Pentax K-500 Review

Performance

Thanks to its modern processor and firmware, the K-500's general performance is actually quite good.  During everyday use you will almost never have to wait for the camera to respond.

The camera starts up and is ready to shoot in just under a second.  Once powered on, like almost any other DSLR, there is virtually no shutter lag.

Although the menu system does lock up while data is being written to the card, you will almost never experience this unless you shoot long busts, which can take several seconds to be written to the memory card.  However, even while the camera is writing, you can continue shooting.

The K-500's playback speed is also quite good, and thanks to its speedy processor, you can quickly scroll through your photos without having to wait for the camera to catch up.  In playback mode, the K-500 does take much longer to delete files than Canon or Nikon cameras, but this isn't a big deal (single-file deletions are almost instant).

Our one and only complaint about performance is also a slight usability issue.  If you change the mode using the mode dial while in live view, the camera will exit live view, and you will have to manually re-enter it by pressing the LV button.  This means that if you were shooting in Av mode but want to go back to full auto, for instance, you would be slowed by this little quirk.  The camera also exits out of live view whenever you access the info screen, which is perhaps even more annoying.

Apart from this, however, the K-500 is both speedy and stable, something we would expect of any modern DSLR.

Battery Life

The K-500's AA compatibility forces it to use a smaller rechargeable battery than the K-5 family of cameras.  This reduces battery life considerably, but not unacceptably.  You can expect to get about 500 photos on a single charge.  The AA battery life is comparable to, but slightly shorter than, the rechargeably battery life.  This is due to lower voltage.