Pentax K-7

The K-7 is the new flagship DSLR model from Pentax. Specs, photos and user reviews can be found below!

K-7
Year introduced 2009	Mount Crippled KAF2	Meter range 0 to 21 EV	Meter pattern m (77 segments) c s
ISO range (expanded) 100 - 3200 (6400)	Expanded dynamic range Yes, highligt and shadow	Exposure modes HyP, Sv, Av, Tv, TAv, HyM, X, B	Exposure compensation +/-5 EV
Exposure lock Yes	Shutter speeds (auto) 30 - 1/8000s	Shutter speeds (manual) 30 - 1/8000s	Self timer Yes
Mirror lock-up Yes	Continuos shooting Hi: 5.2 fps to 40 images (JPG), 15 frames (PEF), 14 frames (DNG) Lo: 3.3 fps until card is full (JPG), up to 17 frames (PEF/DNG)		Auto bracketing Yes
HDR mode Yes	Multiple exposures Yes	Built-in flash Yes, GN 13	TTL flash No
P-TTL flash Yes	Sync speed 1/180s	Flash exposure comp -2 to 1 EV	Autofocus Yes (11 points)
Autofocus sensitivity -1 to 18 EV	Autofocus with SDM Yes	Front/Back focus corr Yes	Power zoom Limited
Viewfinder 0.92x, 100%	Viewfinder type Pentaprism	Diopter adjustment -2.5 to +1.5	Exchangeable screen Yes
Depth of field preview Yes	Digital preview Yes	Live view Yes	Movie 30fps: 1280x720, 1536x1024, 640x416
Sound Stereo (external mic), mono (built-in mic)	Camera controls 2 control wheels. Many dedicated buttons	Custom Functions 37	Shake reduction Yes
Dust removal / alert Yes / Yes	Pixel mapping Yes	Image size 16 x 24 mm	Sensor 14.6 MP CMOS
File format DNG, PEF, JPG, AVI	Memory card type SD, SDHC	Back LCD 3 in. 921,000 pix	Weather resistant Yes
Battery D-LI90 lithium-ion rechargeable	Battery grip Yes, D-BG4 with D-LI90 or 6x AA	Size (W x H x D) 130.5 x 96.5 x 72.5 mm	Weight 670 g
Comment Program modes: Normal, Action, Depth of field, MTF. Extra flash functions: Wireless, High-Speed, Contrast control. Embed copyright information in EXIF. Exposure modes with M and K lenses restricted to Av (with aperture always wide open) and M

[Ole]

