Pentax K-x in 2023

Hi all,

As someone who no longer uses Pentax as his main camera system but still loves the brand, I didn't expect to be buying any more DSLRs but when a K-x with Sigma MF 24/2.8 popped up on my radar for €40 plus delivery, I couldn't resist.

I remember when the K-x came out it was revered as the high-ISO king of APS-C though the lack of a legit AF fine-tuning method was a damper, as were the continued use of AA batteries and the lack of AF indication in the viewfinder. Back in the day, the brother of a friend had this on his christmas wish list posted on his parents' fridge with a note saying it has to be a fantastic camera.

The camera arrived in good physical shape except for considerable scratching on the rear element of the viewfinder - maybe someone cleaned it with steel wool or something. Firmware was the original and there was a clear back-focus problem so I updated the firmware and used debug mode to fine-tune the AF, which now seems fine. It had 17,500 on the shutter - I don't know how they got that far without fixing the back-focus. Maybe they always used the kit lens at f/8 and it wasn't too noticeable.

I've had a little time to play with it now and get a few first impressions:

- It's nice and small and feels solid in the hand - much better than equivalent models from CaNikon.

- Rechargeable AAs seem to have the battery indicator in reverse - when I first turn it on the camera indicates they're almost empty, a little later it says they're half full and later still it's all green!

- The viewfinder is tiny and tunnel-like, I can't imagine being at all successful with manual focus on it, and the scratches don't help.

- The screen is really horrible: low resolution and low dynamic range. Usually I develop from RAW in-camera and go from there but for the K-x I've been using Darktable on the PC so that I don't have to work with that screen.

- Maybe it's just my one, or maybe the exposure sensor is dirty or something, but the camera under-exposes by about 1.5 stops. Not a huge problem.

- From what I've seen so far it doesn't seem to have the same problems as the K200D with regards to sharpness from the in-camera jpegs. On the K200D the jpegs were really soft when compared to the same RAW files processed with default settings in the Pentax software on a PC. So I'm glad to see that was fixed.

So would I recommend a K-x in 2023? I would if you can get one for €40

Other than that, though the images may be fine, it gives a user experience which is very out-of-date and leaves much to be desired, so you'd need to be willing to work with that. If you are though, it's nice to have a compact yet solid little DSLR body to play with. I'm tempted to sell it on but I like the idea of having such a cheap yet capable DSLR to hand in the event I want something "expendable" over my more expensive gear.

Here are a few sample images with the DA 35mm Limited:


IMGP9607 by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr


IMGP9624 by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr


IMGP9623 by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr

And from the DA 15mm Limited:


IMGP9648_01 by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr


IMGP9651 by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr

Cracking post, informative along with great images. Thanks.

Yes, interesting text and images. Lovely light in the fourth image.

Philip

Just like yourself, I don't use Pentax as my main camera but I recently bought a K200D from MPB for £55 with just over 4000 actuations. I have a few Pentax fit lenses lying around so I took the camera out and was pleasantly surprised with the results.

I bought a K-x for peanuts a few years ago and enjoyed using it after my K5 had a funny turn in Vietnam and died on me for several months. It later fixed itself (I kid you not). Mine is mint apart from what looks like the end of a small metal clip that appears right at the top of the viewfinder. Weird as it never used to be there. The one thing I like about it is just how light it is.