Pentax K-5 from K7/7D

Raylon · 03-08-2011, 07:07 PM

Lee, how do you compare the Pentax 16-50 vs the Canon 17-55? I just picked up the Sigma 17-50 2.8 for my 7D, wondering how Canon and Pentax compared with their two lenses.

LeeRunge · 03-08-2011, 10:23 PM

Originally posted by Raylon

Lee, how do you compare the Pentax 16-50 vs the Canon 17-55? I just picked up the Sigma 17-50 2.8 for my 7D, wondering how Canon and Pentax compared with their two lenses.

Raylon,

The 17-55 glass is equal, side by side the images look similar and the camera sensors make more difference. Build quality hands down goes to the DA*, it is all metal and weather sealed as well as costs less. The 16-50 has a nice dampened smooth feel when focusing and when changing the focal length with a minor friction bump in the middle, nice feel to it overall. The 17-55 looks like it is half l glass and half plastic cheap lens. The focus ring is really cheap plastic and imprecise. It has plastic inner tubes and when you change focal lengths its not even close to as smooth as the da *. The USM is far faster than SDM and quieter making a whoosh sound vs a high pitched amping up sound similar to a flash charging up.
Bottom line both produce excellent pictures, the tamron is excellent as well and a better deal for the canon, although USM is really fast.

One reason I'm sticking with pentax is the da* lenses are built really well, I didn't like the EFS build immediately but it takes good shots and is fast.

One really annoying thing canon does is leave out the lens hood on a 1100 dollar lens.

Winder · 03-08-2011, 10:26 PM

Originally posted by Raylon

Lee, how do you compare the Pentax 16-50 vs the Canon 17-55? I just picked up the Sigma 17-50 2.8 for my 7D, wondering how Canon and Pentax compared with their two lenses.

I would take the Sigma 17-50 F/2.8 OS over either the Canon or the Pentax.

Sigma 17-50 mm f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM review - Image resolution - Lenstip.com

LeeRunge · 03-08-2011, 10:34 PM

I have no experience with the sigma, pretty happy with my 16-50 although sdm is a little slow. Weather resistance is awesome on it. Am I not mistaken that token makes a similar lens? Tokin is on fire with canon users currently esp the 11-16 2.8

How is the build on your Sigma?

Gimbal · 03-09-2011, 12:25 AM

Originally posted by qtopplings

It's not defective. FF is totally overblown (I personally don't have any issues with focus).

Of course it seems overblown if you don't have any problems. I bought my k5 in December, wintertime in Sweden means no daylight after normal work hours. So photos has to be taken in artificial light, and my K5 has a huge problem with that.

Unless it gets fixed with a new firmware soon it will have to go back, it's just not working properly.

str8talk83 · 03-09-2011, 12:47 AM

Interesting post. I dabbled with the idea of switching over to Pentax recently (for the weather sealing mostly), but just didn't feel like I could find a lens that would match my 400L, so I ended up sticking with Canon. Now that I have the 70-200 IS II, I think I'll probably stay with Canon because that lens is amazing. I agree about the 17-55 build quality. I love the optics and the autofocus is blazing fast and accurate though, so I have dealt with it.

That being said, I always admired the "bang for your buck" quality of pentax products and the fact that you don't have to pay a fortune for high quality weather sealed lenses. Good luck with the K-5. I wish I could figure out a way to shove one of those sensors into a 40D

30v iPentax · 03-09-2011, 07:18 AM

Nyt kun minulla on Pentax K-5. En ole kiinnostunut canon tai nikon hyvinvoinnista. Kiinnostaa vain yksinomaan Pentax nykyisyys ja tulevaisuus.

LeeRunge · 03-09-2011, 09:40 AM

K5 will be here tomorrow and I'll post up some pictures and impressions between the two. I know most Pentaxians are not curious about the 7D but for the people roaming the internets who research before a purchase (me) it helps to have people give thoughts to the two cameras in there decision to make a purchase.

I suspect the AF speed is identical to K7 because of SDM limitations but the K5 probably "locks" faster which will make me satisfied.

Right now I'm researching ultra wide angles,

Sigma 10-20, 8-16mm
Pentax 12-24
Pentax 15mm Limited
Pentax 14mm

Decisions......

LeeRunge · 03-09-2011, 10:39 AM

Originally posted by str8talk83

Interesting post. I dabbled with the idea of switching over to Pentax recently (for the weather sealing mostly), but just didn't feel like I could find a lens that would match my 400L, so I ended up sticking with Canon. Now that I have the 70-200 IS II, I think I'll probably stay with Canon because that lens is amazing. I agree about the 17-55 build quality. I love the optics and the autofocus is blazing fast and accurate though, so I have dealt with it.