	K-7	K20D	K10D
Year introduced	2009	2008	2006
Mount	Crippled KAF2	Crippled KAF2	Crippled KAF2
Meter range	0 to 21 EV	0 to 21 EV	0 to 21 EV
Meter pattern	m (77 segments) c s	m (16 segments) c s	m (16 segments) c s
ISO range (expanded)	100 - 3200 (6400)	100 - 3200 (6400)	100-1600
Expanded dynamic range	Yes	Yes	No
Exposure modes	HyP, Sv, Av, Tv, TAv, HyM, X, B	HyP, Sv, Av, Tv, TAv, HyM, X, B	HyP, Sv, Av, Tv, TAv, HyM, X, B
Exposure compensation	+/-5 EV	+/-3 EV	+/-3 EV
Exposure lock	Yes	Yes	Yes
Shutter speeds (auto)	30 - 1/8000s	30 - 1/4000s	30 - 1/4000s
Shutter speeds (manual)	30 - 1/8000s	30 - 1/4000s	30 - 1/4000s
Self timer	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mirror lock-up	Yes	Yes	Yes
Continuos shooting	Hi: 5.2 fps to 40 images (JPG), 15 frames (PEF), 14 frames (DNG) Lo: 3.3 fps until card is full (JPG), up to 17 frames (PEF/DNG)	Hi: 3 fps up to 38 frames (JPG), 14 franes (PEF), 16 frames (DNG) Lo: 2.3 fps until card is full (JPG) Burst mode: 21 fps up to 115 frames (1024 x 1536 JPG)	3 fps until card is full (JPG), 9 frames (RAW)
Auto bracketing	Yes	Yes	Yes
HDR mode	Yes	No	No
Multiple exposures	Yes	Yes	Yes
Built-in flash	Yes, GN 13	Yes, GN 13	Yes, GN 11
TTL flash	No	No	No
P-TTL flash	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sync speed	1/180s	1/180s	1/180s
Flash exposure comp	-2 to 1 EV	-2 to 1 EV	-2 to 1 EV
Autofocus	Yes (11 points)	Yes (11 points)	Yes (11 points)
Autofocus sensitivity	-1 to 18 EV	-1 to 18 EV	-1 to 18 EV
Autofocus with SDM	Yes	Yes	Yes (firmware 1.30)
Front/Back focus corr	Yes	Yes	No
Power zoom	Limited	Limited	Limited
Viewfinder	0.92x, 100%	0.95x, 95%	0.95x, 95%
Viewfinder type	Pentaprism	Pentaprism	Pentaprism
Diopter adjustment	-2.5 to +1.5	-2.5 to +1.5	-2.5 to +1.5
Exchangeable screen	Yes	Yes	Yes
Depth of field preview	Yes	Yes	Yes
Digital preview	Yes	Yes	Yes
Live view	Yes	Yes	No
Movie	30fps: 1280x720, 1536x1024, 640x416	No	No
Sound	Stereo (external mic), mono (built-in mic)	No	No
Camera controls	2 control wheels. Many dedicated buttons	2 control wheels. Many dedicated buttons	2 control wheels. Many dedicated buttons
Custom Functions	37	36	32
Shake reduction	Yes	Yes	Yes
Dust removal / alert	Yes / Yes	Yes / Yes	Yes / No
Pixel mapping	Yes	Yes	No
Image size	16 x 24 mm	16 x 24 mm	16 x 24 mm
Sensor	14.6 MP CMOS	14.6 MP CMOS	10.2 MP CCD
File format	DNG, PEF, JPG, AVI	DNG, PEF, JPG	DNG, PEF, JPG
Memory card type	SD, SDHC	SD, SDHC	SD, SDHC
Back LCD	3 in. 921,000 pix	2.7 in. 230,000 pix	2.5 in. 210,000 pix
Weather resistant	Yes	Yes	Yes
Battery	D-LI90 lithium-ion rechargeable	D-LI50 lithium-ion rechargeable	D-LI50 lithium-ion rechargeable
Battery grip	Yes, D-BG4 with D-LI90 or 6x AA	Yes, D-BG2 with D-LI50	Yes, D-BG2 with D-LI50
Size (W x H x D)	130.5 x 96.5 x 72.5 mm	141.5 x 101 x 70 mm	141.5 x 101 x 70 mm
Weight	670 g	715 g	710 g
Comment	Program modes: Normal, Action, Depth of field, MTF. Extra flash functions: Wireless, High-Speed, Contrast control. Embed copyright information in EXIF. Exposure modes with M and K lenses restricted to Av (with aperture always wide open) and M	Program modes: Normal, Action, Depth of field, MTF. Extra flash functions: Wireless, High-Speed, Contrast control. Exposure modes with M and K lenses restricted to Av (with aperture always wide open) and M.	Program modes: Normal, Action, Depth of field, MTF. Extra flash functions: Wireless, High-Speed, Contrast control. Exposure modes with M and K lenses restricted to Av (with aperture always wide open) and M.

[anirbanchatterjee]

Thanks a lot for the comparision. A real useful one.
Also tested a K7 yesterday over here in Japan. They has these demo stall for 2 days. The AWB and ISO performance has definitely improved.
IQ at ISO 3200 is almost like ISO400 in K10D. Also AWB did a very good job in mixed lighting (fluroscent, tungsten and daylight).
Seems like the review will be gr8 for this

[High Roads Photo]

The best addition has got to be the "Focus Assist" beam on the camera!! Take that canon...

