Pentax K-R

Hi everyone

For ages I've been trying to decide upon my first DSLR - I went from the choice of a few Nikons (D3000, D3100, D5000, D5100) but now I'm thinking about a Pentax D-R - the price of these seems pretty good and to get the body + 18-55mm and 55-200mm it seems that £500 will do the job, so that and the reviews this camera gets is making me sway towards purchasing this one.

I like HDR photography and know this camera has an on board HDR system, and I'll be mainly taking low light landscape photos, sunsets, sunrises etc, so would like a good wide angle lens too.

My only concern is that my choice of lenses might be cut somewhat with it not being either a Nikon or a Canon.

Can anyone give me some good advice because I so having a very difficult time making a choice! I need the help and would appreciate some.

Many thanks.

I tested this for ePHOTOzine and it's a terrific camera. You need have no fears about its performance or quality.

As for lenses, an eBay search will find hundreds or thousands of lenses that fir Pentax DSLRs.

Yes, the range of new lenses is smaller than canon or Nikon, but probably bigger than Sony or Olympus. But the sort of lenses we are likely to actually buy, as opposed to dream about, are just as plentiful.

There are also many unique Pentax designs, including the Limited prime lenses, the fish-eye zoom and the WR range.

I'm sure the K-r kit you outline will serve well for many years and that there are plenty more lenses for you to buy when you're ready.

A friend has the Nikon D5000 and while it is a 'neat' little camera producing nice photos, the build quality and ergonomics are not in the same class as the Pentax Kr.
I also use the two kit lenses you mention and am very impressed with them (Particularly the 50-200mm!)

Go for it! you will NOT be dissapointed

Michael

This is one unholy myth, yes, the choice of lens will matter if you are looking at the higher end FX Nikons where the 'minimum' you'd spend on a zoom is £840 but if you compare the APS-C ranges the Pentax range redeems itself admirably with the perfect primes and a good choice of zooms...Pentax don't have a lens longer than 300mm blaady bloody blah, check the price of the Canon 100-400 or 400, Nikkor 80-400 or 200-400...

I do not have the K-R but by all accounts it's a fabulous camera, as good as any other at the price range, whatever fits your hand and suits your shooting style matters too. The beauty of the Pentax is that you can use lenses from decades ago, at low cost (something that's not possible on the Nikon:wink

Peter

For your chosen style(s) of photography Pentax is as well served in lenses as any other brand.

One of the crowd? Buy Canikon.

Want to be an individual? Buy Pentax and enjoy membership of an exclusive club

I have yet to meet any person of any brand (I know what you're thinking, but I haven't MET Mike p), that buys multiple copies of every lens the manufacturer makes... so how many lenses are available does not affect how many lenses you'll actually buy... if anything it just makes shopping a little more confusing.

So start by looking at budget and intended use...

The kr is a fine camera.... Pentax has some very good performing lenses and some outright bargains...

Assuming that lens selection is on your list of priorities because you intend to buy lot's of lenses.... if I was in your shoes, for landscapes, I'd grab the 14 or 15 mm , the 35 2.4, 50mm 1.4, 100 macro... on top of the kr with kit lenses....

if I were buying only a few lenses, I'd take the kr with kit lenses, buy the 14 or 15 mm and 10-17 fisheye as well as the 35 mm macro...

I have the KR, the MKII 18-55 DA lens, The 55-300 DA lens and a Sigma 10 - 20

All for about a grand.

In camera anti shake,in camera HDR, quick focus Pentax lenses,in camera lens correction, shadow correction, RAW plus Jpeg or RaW take and then add jpeg or jpeg then save RAW from buffer,11 point focusing as the top models,high res LCD, great low light High ISO quality from the Sony sensor, brilliant control from the (I believe Fujutsu)metering options, various options for live view, movie mode, best ergonomics on the market,best kit lenses on the market, 30 years worth of lenses that all work fine and on it goes...

Try getting that much class from any other system for the money!

The HDR function isn't that great, it creates a JPG so i think it's better to shoot in RAW and bracket the photo's and create your own HDR on the computer, you'll have far better results.

I believe bracketing can be done for 3 or 5 photos with one press of a button, so it's quite user friendly for HDR.

For wide angle lenses these are your options.
Pentax 12-24 f/4
Pentax 14
PEntax 15
Sigma 10-20
Sigma 8-16
Sigma 12-24
Tamron 10-24

Haven't use any of them so no comments from me

Pwynnej. I think you will find that just like Pentax Nikon have kept the same bayonet fitting for many many years and can therefore use old lenses just like Pentax. If I'm wrong tell me. Oxley. Buy a Pentax like the rest of us decerning folk. CHEERS Vic.

there are a few "Won't Mount" and "breaks Mirror" compatibility issues as well as the usual "Limited functionality" issues you'd expect, in the Nikon lineup, so no, nikon is not as good as Pentax is in the backward compatibility area.... Nikon has "Good" backward compatibility, Pentax is "Excellent"

Had my K-r for about a week now, came from Canon (as posted elsewhere. The difference I've noticed is that the quality of the images taken with Pentax lenses seem to be of a much higher standard than an equivalent from Canon. with Canon you need to spend considerably more to get the same results.

One thing about your kit choices, I would go for the 55-300 rather than the 55-200, on the assumption that all zooms drop in quality towards the long end, having 300mm to play with means that ideally you can use it with better results at 200mm.

OK Don I stand corrected. That's another Chic Deriair.. CHEERS Vic.

Thanks everyone, I wasn't expecting such a response

Does anyone know whee the best place might be to buy one of these? Best price etc? Or any current special offers?

Thanks again, much appreciated.

I lazily clicked the SRS logo on here. Only joking, excellent firm!

In the price range you are looking at, Pentax is the best by far. Without question.

If you are planning to send thousands then there are other options.

I have always found SRS to be excellent, but you might find a Jacobs near you who are usually pretty good. And there are some good staff at some Jessops branches.

You might even find a local Currys/Comet/PC World has one you can look at. Don't feel obliged to buy though.

But I would advise against saving a few pounds by buying an import or from abroad. It could end up costing you more in the long run.

If you add your location we could find somewhere closer to home.