Pentax K-S2 Review
Construction and Handling
We now take a closer look at the Pentax K-S2's physical build quality, control layout, and ergonomics— some of the most important aspects in the operation of any camera, and key factors one should think about alongside the image quality.
Pentax K-S2 Frontal View (Click to enlarge)
Despite not being a flagship model, the K-S2 feels like an exceptionally well-built product with a focus on durability. Nothing whatsoever about the camera feels flimsy or cheap. The K-S2 is also the only current camera in its class with weather-sealing and coldproofing, which is a testament to Pentax's commitment to quality. This is in what part makes the K-S2 such a competitive offering, as you would need to go to a higher price range to get a weather-sealed Canon or Nikon.
The K-S2's weather-sealing is effective at protecting the camera from dust, light rain, and snow whenever it is paired with a sealed lens, such as the 18-50mm kit lens or any one of Pentax's AW or WR lenses. Some users have gone to extremes and tested the camera in downpours or even in the shower, but we of course don't recommend using the camera in these conditions. While out in rain, we also recommend conservative use of the zoom function on lenses without internal zooming.
Externally, the K-S2 is constructed predominately of plastic, but it feels almost like the magnesium alloy that is used for higher-end bodies like the K-3. On the inside, there's a solid metal frame that acts as a foundation for the camera's durability. The grip and side of the camera are lined with a rubber-like material for added friction. In addition, there are a handful of decorative accents, including a finely-machined mode dial, a top plate made of metal, and a groove texture on the bottom of the camera. This complements a body design that gives the K-S2 a unique appearance without being as flashy as the Pentax K-S1.
Machined Mode Dial and Metal Top Plate
Overall, the K-S2's build quality is a noticeable improvement over the Pentax K-50 or K-30, as it feels even more like a premium product.
Decorative LEDs
The K-S2 has inherited its LED lights from the entry-level K-S1, but their prominence has been toned down a bit to make them less distracting. On the K-S2, you will only find three LED rings, all of which are positioned near the grip.
- On/Off Switch LED
- Lights up green when the camera is on
- Lights up red when in video mode
- Wi-Fi Button LED
- Lights up green when the LCD is flipped out and inverted (selfie mode)
- When illuminated, the Wi-Fi button serves as the shutter release button
- OK Button LED
- Lights up blue when the OK button has a second function (i.e. AF point selection)
All 3 Decorative LEDs Illuminated
These lights can of course be disabled via the setup menu if you find them distracting. However, we feel that they are handy for beginners; for example, the light around the OK button signals when the OK button can be held down to activate a second function, something that may otherwise not be apparent without reading the manual. The same goes for the ring around the Wi-Fi button, which only lights up when that particular button doubles as the shutter release when the camera is in selfie mode (to be discussed later on).
Viewfinder
Pentax engineers have fitted the K-S2 with their latest and greatest pentaprism optical viewfinder. The viewfinder features 100% coverage and 0.95x magnification (up from 0.92x in previous-generation bodies), which places it on par with the current Pentax flagship and far ahead of the competition. For example, the Nikon D5500 uses a pentamirror viewfinder with 95% coverage and only 0.82x magnification: it is smaller, darker, and doesn't even show the whole frame.
In practice, while there is very little difference between 0.92x and 0.95x magnification, the viewfinder present in the K-S2 is just about as good as it can get in an APS-C camera. Thus, the K-S2 scores full marks in this important area and we highly recommend it if you predominantly use the viewfinder.
Articulating LCD
The Pentax K-S2's articulating LCD offers increased convenience in a variety of shooting scenarios. The screen can be stowed for added protection, inverted to work like a traditional screen, or flipped out and rotated up to 270 degrees. This can prove useful for macro photography, filming, candids, and more.
Finally, you can also invert the screen to face it forward for "selfies", or to allow your subject to quickly review portraits.
The screen feels remarkably durable and the hinge is very well-dampened.
It should also be noticed that while the size or resolution of the screen hasn't been increased compared to the K-50, it does feature a 3:2 aspect ratio rather than 4:3, which matches the sensor aspect and means that there will be no black bars in live view or playback.