[Ole]

falconeye has posted quite an extensive review here of a preproduction K-7 with the final firmware:

My K-7 alpha test report and blog

[douglasmizzi]

Hi everyone, Doug here from Sunshine coast Australia. I have had my eye on this K7 since I heard about it a few months ago, soon as the shop had it I took my K20 and ALL my lenses in and spent a couple of hours playing. I started with a 50-500 mm sigma, what I noticed was an amazing machine gun rattle of shots fired - whisper quiet unlike the clunk clunk clunk of the K20, infact more like a Nikon. handheld with the anti shake on at 500 mm I managed some good shots, due to the speed i grabbed a few sharp one. !!!! very fast processing with the 16GB extreme III sandisk.

Colour rendition is far superior to the K20, without the yellowish tinge and frankly better looking, with skin tones referring to realistic pinks and reds etc.

Its true ISO is clearer at higher levels. Took a bit of getting used to changing the values with the button, but all is good.

They also have this great in camera watercolour feature , which turns everything into a remarkably realistic coloured sketch, I had to save firstly as a HDR filter ( not to be confused with the HDR fuction) then save as a water colour to bring the picture out, play with it is really good. I am in melbourne and for something different this week I am shooting a series which I will print as a watercolour feature. To do this in photoshop is hours of work, when I can do this in camera so well.

Overall I am really happy. I use my K20 as a backup with a wide angle lens on it and this as my primary shooting unit.

I have had it a week, so time will tell, but its a great camera and from what I hear aimed directly at the Nikon 300.

here are an example of some of the shots taken

Thanks Pentax

[lawsonstone]

The two things that consistently delight me about the K-7 are the vastly improved metering and the improved AWB. I almost never used the multi-segment metering on the K20D, but on the K-7 it seems to deliver every time. Likewise the AWB is uncannily spot-on.

The digital filters are huge fun as well, I admit.

[Andrew Faires]

Okay, well I'll toss in my thoughts on the k-7 based on a little over a month of use. Keep in mind I came from a k10d so some of these thoughts might not apply to anyone coming from a k20.

1) Ergonomics: I love the more pronounced grip of the k-7. The k10 was too shallow and the body was a bit large, meaning I didn't find it very secure. The k-7 is small, but it feels very secure. The comfort of the camera with the D-BG4 grip is very good as well, but I wish the grip was a bit taller or had a bit of a cut-away where my pinky falls when shooting horizontally. Without the grip, I don't mind the small size and it makes for a perfect light match to my 43mm for walks during lunch.
With the grip: 8/10. Without the grip, 10/10 Average, 9/10

2) build quality. It's a small, solid brick of a camera. Have only tested the sealing a few times, but it's taken splashes and sand without problems. Unless that changes, this is a 10/10. However, I'm concerned with the mic and speaker holes in the body. I'm sure they're sealed, but if water gets in and sits?.....My head tells me Pentax would have thought of this and sealed it but it's still a point that concerns me.
10/10 logically. 8/10 when I over-think it.

3) Image quality:
At ISO 100, I think (for my purposes) the k10d has an edge as far as noise goes. The k-7 yields brilliant results, but the k10 didn't have any noise, whereas the k-7 does. At ISO 200, and beyond, the k-7 noise is by far a revolution to me. I wouldn't use the k10 beyond iso 400 and then, grudgingly. The k-7 @ 1600 does better than the k10 @ 400.
9/10

4) Auto-focus and Auto-Exposure:
On the AF side, my DS2 was slow but reliable and my k10 was quick and dirty (all AF-C). The k-7 is the best of both worlds. It's faster (screw-drive) than the k10 and just as accurate or more-so than the DS2. On the SDM front, I'm not seeing any - or very little improvement in speed but the accuracy is still greatly improved. All this goes for AFC and AFS.
I have no doubts this is the best Pentax has come up with as far as AF goes. I also don't have enough experience with any other camera makers to compare it to, so when I give the k-7 a 10 in AF, please keep in mind my experience is limited.
For AE, the DS2 and k10 both underexposed. The k-7 keeps the exposure where it should be, as near as I can tell. I can rely on the camera to deliver the goods. This earns a 10 in comparison to the other models.

