CameraFly

Camera Reviews from Amazon.com

• August 25, 2010
  Best Pentax to date. Offers features that would cost you twice as much.

  

  I would like to echo E. J Tastad's review. He basically nailed every point you can make about this camera.
  
  Its a wonderfully small compact body, that allows use of any of the millions of Pentax lenses built to date. This is a huge advantage especially since there are a lot of legendary Pentax lenses out there that still shoot with the best of today's glass. This also can ease your budget quite a bit, since you can pick up superb manual primes for under 60 dollars. When I first moved to Pentax I had about 15 old manual lenses that shot like a champ with my K-7... if nothing else, it will give you a huge appreciation to all the photographers that had to catch all the memorable shots that we have today... without the help of Autofocus, Advanced Metering, Auto Aperture... etc.
  
  I use this with my DA* 16-50 and DA* 50-135 lenses, and get nothing but fantastic photos from them. Both those professional grade lenses and the K-7 cost less than half the cost of competing brands would have cost me for the similar features of the K-7 and IQ and of the glass.
  
  Weather sealing is splash resistant as well... which is more than most camera bodies can claim. I have had this out in pouring rain and had the basic (the K-7's kit lens if you buy the kit) 18-55 WR lens on it, and never had an issue.
  
  Pentax is a name that doesn't get a lot of recognition due to lack of advertising, but they are alive and well making outstanding cameras and glass.
  
  Cheap weather resistant lenses than Pentax makes are the 18-55WR and 50-200WR... you can both of those for just over 300(total, not each)... and they are the best "kit" classed lenses I have ever used.

• August 12, 2010
  Pro Features & Quality at a Consumer Price

  

  Pro: Features & quality per dollar, you may not find a better value than the K-7. This DSLR provides extensive features and options of a camera that would cost more.
  
  Cons: ISO performance is noisy at the high end. This in turn limits quality low light shots unless you are capturing stationary subjects.
  

• July 28, 2010
  Review after 9 months of use

  

  Before the K7 I owned a K20D for many months, so the K7 is not my first Pentax body. I replaced the K20D with this K7 for one, main reason - size and shape. The K7 fits amazingly well in your hands. I am so confident carrying it that I almost never use a strap. I even walk up to a mile or two around my neighborhood holding they camera with one hand without any concern for dropping it. I loved the K20D, but the size of the K7 called to me. This is the main reason I like Pentax bodies and glass - high quality, but physically smaller than the other guys. I don't want to carry around a 5D Mark II with L glass. It's ridiculous.
  
  So beyond size and form factor, the following things are important to me when considering my everyday use of the K7.
  
  1) The K7 has a 100% viewfinder (vs. typical 96%). I can't believe models more than twice it's price don't have the same 100% offering.
  
  2) Secondary small LCD screen on top of the camera. This is a must have for any serious-amateur-slash-semi-pro photographer.
  
  3) Build quality and size - my K7 is smaller than any camera in it's prosumer class. It's built of a single piece of magnesium alloy and has 72 water/wind/dust-proofing seals. I can shoot in a downpour without worry. Many of the Pentax lenses I use are also coated with a weatherproofing agent.
  
  4) Dedicated ISO, white balance and exposure compensation buttons are also on par with other prosumer cameras in its class.
  
  5) Fast frame rates - my K7 is 5.3 fps I believe - helps capture the right image when shooting candids, etc. People's expressions change a lot in the course of a second.
  
  6) 920,000 dot back LCD screen for high quality on-screen viewing of photos.
  
  7) Finally, this is nit-picky, but I like the little locking mechanism on the mode dial on my K7. It keeps the mode from changing accidentally.
  
  These are the reasons why I like the K7. I wish and hope Pentax will develop a full frame camera. That will be my next move up from the K7.