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The articulating LED is a blessing, even for photographers who have previously been happy with a standard screen. The temptation to move it around can introduce a slight amount of overhead in the field, and some might simply have preferred a tilting screen, but these are minutiae.
Overall, we are very happy with Pentax's first incarnation of an articulating screen. Our only gripe is the slew of distracting health and safety notices behind the screen; these should have been placed underneath the camera instead of taking away from the overall visual appeal.
Handling and Ergonomics
The K-S2's exceptional build quality and weather sealing comes at the expense of weight. the camera weighs in at 678g, or 1.5lb, which represents a 28g increase compared to the K-50. This also means that the K-S2 is noticeably heavier than both the Nikon D5500 and Canon Rebel T6i, which range from 420g to 555g. But the K-S2 partially makes up for this with its ultra-light 18-50mm kit lens, which at 158g weighs 40-50g less than the Pentax, Canon, and Nikon 18-55mm kit lenses. At the end of the day you have to carry around about a little extra weight for the peace of mind of weather sealing: a fair trade-off in our eyes.
In terms of size, the K-S2 has actually shrunk a little compared to the K-50: it is about half a centimeter shorter and narrower with overall dimensions of 129 x 96.5 x 70mm (W x H x D). While the camera isn't quite as compact as small DSLRs like the Pentax K-S1 or Canon SL-1, it's still very travel-friendly and will comfortably fit in many small camera bags. You can get a perfect travel kit by combining the K-S2 with compact lenses like the 18-50mm, DA 50mm F1.8, or DA 35mm F2.4.
The past several generations of Pentax DSLRs have placed an emphasis on good handling and ergonomics. Current Pentax owners have been spoiled by over-sized, super-comfortable grips on cameras like the K-50 (good), K-5 II (better), and K-3 (best). It is clear that the K-S2 has also been designed with handling in mind, but it seems that Pentax engineers prioritized users with small hands for this particular model. The K-S2's grip is much smaller than that of the K-50, which means that for the average user, it will be harder to hold, especially with heavier lenses. In the field, we noticed that any lens heavier than the kit lens places a larger strain on your wrist when used with the K-S2 compared to the K-50. The DA 18-135mm (429g) is a good example of a lens that causes slight discomfort. It only goes uphill with heavier lenses such as premium zooms (i.e. the DA* 16-50mm).
The K-S2 is of course still easier to hold than the K-S1, as the rubber lining of the grip adds a little bit more friction, and the grip at least makes an attempt to match the shape of your hand.
K-S2 Grip (left) vs K-50 Grip (right)
To make room for the articulating LCD, the size of the thumb rest on the back of the K-S2 has also been reduced, but this isn't a concern since the thumb rest has also been redesigned to better match the shape of your thumb and prevent your thumb from sliding. The overall design of the grip places about a third of the camera's weight on the thumb, which is fine during use but not the best idea for when your thumb has to move around to press buttons. We therefore don't recommend the K-S2 for single-handed shooting.
K-S2 Thumb Rest (left) vs K-50 Thumb Rest (right)
On the plus side, the rubber lining around the grip and on the thumb rest provides plenty of friction and therefore gives good tactile feedback and improves the overall comfort. It does get dirty after use, however, and will need to be cleaned more frequently than the rest of the body.
The reduced size of the grip certainly isn't a show stopper and over time, you can grow accustomed to the way the K-S2 handles. An easy remedy is to avoid single-handed shooting, use the supplied neck strap instead of a wrist strap, and carry the camera by the lens rather than by the grip. However, if you plan on frequently using large lenses, we highly recommend graduating to the Pentax K-3, which offers one of the most comfortable grips that we've ever tested in DSLR.
Although the K-S2 is a bit heavy for its size and harder to comfortably hold than other Pentax bodies we've tested recently (with the exception of the K-S1 which has an even smaller grip), it still has a fantastic build quality and user interface, two aspects that should not be taken for granted. We will be looking at the button layout next.
