought of a possible weakness for the K5 - I think the next model up costs $10k so if I decide to upgrade someday, I'd be in a world of hurt. Upgrading from the Nikon D7000 won't be as painful. However, pro gear upgrades may be very unlikely for me as this is a hobby that at this time ranks next to guitar and recording. Hmm. Random thoughts.

[jaomul]

Thanks Jaomul. Cork, Ireland? Never been but somehow I think you have access to the one of the best landscape sceneries. The 7D looks like a top notch camera. Too much moolah for me.

Is the Pentax kit lens decent?

I am not sure how good the kit lens on the Pentax is but I think they are generally good with obvious room for improvement when or if you decide to upgrade. Image quality on the Pentax scores better than the 7d with most reviewers and generally the 7d is only considered better if your into shooting a lot of sports. I would have bought a pentax but as i was saying I have a few lenses and a flash and few triggers etc so it would have been inconvenient and wasteful to change over.

Nikon does give you more upgrade options and stuff maybe a little easier to find, but if you dont think you will need to upgrade the K5 could be your camera

[Hood66]

Such is the nature of consumer electronics. Regardless the QC (quality controls), it is cost prohibitive to completely test every new camera that is produced on the assembly line.

Consequently, some % of new consumer electronics, from every brand, will get shipped with defects in materials or workmanship.

I completely agree. My brother used to work for Pentax and he says that the K5s are QC'd per unit not per batch but still perfection is not an expectation.

I just thought of a possible weakness for the K5 - I think the next model up costs $10k so if I decide to upgrade someday, I'd be in a world of hurt. Upgrading from the Nikon D7000 won't be as painful. However, pro gear upgrades may be very unlikely for me as this is a hobby that at this time ranks next to guitar and recording. Hmm. Random thoughts.

The K5 is Pentax's Top Dslr at the moment.
The $10K one you are referring to is the 645D which is their medium format digital.
Completely different format and different lenses mate. You do not have to worry about that as your upgrade path.

If you buy the K5 you have Pentax's best until they release a new model. So you will not be losing out buy investing in Pentax... plus all thier lenses made EVER are backwards compatible so will all work on the K5.

In case you can't tell, I am a self confessed Sony and Pentax fan.

[cgipson1]

K5 is a good camera! What I would look at is the other options available in whatever systems you are looking at. How many GOOD lenses are available? Flashes? Good support? Third party support? Professional level support if ever needed?

Curious.. what was wrong with the D7000?

Excellent pics on your flicker site. I especially like the guitar pics and the spiders. I have a few guitars and want to take pics of them too. Were all these pics taken with the D7000?

After seeing a ton of sample pics like yours, I've come to the conclusion that either the D7000 or the Pentax K5 would give me the pics I want. The biggest limiting factor will be ..... me and my limited abilities.

Yes.. all shot with the D7000. It is an excellent choice for a first camera... in that it will be very hard to outgrow with all of the features it has. Haven't used the K5 so don't know how it compares. I do know that Nikon has one of the largest selections of OEM accessories and lenses available... and that can be very helpful as you progress. And due to that, almost all third party manufacturers also do their best to ensure compatibility with Nikon (as they do Canon). You will find less available for the other brands... just because of lack of market share.

I had a friend who had a K5... and as he improved, he ordered a Nikon D4, as he couldn't find what he needed / wanted in the Pentax line-up. Something to think about....