5) Live View and Movie Mode:
Live-view is good enough for manually focusing - especially when zoomed way in. However, beyond that, I don't use it or the Movie mode right now. I'm sure they're brilliant features to use regularly, but for most of my shooting, I'm doing stills and using the view-finder. I'm therefore leaving this void of any rating. Playing has been fun, but I'm not using either seriously or regularly enough to make a judgement one way or the other.

6) 100% viewfinder, mag. alloy body: I'm in love!

7) I could never quite get the right WB with the k10 indoors in artificial light. For the brief overlap, where I had both cameras, I couldn't believe how much better the k-7 WB was than the k10's. Even with the custom temperature and fine-tuning, I couldn't get the k10 to match the k-7 using AWB!

Well, enough of the Love-in. Here's the down-sides, as I see them. Keep in mind, I'm not going to touch on any of the reported problems which haven't affected me. This is just the negs. as I've seen them.

1) Although the AF-C is much improved, the slow-down to between 3 & 4 fps burst is a bit of a negative. It's still better than the k10d at it's best, but it's not keeping the 5 fps you get in AF-S or Manual focus. Also, while the AF-C is faster and more reliable, swallows in flight still elude the AF....and I tried!!!

2) Using the okay button as a shift sucks! Firmware 1.01 improved this greatly for selecting focus points but the flip-side is I now have to shift to get at the wb or drive mode, etc... - which usually involves accidentally changing focus points before I hit the okay button hard enough to actually engage the options.

3) burying the protect image feature instead of a direct key as in previous models is a pain in the A$$. As a result, I don't bother with it anymore.

4) It'll be a while before I can afford another one, as I ditched my k10 and think a back-up camera is likely a good idea.

5) As cool as the filters are and the HDR and all the other in-camera processes, I'd just as soon skip all that and let PPL cover off the filters or have a separate suite. I'd sooner keep the options in-camera to a minimum as far as those things go to keep the interface as clean and clear as possible.

6) The ever-coming-on LCD illumination was annoying. I finally disabled that. It would have been nice having a button to control it or limit it's time on, or have the duration selectable between 2 and 20 seconds in the menu. However, my details on this may be a bit off because I turned that light off about a month ago and haven't gone back to it yet.

So, I'm going to pass on giving this a final score of xx/10. It's not much help as I'm sure everyone else has their own opinions on where it fits in. Rather, I'll leave you with a final thought:
Pentax listened. They gave us the 100% viewfinder, the 5+ fps (limited), the mag. alloy body, the sealing/dust/cold proof body, they improved the pre-flash, they greatly improved the exposure and AF, and they returned to a smaller, more ergonomic (IMO) body. It's not perfect, but this is the revolution that was worth upgrading to. I'd say they've come the closest to my perfect camera as they could at this point in time.

I'm sure other annoyances and benefits will come up as time goes on, but so far, I've quickly come to trust what I can do with this body - moreso than the k10. And that's my final rating!

[tigrebleu]

Hi,

Here's the story...

After looking at the samples from a pre-production K-7, after developping some RAW files from a pre-production K-7, doing intense pixel-peeping and comparing the pros with the cons, I came to the conclusion that the K-7 would not give me enough additional features, image quality and general performance to justify upgrading from my K10D to a K-7, especially since I could use the money on new lenses I was starting to ache for.

But eventually, my K10D broke and I had to buy a new DSLR immediatly. Here's a thread I started on the dpreview.com Pentax DSLR forums on that subject:

K-7: unwanted upgrade.: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Since then, I had the chance to test the camera a bit more and I was able to get used to it very well, so here are my final conclusions about this DSLR... Remember that my conclusions are made in regards of the improvements of the K-7 over the K10D (not the K20D). Also, these conclusions are based on my own, real-world experience, and were not conducted as exacting laboratory tests to come up with an in-depth review of the camera.

