K7 Feedback

I have been a Pentax user since 1980, kicking off with an MX and digital SLR entry with a Pentax Ist DL2. The output has been printed in the darkroom, b&w and colour from film and photoshoped where needed with the digital images. I have come to the point through circumstances where I am looking to do much more with my photography. I need the ability to capture and print larger images and more creative control. After 30 years do I stick with Pentax or consider an alternative? Looking to build a two body kit with zooms standard 28-55, optional, 28-135 or 50-200 with at least a standard prime 50mm f1.8 or better. Prime photo subjects people and portraiture. Canon despite their market dominance, I just don't like the feel of their cameras. Nikon's feel and handle nice. But as a long time Pentax user I have always liked their camera's. Can anyone give feedback on the K7? A lot of negative reviews on higher ISO settings over 800 with noise compared to comparabel Nikon and Canon models. Anyone have input and thoughts? Thanks for your input

Greetings Karl, welcome.

If your main concern is low noise / high ISO, you could either wait for the K5 (just around the corner now), or get the K-x now. I can personally vouch for the latter. The body isn't as 'flash', but its functionality is very good. The K-x high ISO performance was reputedly the best of any APS-C format DSLR when reviewed by another site link.

All that said, people post superb K7 images right here, and it is by all accounts a very impressive performer.

There's not so much difference in the high ISO between the K7 and the direct competition.

Once you master RAW processing and use a decent RAW convertor (like Silkypix Developer Studio Pro or Lightroom 3) then you'll find you can get much, much better results than just in-camera JPGs

I have a 36"x24" canvas from a 6Mp *ist-D, and have professional 402dpi prints at 18"x12" from the K10D, K20D and K7 - even from shots taken at ISO2500 and processed with Silkypix. The results are astonishingly good (even if I say so myself )

At that size, the SMC-DA 17-70 is one of the sharpest all rounders, and the SMC-DA* 50-135 really 'sings' when printed large (even shooting at f/2.8 or f/3.5 at high ISO). One shot I have from the K7 + DA17-70 is on my hallway wall and is bitingly sharp and clear - almost too much!


But then the K5 has even lower noise, and higher maximum ISO

You could always hire one from SRS
Matt

Hi Karl,
Welcome to the forum - nice to see someone else from Peterborough.

The K-7 is a lovely camera in size, handling and has a wealth of facilities. As it has been around for 18 months or so it has been overtaken in the high ISO stakes by cameras fitted with more recent sensors. The new K-5 which will be available later this month should have as good ISO as any comparable camera on the market as well as having improved AF and video. It shares the same body and handling characteristics with the K-7. I am very happy with my K-7 but if I was in the market for a new camera I would wait a few weeks for the K-5.

If you are going in for very large prints you might consider the Pentax 645D but that is in a different league as it is MF and very expensive.

You mentioned lenses but I think Pentax has your requirements well covered with zooms such as the DA*16-50, DA*50-135 or DA*60-250. For primes there are the excellent DA and FA limiteds. Unfortunately over the past year or two Pentax lenses have gone up in price so they no longer enjoy much of a price advantage over the competition.

I am sure we will all be interested to know what your final choice is

Here's a K-7 shot at ISO640 link

I don't think twice about going to ISO 1000 - the grain is there but it's not going to show in a print unless you're talking larger than A3.

My only reservation about recommending this superb camera is the slight shutter blur on wide angle shots at around 1/80. This sees me avoiding shooting at 1/40-1/200 on wide angle shots where sharpness really counts, even thought the effect is slight.