Had a go with the K-7 today

Found a camera shop with the K-7 so decided to pop in and have a look.
Apparently they had just come in and the shop had sold one this morning so the girl had to unpack a new body ... don't get many shots with an uncharged battery and liveview .. well you can forget that

Anyway, from my QUICK play with it the shutter is much quieter than my K10D, the AF is def quicker (and quieter) with screw drive lenses but didn't really notice much difference with my DA* gear.

Image quality is superior to my K10D (but then I was expecting that) and the extra fps is noticeable as well (dont use it much but nice to have)

So all in all it seems a very nice camera ..apart from one thing.

It's TOO RUDDY SMALL.

I don't have large hands by any means but have to say it felt terrible to me, totally unbalanced with my 60-250mm, hate to think what it would be like with the Bigma on it. I suppose a grip would make it better (as it did with my K10D) but I am loathed to pay £250 extra just to make a camera feel right in my hands.

Then I thought I would try the Nikon D300 which is the same price, I will leave that there though as this is a Pentax forum.

So a comparison with the K7 would be of interest:

You hit the nail on the head Mike, with my "Grave Diggers" the body for me, was far to small, why I did not and will not buy one.

He he, it's funny how the K-7 polarises opinion

I have the grip on mine all the time and I think it is better for it. The grip it's self is more substantial than the K10/20 version so actually better for portrait handling. SRS are doing the grip for less than £250 and with the voucher from this quarter's Pentax User magazine (issue 3) all in all I got mine for £155

Too small? Well I prefer it even with DA* lenses attached, but I would say that wouldn't I

Strangely enough its size is one of the reasons I would buy it (if I had the spare cash)
Tried the similar spec Canon and Nikon cameras for size and they are a bit too large for my smaller than average hands

Suppose you can't make a one size fits all body and maybe they are hoping to find a niche in the market

Not sure what happens though when the camera feels just right, but doesn't have the features you want

Cheers
Rich

Strange hearing all the complaints about size. What would any of you guys have done with a film SLR, when a Nikon F3 was considered big, and was still about two third the size of a DSLR? Would you all have given up on photography? For me, all DSLR are big.

The K20 is too small for me...thats why I always use the grip.....without the grip and the DA300 on the front it is horrible to hold,so I hate to think what the K7 must be like,I'll just stick to it's larger cousin!..

I had every intention of going there to try it, loving it and then ordering from Chris within the next few days. As it was as soon as I picked it up I absolutely hated the size .. no matter how good the rest of it is if it's not right in my hands then there is no point.

Yet again I agree with Mike, for my own personal taste,and large hands, it is too small, the K20 is ok, even with longer lenses.
I also hate tiny mobile phones, and the very small "compact" cameras, one press with my digits, and they cover all the buttons.

Agreed, I would probably have the same opinion if I didn't like the handling.

I agree with Yves though I find all D-SLRs on the large size, certainly one of the reasons I didn't go for a Oly E-3 from my E-520 and ended up going with a K20D.
And although I found the the K20D comfortable it still felt 'large' to me. So for me the K-7 heads in the right direction

Not being funny but that really has nothing to do with it.
I dont use film any longer, a lot of people never have so what we would have done years ago just doesn't come into it.

If I am paying over a grand for a camera body I want it to feel right, if the K-7 is ok for others then all well and good but it's just not for me unfortunately.

That’s right Huw, what suits one just may not suit others, now if i had ordered a K7 without trying it for myself, I would have been rather silly.
And if you have the perfect camera for one it may not be perfect for others.

Agreed Richard,
I would add that size isn't an absolute deal breaker for me because I really did like my K20D
More important is the handling and I do find the K-7 fits very nicely and I do prefer the button placement and general ease of use.

Having used the Bigma for years on the Ds, which is minute compared to modern bodies, I can't see that it would be a problem on the K-7. I never found the combo to be unbalanced in any way.
The more I hear about the size of the K-7 the more inclined I am to swap in the K20D for one. But first I have to do two things - find the extra cash and find a Dutch shop which would accept the K20D in part exchange.

I handled a K7 recently - it's like everything else, if I had one I would get used to it. More to the point is that when we upgrade to the K7 we will need two of them - one for each of us. That makes it an expensive proposition at the start of its run, so any purchase for us will be at the end of its life cycle.

We haven't had the K20D for long....