Pros:

• Excellent image quality at low ISO (shooting RAW and developping with Capture One Pro).
• Very good image quality at high ISO, up to 3200 (again, shooting RAW with NR turned off and using Capture One Pro for developpement).
• Bright, 100% coverage viewfinder.
• Great AF speed improvement (and slight accuracy improvement) in AF-S mode.
• Tough, magnesium body feels like a tank.
• Improved Shake Reduction and Dust Reduction.
• Decent Video Mode (aperture control), but perfectible (see "Cons").
• Lots of very useful features (horizon level indicator, Copyright embedding, etc.)
• Excellent control over noise reduction level.
• Number of settings and custom functions almost equal to that of a fully professional DSLR.
• Improved metering (although initially difficult to adapt to, coming from an underexposing K10D).
• Much, much quieter shutter.
• Auto white balance improved under incandescent light.
• Improved menu layout and ergonomics (buttons for ISO and WB).

Cons:

• ISO 6400 pretty bad looking (still good for a DSLR using an APS-C size sensor).
• Needs very good glass to make the most of its 14.6 megapixels.
• AF speed and accuracy still poor in AF-C mode, way behind competitors with similar specifications or price tag.
• D-Range results in pretty noisy shadows.
• Video Mode still needs improvement: jelly-cam effect, artifacts, jittery behavior at times.
• No user-selectable ISO in Video Mode.
• Liveview still behind competition (no good magnification, slow AF).
• Toggle-AF selection still less than intuitive (even after installing the new firmware).
• Dynamic range improved by about a stop (over K10D), but still a bit limited.

It's all a matter of taste:

• Noise visible even at base ISO, but has a very film-like, unintrusive look.
• New grip very comfortable (for my small hands).
• Lightweight and compact for a weather sealed, magnesium semi-pro body.
• White balance (in this case, a 5600K preset) a bit too cool for me.
• A bit over-priced.
• More DA* and WR lenses needed to match this weather-proof body, especially in the expert range (17-70mm F/4, 16-45mm F/4, 12-24mm F/4, etc.)

Rating:

Features:
9.0 / 10

Handling:
9.5 / 10

Build quality:
9.0 / 10

Performance:
7.5 / 10

Image quality:
9.0 / 10

Overall:
8.8 / 10


My feeling about the K-7 is that the camera is very responsive, has lots of interesting and useful features and has very good to excellent image quality with proper glass (my DA 16-45mm F/4 is starting to show its limits, here, especially in the corners when used wide open). It's a great improvement over the K10D, more than I initially thought so...

The high ISO quality is great when developped using a proper RAW converter (I never shoot in JPEG, so I can't comment on that). The AF is better overall, but the AF-C could use some more improvement.

The unique features of the K-7 (100% viewfinder, Copyright embedding, HDR, in-body Shake Reduction, weather sealing, horizon level indicator, etc.) are not all innovative, but their sum make this DSLR worth consideration for an advanced or semi-pro photographer, along with the often impressive image quality at low ISO and general feel and performance.

All-in-all, a very interesting alternative to the D300 and 50D, but many might wait for the price to drop a bit, or turn to a cheaper camera, as I feel the K-7 is a bit overpriced when compared to similar products: 1600$ vs. 1800$ for the new D300s (both body alone). At least that's the price, here in Canada. I think Pentax is on the right track with the K-7 and that such a line of DSLRs might help them reclaim the fair share of the market they deserve to have, alongside the big two.

So while my upgraded was unwanted, I now confirm that I'm a real K-7 fan. If you think about buying one, I say go for it! You'll be more than satisfied, unless you're shooting sports on a regular basis, in which case the AF-C might leave you a bit... unexcited! But besides that little complain and the rather high price tag, the K-7 is real winner, so don't hesitate if you thinking about upgrading.

Just wanted to share this with you

[lamgray]

Originally Posted by Andrew Faires

Okay, well I'll toss in my thoughts on the k-7 based on a little over a month of use. Keep in mind I came from a k10d so some of these thoughts might not apply to anyone coming from a k20.

