From K20D to K5

I am thinking to purchase a K5 to replace my K20D. At the same time I do have a few worries.

Let's start with why I would like to upgrade to K5, I think it will pefrom much better at low light high iso, I think it will focus alot faster and better in low light. That is about it. I never use my k20D over iso 500 and I am hoping I can use a K5 up to iso 1600. Focusing speed is also disappointing on K20D. And finally I found that the K20D sometimes freeze either the front or the back dail and I have to switch the camera off and back on again in order to change either the shutter speed and apeture, does this problem exist on the K5?

Now my worries, I love the meun and control of the K20D so much and I am so used to it, anyone here upgraded from a K20D can tell me what you think about the new meun and control on the K5? Also I like the size of K20D and as I understand that the K5 is smaller, I worry that it would not fit my hand as nice as the K20D, althoguh I do have 1 big issue on the K20D with battery grip, my plam keep touching the shutter release buttom on the grip when I try to view images on camera. But anyway I still love the size of K20D with grip.

Hope someone on this forum can tell me about their experience of upgrading from either K10 or K20D to K5.

Thanks

Much better to navigate, particularly like the way it goes back to the last viewed page when one presses the menu button. Also like the info screens as well, a big step forward.

It is smaller, but it feels sort of right, I upgraded last month, have not regretted it, K5 is by far a much better camera in every aspect.

Davex.

I presume you have a grip on the K20D?

Yes I do have a grip on the K20D, does that make the camera freeze?

Yes. The selection wheel on the grip sometimes gets stuck inbetween "clicks" (it can happen just by you brushing the grip against your body for instance)and causes the exact same problem you have. If it happens again just turn off the grip and give the wheels a little nudge (or keep it awitched off until you need it).

As for K20D to K-5 .. the K-5 is certainly smaller but the grip for it is slightly larger than the K20D so once you attach a grip they are roughly the same size. K-5 is just so much nicer to hold as well, once you get used to it you will wonder why you didn't make the change ages ago.

Not quite the compare that you asked, but I guess the menu structure of the K10D does not differ much from the K20D. If so, I consider the menu structure of the K5 to be far better as you can see each submenu completely (no scrolling down anymore to see 'hidden' items).

What I miss is the button to quickly set the number of exposures for exposure bracketing. And the green button is totally in the wrong place for me on the K5.

I've had a K10D for four years, got a K-5 about six weeks ago.

It's a little smaller, and a little lighter. After only about 5 minutes, I had completely adapted to the different feel, and after 5 minutes more, preferred it. My hands aren't all that large, so a smaller camera suits me very well (I don't like grips, though I owned one for long enough to form a view).

As far as low light AF is concerned, it's noticeably better, definitely, but I'm not convinced it's a lot better. I wouldn't describe it as a revolutionary improvement. I had a go just now, in a poorly lit room, with the 55-300, and the 17-70, on both the K10D and K-5. Low light AF was better on both cameras with the 17-70 than the 55-300, and better with the K-5 than the K10D with both lenses.

With the AF assist off, and difficult (dark, low contrast) subjects, it was quite slow, but found a lock more often on the K-5 than the K10D.

The AF assist light is quite effective, though, at short range, and is an enormous improvement over the noisy and intrusive strobing flash on the K10D.

My impression is that in good light, AF is faster too. This picture of swans in flight was the sort of thing I very rarely caught with the K10D. However, there's no doubt in my mind that some of the newer lenses focus faster than some of the older screw-drive ones, so it's quite tricky to make a really thorough comparison without going to enormous trouble.


I prefer the K-5 controls overall. The layout changes don't take long to get used to, so much so that the control positions now feel strange on the K10D.

The menu system is much improved, and as DaveX says, the way it remembers the menu you were last using is a really nice touch - it makes changing settings, taking a picture and then changing them back very quick.

High ISO performance is much better than the K10D.

Here's a shot I took in a fairly dark church, at ISO 12800 (yes, 12800):

[IMG]http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/chris5gd/Technical/IMGP0198.jpg[/IMG]

Here's a 100% crop. I've done nothing to the DNG at all except convert it to JPG:

[IMG]http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/chris5gd/Technical/IMGP0198-cr.jpg[/IMG]

Crunch time for me will be when I come to start photographing aeroplanes. So far, I'm liking the K-5 a lot.

I used to have a Samsung GX20, which was a clone of the K20D, before changing to a K7 and now K5. I prefer the fit of a K5 in my hand, it just feels so right. But handling is very personal and I do have smallish hands. I think if I were you I would try and find somewhere I can handle the camera before buying it.

I can't reallly comment on the menus as the GX20 menus were very different to the K20D.

One thing I initially had trouble with on the K7 was the use of the 4-way controller buttons on the K7 to provide functions, not move the focus point about. I did speed up switching between normal mode and 2s delay, but made moving the focus point around more of a phaff. However I think the K5 operation is better, but I have not yet used the K5 much.

One thing I love in the K5 (apart from the sensor) is the smooth shutter action.

A few more things, as I think about them.

I also really like the dynamic range enhancement for shadows and highlights. It was just too easy to clip the skies with the K10D and ruin otherwise good shots.

Green button stop-down metering with pre-A lenses in manual now works quite well.

The only things I can think of that I really don't like are:

- having to press the button in to turn the mode dial.
- the 'bzzzt' noise it makes when you switch it on

And I think the SD slot door is better on the K10D, with its dedicated key. I'm guessing the slidy one on the K-5 might become loose over time.