[Abstract]

With 1 battery you can shoot for a stupid long time.

Haha yeah I saw the price of the grip, I might just buy a back up battery and save some more money for lenses, sure is nice looking though

[yeatzee]

With 1 battery you can shoot for a stupid long time.

Im actually very disappointed in battery life with the K-7 tbh....

Now the D90 my friend has... that lasts for an eternity

[Abstract]

Yeah Nikon batteries are pretty much great, my D40 last ages.

[yeatzee]

Yeah Nikon batteries are pretty much great, my D40 last ages.

the D40 better last forever considering its stripped of just about everything....

[Abstract]

the D40 better last forever considering its stripped of just about everything....

Well yeah...Its a beginner DSLR and as that it performs amazingly imo. Its not suppose to have advanced features, all I know is that I have gotten incredible pictures on this camera...What its suppose to do, it does very well. I would not call it stripped honestly, if they labeled it as a enthusiast or pro model then we could say its stripped.

[Freak]

Haha yeah I saw the price of the grip, I might just buy a back up battery and save some more money for lenses, sure is nice looking though

Extra Battery: (3rd Party)
DealExtreme: $12.38 Pentax D-LI90 Compatible 1860mAh Battery Pack for Pentax K7/K-7

K-7 Battery Grip (3rd Party)
DealExtreme: $54.77 External Battery Grip for Pentax K7 DSLR

Both for less than $70 USD, seems fairly reasonable.

I have both of them, and the grip doesn't leave my Camera (love it) and i find one battery lasts 1000 - 1500 shots, so having two plus an AA holder as well, is extremely good.

[yeatzee]

Well yeah...Its a beginner DSLR and as that it performs amazingly imo. Its not suppose to have advanced features, all I know is that I have gotten incredible pictures on this camera...What its suppose to do, it does very well. I would not call it stripped honestly, if they labeled it as a enthusiast or pro model then we could say its stripped.

Being a beginner DSLR doesn't mean it has to be stripped dry....

My K200d was considered a beginner DSLR.... yet it was far from stripped. The first and only in its class to have weather sealing! The Kx is "beginner" too....

And yes, I agree any modern DSLR is capable of great pictures. Its all about the glass and photographer

[SPB]

I just exchanged my K10D for a K7, and so far I am extremely pleased with it. I own the range of Pancakes and want eventually to get a 200mm lens. Don't really like zooms.

What I love about the K7 is the metering, the level adjustment, 35mm slide Filter. The movement of buttons I quickly got used to.

The results are much improved with less work to do in Aperture afterwards.

Forgot to mention only a few days afterwards the K5 was announced......... my sense of timing ....

[hal_a]

Lots of manual controls and dedicated buttons( Seems like the K7 fits well here) Very Strong build quality(I like the magnesium body on the K-7) Weather Resistant(This is a must) Decent Iso usage(I do not need super good but above D40 would be superb noise wise) 100% Viewfinder SR and metering on older lenses(I am probably not gonna use newer ones besides the WR kit lens for obvious reasons)

Abstract, you should also look into the K20D if you are prepared to live without the 100% viewfinder coverage. The K20D has greater viewfinder magnification than the K-7, which should help manual focusing. Otherwise the K-7 seems to be what you are describing.

Where are you checking the Prices and how long can you wait before you get a camera? The K20D goes for about 500 while the K-7 goes for about 700 USD on the used market. You save a couple hundred with which you can get a focusing screen to use with your old manual lenses. With the introduction of the K-5, I'm sure many K20D users will want to upgrade, who chose not to do so when the K-7 was introduced. You'll see many more K20Ds on the market at lower prices.

I hope this helps. I'm trying to convince you to buy the K20D instead, because I think that suits your needs better and its cheaper.

[Abstract]

Being a beginner DSLR doesn't mean it has to be stripped dry....

My K200d was considered a beginner DSLR.... yet it was far from stripped. The first and only in its class to have weather sealing! The Kx is "beginner" too....