That being said, I always admired the "bang for your buck" quality of pentax products and the fact that you don't have to pay a fortune for high quality weather sealed lenses. Good luck with the K-5. I wish I could figure out a way to shove one of those sensors into a 40D

The L glass is really nice. I think the DA* line is excellent for the money but the 70-200IS II is regarded as one of if not the best lenses out there in that range. If you couple that with a 7D or 1 series your getting the fastest AF you can get and for action that is probably the best combo you can have.

Canon seems to intentionally not make EF-S lenses that are rated L. Thats to bad for Canon as it would be nice if you could couple WR lenses to a body like the 7D without having to go full L glass (and be careful to not get one of the non sealed L's)

As APS-C gets better and better (K5 is an example) Full frame is going to be less and less attractive.

str8talk83 · 03-10-2011, 12:41 AM

Originally posted by LeeRunge

Canon seems to intentionally not make EF-S lenses that are rated L. Thats to bad for Canon as it would be nice if you could couple WR lenses to a body like the 7D without having to go full L glass (and be careful to not get one of the non sealed L's)

That is a good point. Canon is definitely not going after the "bang for your buck" factor. They tend to intentionally cripple anything that isn't top end pro in one way or another. Having used L lenses, I now cringe when I have to use the lower end models, which often have great optics. I just miss the quality feel and nice zoom rings when shooting the 17-55.

LeeRunge · 03-10-2011, 11:17 AM

K5 is here and i'm comparing photo's.

I need to check the settings but initially the 7D has noticibly better detail retention (outresolving) the K5. (I kind of suspected this) For normal human eye usage people won't notice just for the pixel peepers out there.

Autofocus is a big improvement over K7, it basically is limited by SDM speed. It is just as sure footed as the 7D (says a lot) and is only held back by the lens motor.

ISO is better on K5.

The photo's (jpeg) test shots looked near identical out of both with the K5 having a "cleaner" high iso and the 7D having a little more detail retention.

I'll fiddle with the settings a bunch and check RAW etc and sharpening levels (I know the 7D is boosted for sharpening as it produces "soft" images otherwise).

Shutter sounds amazing.

No focus issues yet in my house.

I really like it, it's basically all the improvements I wanted in the great body the K7 had. Excellent. AF is really nice and I think if you could put the USM from the canon lens in it at least in basic usage it would be just as fast.

EDIT:

Ok I'm in love. I was wrong about the resolution, turns out that similar to the 7D K5 kinda needs a "bump" in the sharpness dept to get everything out of the photo. Both are set in M to what the camera wanted for exposure and on a tripod. I reshot the 7D with/without IS and also at the same setting as the K5 but it was overexposed. 7D is 1/80 f8 and Kr 1/30 f8. Photo speaks for itself. This camera beats the 7D in everything but the ring USM in certain lenses. Can't wait for more pictures!

Left side K5 right side 7D ISO 80/100

1600 K5/7D All shots below EV 0 natural light from a small distant window.

3200 K5/7D

6400 K5/7D

12800 K5/K7

raphtze · 03-10-2011, 01:00 PM

LeeRunge--congrats on your purchase!

-raph

qtopplings · 03-10-2011, 01:04 PM

It's so nice to see someone excited and satisfied with their purchase! That's how I feel, every time I use the K-5. Welcome to the club, and happy shooting!

LeeRunge · 03-10-2011, 01:12 PM

Originally posted by qtopplings

It's so nice to see someone excited and satisfied with their purchase! That's how I feel, every time I use the K-5. Welcome to the club, and happy shooting!

I'm very happy with it.

You can imagine I had a little doubt as the 7D is a nice camera and I set expectations low figuring it would be a "small" improvement in some areas but worse in others. I am very impressed. Only thing I can find better is AF on the 7D right now and K5 improved a bunch of K7 so I won't really miss that as I feel it's adequate for 95% of what the 7D can accomplish in that respect.

You get a much nicer sensor in the K5. I have both and am shooting both right now, seriously impressed with this sensor.

Pentax if your out there your weather sealing for half the price it would have cost me with Canon kept me with your brand. You need to market this camera to adventure types and let the word spread. I looked at Nikon as well and they are extremely vague as to weather anything in Lenses.

I have no reservation at this point to go all in with Pentax. I bought the 7D thinking I wouldn't look back. I missed the controls and ability to take off the grip frame for a compact slr if needed. I missed photo opportunity because i was worried about dust with the 7D in the middle east. I watched quietly with the sensor issue as I knew it would be resolved. The FF is now looking to be in the past. This camera is the best overall crop frame on the market.

**Rondec** · 03-10-2011, 06:49 PM

Congratulations! Keep us informed on how you settle in with your new camera, likes and dislikes.

