Please Pentax, Pleeease!

Actually I don't disagree with much of what you've said. I think the build quality of the i10 is fine actually, but the screen isn't great, the menu looks like a toy camera compared to some other brands, and the results in poor light and above ISO200 are a generation or two behind the best of the opposition.

That said, my daughter is delighted with the i10 she got for Christmas - it is better than the Fuji E900 that it has replaced (and that camera was considered to be a good low-light performer at the time of its release), is easy for a 14 year old to find their way around, does some fun things like stitching together panoramas and, most importantly for her, looks really cute. The images are perfectly fine for viewing on screen, printing at normal sizes and sharing on Facebook (the latter being by far her most likely method of distribution!). At its current price, I think it is a reasonable deal. But at its original price of £200, it was a triumph of marketing and design over real capability.

The Sony T-900 I have has very good image stabilisation. You can clearly see it 'lock' in the LCD on half shutter press. I was actually quite surprised. Even in low light I don't get 'shake'

saw that. it looks good but fragile.... I think Pentax could do better one of two ways:
Ring of led's around the bezel of the macro lens, (even power available power contacts where the old Powerzoom lens contacts are inside the mount), and also the storm trooper white bodies? make it translucent and mount two flashes inside the body, light the whole camera up from inside......
Now google the casio TRYX and tell me if they pull an imac photobooth trick and use the lcd on that camera as a lighting panel...

Please use links rather than posting adverts for non-Pentax gear. Many thanks.

Hello John,

This issue runs deep with me. I have for many years been a subscriber to a well known weekly photographic magazine and respected their reviews, but recently I have detected what I consider to be understated praise for Pentax. The recent review of the K-5 had, I thought, to be read with a view to reading between the lines, as in my opinion, the reviewer seemed to be restrained somehow. For example, the camera was given 85% overall, with only 80% for build quality. How realistic is that?

Also it was suggested that it was in the same class as the Canon 60D, £200 cheaper and with a polycarbonate body. Surely it relates more to the 7D than the 60D???

I will never know, probably, what drives these reviews or why they do not seem to be 'up to the mark' as I see it. Is it that as I do not get to handle and use a wide range of kit I do not have a real comparison? perhaps I am biased too for the wrong reasons.

In any case, I now much prefer to rely on DPR and comments from users, rather than magazines which may appear to have leanings in a particular direction, for whatever reason. It is just sad that Pentax have to suffer such understated praise in this way, as the general public may not really know what to believe. I just hope that potential new users of dslr's will look at Pentax with a fresh eye. This may be helped by the fact the Jessops are now stocking them and have them on display in the shops.

Nice to see that they have reconsidered their position, which suggests to me that they must consider the current line up to have potential.

I thought the review was good, but maybe a bit devoid of any real emotion. No passion!

The comparison you mention does seem a little adrift from reality. The K-5 is superbly made ans stands amongst the best IMHO.

The only thing that tempts me to spend more money is the 645D.

You should pop over here more often!

Thanks John,

I have been waylaid recently with flu and an increase in workload. I will pay more attention to this site than before.

For my sins, I have bought the K-5. I recently sold my K20D for a good price, so with that and the cashback offer, I did not need to put too much towards it. Before it arrived, I thought I would keep the K-7 as a spare body, but the performance of the K-5 is so good, I think I will be using the K-7 less and less. It is still a worthy camera though and good to have the backup it affords.

I also want to do more tranny work with my Z1-p, this is such a superb film camera it seems wrong to not use it.....


Best wishes,

David.

Really pathetic considering that they gave the D7000 90%. Does that have 77 weather seals? or is it a case of waterproof doesn't matter or count

Reviewers ratings and comments will always reflect on how badly they need their paychecks, and the advertisers pay the salaries directly or indirectly. Therefore it is fair to assume some brands get ratings directly proportional to the magazines ad sales. Then you got guys like Ricehigh who seems to be one of those guys that simply has an axe to grind...
lol!

The K-5 lags behind some of the D7000 in some areas, we should not try to deny it, and pulls ahead in others (size, ergonomics, build quality, backwards compatibilty). Which of the areas are held as most important is a bit subjective. I am not bothered about flash compatibility, tethered shooting, and really top level AF, but the other factors appeal to me more. Hence we shouldn't place too much importance on reviewer's opinions or scores, or read the influence of advertisers into the reviewers decision...

DPR or Imaging Resource are the places to go to check IQ, and for the other things, you need to go to a shop and pick the camera up...