Button Layout and Ports
The Pentax K-S2 has a button layout that borders on that of a high-end DSLR. To this end, the K-S2 has two control wheels, plenty of dedicated buttons, and a customizable button. Functions that don't have dedicated switches are controlled via a handy control panel in the menu, which will be covered on the next page.
Looking at the top of the camera, we have the on/off switch, which can either put the camera in stills mode or video mode. This makes it easy to switch from photography to videography without having to worry about the main mode dial.
Directly behind the mode dial, you will find the green button, exposure compensation, and a wi-fi button that turns on the camera's wireless functionality when held down. This button doubles as a shutter release when the LCD screen is flipped out to face forward, though this behavior can be disabled via the menu. The green button is used to reset the shutter speed/aperture to the values recommended by the camera.
In the center with have the pop-up flash, a standard hotshoe, and openings for the speaker.
Finally, we have a pair of strap lugs and the mode dial in place of the traditional top LCD (the main LCD can display a status screen with all the information that a top LCD would normally show).
K-S2 Top
The majority of the K-S2's interface is clustered on the right side on the back of camera, though the live view button is secluded on the left side. This is a minor inconveinence for single-handed use, but isn't as big of an issue with the K-S2 for the reasons we mentioned earlier. The remaining buttons will be discussed in more detail along with the user interface.
Finally, there's the viewfinder with a diopter adjustment, the rear e-dial, the 3" articulating LCD screen, and an orange SD in-use LED. The viewfinder eyecup can be slid up and removed for cleaning or replacement.
K-S2 Rear
The front of the camera houses the IR remote port (compatible with the Remote Control F), AF assist light, front e-dial, and lens mount. The AF assist light fires a green LED beam and can of course be disabled if needed.
K-S2 Front
The side of the camera houses the NFC terminal, SD card slot, mini HDMI port, and USB 2.0 port. The SD card door is well-build and does not require much effor to open or close.
The HDMI port is a new addition to the mid-range Pentax line. It mirrors whatever is shown on the screen (in VGA resolution) and allows it to be projected or captured.
We will discuss the function of the NFC terminal in more detail alongside our overview of the K-S2's wireless functionality.
Lastly, a microphone opening is present on either side of the viewfinder housing. You can see it in the photo on the left, right next to the mode dial (click to enlarge).
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Right Side: NFC Terminal, SD Slot, HDMI/USB Ports
The other microphone opening (for stereo sound) can be found on the left side of the viewfinder housing, along with the mechanical flash release button, customizable RAW/Fx button, and a mechanical AF/MF switch.
A standard microphone jack is hidden behind a small flap on the left side of the body. This area is lined with the same material as the main grip. The flap is easy to open, but we recommend exercising care when closing it to avoid compromising the weather sealing. The same goes for the HDMI/USB flap.
The external mic input takes the place of a wired remote port, which the K-S2 lacks entirely (unlike the K-50). Thus, the camera can only be triggered via the shutter release button, the IR remote, or wi-fi.
The sizable opening between the flash release button and RAW button simply houses a screw.
K-S2 Left Side
Underneath the camera you will only find a standard tripd mount, the battery door, and the camera's serial number. The battery door has a spring-loaded locking switch and opens with the help of a spring.
There are no provisions for an external battery grip.
Bottom with Decorative Grooves (Click to Enlarge)
Verdict
The Pentax K-S2 raises the bar for build quality among mid-range DSLRs. It feels like a high-end piece of equipment and boasts a handful of features that improve usability in the field.
With a best-in-class optical viewfinder, weather sealing, and dual control wheels, the K-S2 simply goes above and beyond in its market segment.
K-S2 with Flash Opened
The camera is a little on the heavy side and has a smaller grip than other recent models, so we don't recommend it for frequent use with large lenses— such as those heavier than the body itself. It seems like the design of the K-S2's grip simply favors compactness over ergonomics. If you have small hands, you will may still be comfortable with the K-S2's grip, however.
Finally, while the addition of the HDMI port, microphone jack, and wireless connectivity is a big plus, some advanced users may miss the traditional cable release port.
