Why a K-5

Okay so i'm in the market for a new camera. I have it down to two DSLR's right now, Canon's 60d or the Pentax k-5.
I have had the chance to use the 60d for a few days, courtesy of a friend. However, i have not as yet had the chance to get my hands on a K-5. I have to be honest at this point and say, i am a Pentax fan! My first SLR was a Pentax SF7, which i still have, glad i kept the lenses too. In between then and now i have had a Nikon, various compacts etc, but my next choice has to be the right one. I suppose i could say i am taking things a little more serious now as far as photography goes.
The K-5 then, i know it's good. I also know we each have our own likes and dislikes about everything to do with why this, or that brand for example, is better than the next.
Although i do like the 60d, i also like the K-5. I like what i have read about the camera and, i have honestly read my fill. Although I can find hardly any negatives on the K-5, minus the teething problems, and the usual moans about a dedicated 'movie button', etc. I am convinced more and more that i will make the right choice when it comes to it. Remembering i have not yet tried out the K-5, not yet had the chance to grace it's real beauty. I'm hoping someone will come along here, tell me where to stick the Canon, and sell me on the idea of the K-5.


Best regards

You'll find that lots of people are K-5 fans, and lots of people have K-5 gripes. There are plenty of people, including myself, that are in both groups.

Neither of these will come as any surprise to you, I'm sure.

You won't be able to make the right choice, except by accident, other than by handling the K-5 yourself. Only then will you be able to make your own subjective comparison with the 60D.

Spec sheets are only half the story. Accounts of personal experience can only be a small part of the other half. You'll find lots of brand enthusiasts on a Canon forum, for sure, so you'll learn nothing unbiased that way.

TBH, you sound more like you've already made your decision, and are just looking for a bit of final encouragement.

I have a Pentax K5 outfit and a Canon 7d outfit. In my opinion the Canon 60D is of a lower class than the Pentax K5. The Canon 7D and the Pentax K5 are on a par.

My favourite camera is the Pentax K5. I use the K5, 90% of the time.

I use the Canon where I need good quality lenses above 300mm.

Do not forget that you will need Canon L series lenses to get the best from a Canon.

Teetering on the brink shall we say


@Graham
Your right of course about the 60d being a lower class than the K-5. The 'L' lenses are a costly matter also. Still an impressive camera in my humble.

Cool video on the K5:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yp6Do7OM84

And the same guy's thoughts on the Pentax system in general:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QJlMNHXsvQ

The K-5 is way out of my league price-wise, but since you already own Pentax equipment, I'd tell you to buy the K-5, purely for the fact that you will not need to shell out any money (in the short-term) on Pentax accessories such as lenses, etc. This "buys you time" to try out the K-5 to see if it meets your own needs and expectations before finally deciding whether to stick with it in the longer term.

Bottom line is, if you don't like the Pentax, then you are only really losing money by selling the K-5 as 2nd-hand - you've already had mileage from the accessories you bought when you got your SF7. If you do like the Pentax, you pretty much don't need to part with your "hard-earned" on accessories immediately - it would be more like a "trade-up" for you in terms of new lenses, etc.

If you are in the UK you can rent a K5 from SRS Microsystems, there is an ad at the right of this screen

Jessops have a 14 day returns policy (yes you can open and use the item, within reason). SRS offer better warranty and customer service in general though.

Any reason why you have not included the D7K? I think it is a lot more on par to the K-5 than the 60D.

They have the same sensor, brilliant viewfinder, nice screen and loads of external controls and customisation.

However I moved on to the K-5 because the D7K was big and heavy. I also needed image stabilisation and it seems like Nikon considers IS is good only for super zooms or high end tele. No 'normal lens' has it and I needed it in as many lenses as possible.

These were the reasons why I bought the K-5 and sold the D7K. Later on I started appreciating the TAv modes and the much more flexible Auto ISO, the build quality of the K-5 is on a different league and started feeling a lot more at ease taking the camera out when it was drizzling. Since then I have also found my favourite lens of all time is the 50-135mm Pentax. Used to love the 50-150 and the 35 AF-S on the Nikon but that lens is quite amazing for a rather modestly priced lens.

If there is something I miss is the AF flexibility and speed on most of my Pentax kit. I heard the new type of motor found on the 18-135 is much better and the 40mm does AF very fast but all other lenses are quite noticeably slower to AF than any lens I put on my D7K. However I am not much of an action photographer so that has not been too bad of a disadvantage.

I think the 60D falls even lower than either two, in regard to sensor and build quality. I also found out very recently that it does not have a AF Fine tuning option....

Someone push him and end his misery

Having owned an SF7 the Pentax would be the logical choice, handling it will be like second nature, not like the canon who's buttons and focusing rings all work the wrong way round, it ain't natural

Plus its a head start with lenses. although you'll probably end up upgrading them all eventually.

The reason I bought the older 50D rather than 60D was because of the better build quality and lack of AF fine tuning. Would have liked the articulating screen though.

Canon is certainly faster where AF is concerned and they have a much better selection of telephoto/macro lenses but the K-5 has inbuilt SR, better DR/high ISO performance and some fantastic pancake primes. It also takes really nice pictures.

Depends on what you want from the camera at the end of the day.

Even taking off a lens is totally cock eyed ... the buttons in totally the wrong place. They have no idea.

Just be aware that the K5 is a relatively new camera and, apart from the unfortunate sensor splodges, does not yet seem to have been fully sorted in the way that perhaps the K20 has. Given Pentax's present situation I wonder if it will ever be.

I'm not at all sure there's any realy evidence of this, is there? Teething troubles in new models don't last very long and the K-5 is not that new any more.

My advice:

Try one!!

Simon