And yes, I agree any modern DSLR is capable of great pictures. Its all about the glass and photographer

Yeah I see what you are getting at but back when I as starting out I compared everything and at the time for what I was looking at it did come out on top for me, I mean I know people with D300's and D3's that use it more then there more expensive cameras so that has to say something about the quality, not sure If I would but I plan on turning it into a Infrared camera anyways just for kicks eventually. Its a nice camera, nothing fancy, barebones that performs well I guess you could say. Although I must admit I was not even aware of the K200D or pentax when I was searching, I was comparing sonys, canons, and nikons, and the D40 seemed like the best performer for the price tag.

Abstract, you should also look into the K20D if you are prepared to live without the 100% viewfinder coverage. The K20D has greater viewfinder magnification than the K-7, which should help manual focusing. Otherwise the K-7 seems to be what you are describing.

Where are you checking the Prices and how long can you wait before you get a camera? The K20D goes for about 500 while the K-7 goes for about 700 USD on the used market. You save a couple hundred with which you can get a focusing screen to use with your old manual lenses. With the introduction of the K-5, I'm sure many K20D users will want to upgrade, who chose not to do so when the K-7 was introduced. You'll see many more K20Ds on the market at lower prices.

I hope this helps. I'm trying to convince you to buy the K20D instead, because I think that suits your needs better and its cheaper.

I was checking into this but I found the body and 100% view finder to be pretty nice, I hate to look stupid...but by manual focus screen, do you mean like...a screen that would be on a older slr? I never heard of doing this so I am a little lost.

[RMabo]

What you might be interested in K-5 is the fact that it's cold resistant (-10 C degrees) and weather resistant (although i've heard that K-7 is weather resistant as well), but still, changing K-7 on K-5 wouldn't be wise in my opinion.

Both the K-5 and K-7 has weather sealing that works low as -10C degrees, so both are cold resistant. They have the same body and weather sealing protection.

[ivoire]

Yeah I think I am gonna go with the K-7, If that Dpreview link I posted is accurate its just as good as a D300 Iso wise at 3200 which is impressive to me honestly(Not sure if I would use it but still..... I took a look at the K-r, I dont really like it as much...I held the K-7 in my hands and it felt great to use so thats a big plus!

The K7 will serve you very well for your stated concerns and save you $s for lenses. I've printed 13x19 prints shot with the K7 at iso 200 and the prints are squeaky clean. When viewed at 100% on screen, the same images show very slight noise. Since a lot of my paid work is viewed via the net and shot in dark and contrasting interiors, I'm hoping to have a little more flexibility with the K5. Dramatically improved noise to 1600iso, better AF and metering alone would prompt me to move to the K5 (and 5 saved user settings is a plus for my purposes). If you find a good deal on a K7, snap it up.

[Abstract]

The K7 will serve you very well for your stated concerns and save you $s for lenses. I've printed 13x19 prints shot with the K7 at iso 200 and the prints are squeaky clean. When viewed at 100% on screen, the same images show very slight noise. Since a lot of my paid work is viewed via the net and shot in dark and contrasting interiors, I'm hoping to have a little more flexibility with the K5. Dramatically improved noise to 1600iso, better AF and metering alone would prompt me to move to the K5 (and 5 saved user settings is a plus for my purposes). If you find a good deal on a K7, snap it up.

Yeah if anything I will get K-5 when it drops low in a couple years I was thinking. The K-7 seems like a very powerful camera for the current price though.

[hal_a]

I was checking into this but I found the body and 100% view finder to be pretty nice, I hate to look stupid...but by manual focus screen, do you mean like...a screen that would be on a older slr? I never heard of doing this so I am a little lost.

Yes, you can get an 'older-style' focusing screen - where you have two split images at the center and the image is in focus when the halves match up. There are other options. Check out katzeyeoptics.com

[Abstract]

Yes, you can get an 'older-style' focusing screen - where you have two split images at the center and the image is in focus when the halves match up. There are other options. Check out katzeyeoptics.com

Oh my god, thats amazing, will this make focusing easier(I suspect so) because I always felt it was harder to focus on a digital with older lenses but felt like I was imagining it. If so I am ordering this when I order my camera. Also the OptiBrite...I will be using half and half, some fast, some slow...how much does it really matter.

Also does this present any metering issues or other issues I should be aware of?