1) Ergonomics: I love the more pronounced grip of the k-7. The k10 was too shallow and the body was a bit large, meaning I didn't find it very secure. The k-7 is small, but it feels very secure. The comfort of the camera with the D-BG4 grip is very good as well, but I wish the grip was a bit taller or had a bit of a cut-away where my pinky falls when shooting horizontally. Without the grip, I don't mind the small size and it makes for a perfect light match to my 43mm for walks during lunch.
With the grip: 8/10. Without the grip, 10/10 Average, 9/10

2) build quality. It's a small, solid brick of a camera. Have only tested the sealing a few times, but it's taken splashes and sand without problems. Unless that changes, this is a 10/10. However, I'm concerned with the mic and speaker holes in the body. I'm sure they're sealed, but if water gets in and sits?.....My head tells me Pentax would have thought of this and sealed it but it's still a point that concerns me.
10/10 logically. 8/10 when I over-think it.

3) Image quality:
At ISO 100, I think (for my purposes) the k10d has an edge as far as noise goes. The k-7 yields brilliant results, but the k10 didn't have any noise, whereas the k-7 does. At ISO 200, and beyond, the k-7 noise is by far a revolution to me. I wouldn't use the k10 beyond iso 400 and then, grudgingly. The k-7 @ 1600 does better than the k10 @ 400.
9/10

4) Auto-focus and Auto-Exposure:
On the AF side, my DS2 was slow but reliable and my k10 was quick and dirty (all AF-C). The k-7 is the best of both worlds. It's faster (screw-drive) than the k10 and just as accurate or more-so than the DS2. On the SDM front, I'm not seeing any - or very little improvement in speed but the accuracy is still greatly improved. All this goes for AFC and AFS.
I have no doubts this is the best Pentax has come up with as far as AF goes. I also don't have enough experience with any other camera makers to compare it to, so when I give the k-7 a 10 in AF, please keep in mind my experience is limited.
For AE, the DS2 and k10 both underexposed. The k-7 keeps the exposure where it should be, as near as I can tell. I can rely on the camera to deliver the goods. This earns a 10 in comparison to the other models.

5) Live View and Movie Mode:
Live-view is good enough for manually focusing - especially when zoomed way in. However, beyond that, I don't use it or the Movie mode right now. I'm sure they're brilliant features to use regularly, but for most of my shooting, I'm doing stills and using the view-finder. I'm therefore leaving this void of any rating. Playing has been fun, but I'm not using either seriously or regularly enough to make a judgement one way or the other.

6) 100% viewfinder, mag. alloy body: I'm in love!

7) I could never quite get the right WB with the k10 indoors in artificial light. For the brief overlap, where I had both cameras, I couldn't believe how much better the k-7 WB was than the k10's. Even with the custom temperature and fine-tuning, I couldn't get the k10 to match the k-7 using AWB!

Well, enough of the Love-in. Here's the down-sides, as I see them. Keep in mind, I'm not going to touch on any of the reported problems which haven't affected me. This is just the negs. as I've seen them.

1) Although the AF-C is much improved, the slow-down to between 3 & 4 fps burst is a bit of a negative. It's still better than the k10d at it's best, but it's not keeping the 5 fps you get in AF-S or Manual focus. Also, while the AF-C is faster and more reliable, swallows in flight still elude the AF....and I tried!!!

2) Using the okay button as a shift sucks! Firmware 1.01 improved this greatly for selecting focus points but the flip-side is I now have to shift to get at the wb or drive mode, etc... - which usually involves accidentally changing focus points before I hit the okay button hard enough to actually engage the options.

3) burying the protect image feature instead of a direct key as in previous models is a pain in the A$$. As a result, I don't bother with it anymore.

4) It'll be a while before I can afford another one, as I ditched my k10 and think a back-up camera is likely a good idea.

5) As cool as the filters are and the HDR and all the other in-camera processes, I'd just as soon skip all that and let PPL cover off the filters or have a separate suite. I'd sooner keep the options in-camera to a minimum as far as those things go to keep the interface as clean and clear as possible.

6) The ever-coming-on LCD illumination was annoying. I finally disabled that. It would have been nice having a button to control it or limit it's time on, or have the duration selectable between 2 and 20 seconds in the menu. However, my details on this may be a bit off because I turned that light off about a month ago and haven't gone back to it yet.

So, I'm going to pass on giving this a final score of xx/10. It's not much help as I'm sure everyone else has their own opinions on where it fits in. Rather, I'll leave you with a final thought:
Pentax listened. They gave us the 100% viewfinder, the 5+ fps (limited), the mag. alloy body, the sealing/dust/cold proof body, they improved the pre-flash, they greatly improved the exposure and AF, and they returned to a smaller, more ergonomic (IMO) body. It's not perfect, but this is the revolution that was worth upgrading to. I'd say they've come the closest to my perfect camera as they could at this point in time.

I'm sure other annoyances and benefits will come up as time goes on, but so far, I've quickly come to trust what I can do with this body - moreso than the k10. And that's my final rating!

I always change the settings to turn off the preview and the backdrop being lit up. You can change them in the K7 so the back light will not appear unless you call it to via the propper function button.

[lamgray]

Originally Posted by douglasmizzi

Hi everyone, Doug here from Sunshine coast Australia. I have had my eye on this K7 since I heard about it a few months ago, soon as the shop had it I took my K20 and ALL my lenses in and spent a couple of hours playing. I started with a 50-500 mm sigma, what I noticed was an amazing machine gun rattle of shots fired - whisper quiet unlike the clunk clunk clunk of the K20, infact more like a Nikon. handheld with the anti shake on at 500 mm I managed some good shots, due to the speed i grabbed a few sharp one. !!!! very fast processing with the 16GB extreme III sandisk.

Colour rendition is far superior to the K20, without the yellowish tinge and frankly better looking, with skin tones referring to realistic pinks and reds etc.

Its true ISO is clearer at higher levels. Took a bit of getting used to changing the values with the button, but all is good.

They also have this great in camera watercolour feature , which turns everything into a remarkably realistic coloured sketch, I had to save firstly as a HDR filter ( not to be confused with the HDR fuction) then save as a water colour to bring the picture out, play with it is really good. I am in melbourne and for something different this week I am shooting a series which I will print as a watercolour feature. To do this in photoshop is hours of work, when I can do this in camera so well.

Overall I am really happy. I use my K20 as a backup with a wide angle lens on it and this as my primary shooting unit.

I have had it a week, so time will tell, but its a great camera and from what I hear aimed directly at the Nikon 300.

here are an example of some of the shots taken

Thanks Pentax

FYI, in the functions, you can update the spin dials not being used in a few settings to change the iso. I always update the TV and AV modes to have the opposite dial be iso, so I don't have to deal with the button. Its a lot easier.

Some ppl have made focal point comments as well. Since focus is about distance, I always use central poing focusing and then frame. its much quicker and easier.

[MudCrab]

Picked up my K-7 a few days ago as an upgrade to my K10D and I have by no means taken it out for a proper play as yet.

Few things have come to mind, the nicest if slightly minor point is the moving of the buttons from the away from the side of the display screen.

On the K10D the trash button has a small raised dot to help you find it without looking or in the dark. This dot has always stuck right into the side of my nose to my lingering annoyance so not having it those buttons in the same location on the K7 rates in my books.

Also, and this is something none of the reviews I have read mention, but at the more wide open end the K7 adjusts by quarter stops. Since I have never played with a K20 I am not sure if this is completely new or not, but as someone who regularly tries to shoot in the dark at band gigs with a F1.4 lens I was rather excited about this.

Looking forward to getting a battery grip to go with this body in a few weeks. I have one on my K10D and really like the feel of the larger grip.

Apart from that I haven't really played with this camera enough to say anything more meaningful, but it does look like a very good piece of kit.

[mithrandir]

Top Reviews of Pentax K-7 14.6 MP Digital SLR with Shake Reduction and 720p HD Video (Body Only) @Pickii

[Itai]

Here's my detailed review of the K-7: Pentax K-7 Full Review | NeoCamera.com

I really try to cover usability and ergonomics and what makes this camera different from others, highlighting precise differences with the K20D for those considering to upgrade.

Enjoy!

- Itai

[japafu]

I talked with Pentax and they stated there wasn't enough interest to develop the remote assistant software for the K7 their "flagship". I think there was interest but everyone just expected that it would come with it. So if there are enough requests then they will go ahead and do it. To make requests just call tech support and ask to make a software request. It is a bother to do astrophotography without it. And most third party software do not include Pentax.