03-10-2011, 11:17 AM	#26
LeeRunge Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 993 Original Poster	K5 is here and i'm comparing photo's. I need to check the settings but initially the 7D has noticibly better detail retention (outresolving) the K5. (I kind of suspected this) For normal human eye usage people won't notice just for the pixel peepers out there. Autofocus is a big improvement over K7, it basically is limited by SDM speed. It is just as sure footed as the 7D (says a lot) and is only held back by the lens motor. ISO is better on K5. The photo's (jpeg) test shots looked near identical out of both with the K5 having a "cleaner" high iso and the 7D having a little more detail retention. I'll fiddle with the settings a bunch and check RAW etc and sharpening levels (I know the 7D is boosted for sharpening as it produces "soft" images otherwise). Shutter sounds amazing. No focus issues yet in my house. I really like it, it's basically all the improvements I wanted in the great body the K7 had. Excellent. AF is really nice and I think if you could put the USM from the canon lens in it at least in basic usage it would be just as fast. EDIT: Ok I'm in love. I was wrong about the resolution, turns out that similar to the 7D K5 kinda needs a "bump" in the sharpness dept to get everything out of the photo. Both are set in M to what the camera wanted for exposure and on a tripod. I reshot the 7D with/without IS and also at the same setting as the K5 but it was overexposed. 7D is 1/80 f8 and Kr 1/30 f8. Photo speaks for itself. This camera beats the 7D in everything but the ring USM in certain lenses. Can't wait for more pictures! Left side K5 right side 7D ISO 80/100 1600 K5/7D All shots below EV 0 natural light from a small distant window. 3200 K5/7D 6400 K5/7D 12800 K5/K7 Last edited by LeeRunge; 03-10-2011 at 12:35 PM.

03-08-2011, 07:07 PM	#16
Raylon Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 70	Lee, how do you compare the Pentax 16-50 vs the Canon 17-55? I just picked up the Sigma 17-50 2.8 for my 7D, wondering how Canon and Pentax compared with their two lenses.

03-08-2011, 10:23 PM	#17
LeeRunge Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 993 Original Poster	Originally posted by Raylon Lee, how do you compare the Pentax 16-50 vs the Canon 17-55? I just picked up the Sigma 17-50 2.8 for my 7D, wondering how Canon and Pentax compared with their two lenses. Raylon, The 17-55 glass is equal, side by side the images look similar and the camera sensors make more difference. Build quality hands down goes to the DA, it is all metal and weather sealed as well as costs less. The 16-50 has a nice dampened smooth feel when focusing and when changing the focal length with a minor friction bump in the middle, nice feel to it overall. The 17-55 looks like it is half l glass and half plastic cheap lens. The focus ring is really cheap plastic and imprecise. It has plastic inner tubes and when you change focal lengths its not even close to as smooth as the da . The USM is far faster than SDM and quieter making a whoosh sound vs a high pitched amping up sound similar to a flash charging up. Bottom line both produce excellent pictures, the tamron is excellent as well and a better deal for the canon, although USM is really fast. One reason I'm sticking with pentax is the da* lenses are built really well, I didn't like the EFS build immediately but it takes good shots and is fast. One really annoying thing canon does is leave out the lens hood on a 1100 dollar lens.

03-08-2011, 10:26 PM	#18
Winder Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Tennessee Posts: 6,617	Originally posted by Raylon Lee, how do you compare the Pentax 16-50 vs the Canon 17-55? I just picked up the Sigma 17-50 2.8 for my 7D, wondering how Canon and Pentax compared with their two lenses. I would take the Sigma 17-50 F/2.8 OS over either the Canon or the Pentax. Sigma 17-50 mm f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM review - Image resolution - Lenstip.com

03-08-2011, 10:34 PM	#19
LeeRunge Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 993 Original Poster	I have no experience with the sigma, pretty happy with my 16-50 although sdm is a little slow. Weather resistance is awesome on it. Am I not mistaken that token makes a similar lens? Tokin is on fire with canon users currently esp the 11-16 2.8 How is the build on your Sigma?

03-09-2011, 12:25 AM	#20
Gimbal Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Sweden Posts: 2,106	Originally posted by qtopplings It's not defective. FF is totally overblown (I personally don't have any issues with focus). Of course it seems overblown if you don't have any problems. I bought my k5 in December, wintertime in Sweden means no daylight after normal work hours. So photos has to be taken in artificial light, and my K5 has a huge problem with that. Unless it gets fixed with a new firmware soon it will have to go back, it's just not working properly.

03-09-2011, 12:47 AM	#21
str8talk83 Veteran Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Bluffton, SC Photos: Albums Posts: 674	Interesting post. I dabbled with the idea of switching over to Pentax recently (for the weather sealing mostly), but just didn't feel like I could find a lens that would match my 400L, so I ended up sticking with Canon. Now that I have the 70-200 IS II, I think I'll probably stay with Canon because that lens is amazing. I agree about the 17-55 build quality. I love the optics and the autofocus is blazing fast and accurate though, so I have dealt with it. That being said, I always admired the "bang for your buck" quality of pentax products and the fact that you don't have to pay a fortune for high quality weather sealed lenses. Good luck with the K-5. I wish I could figure out a way to shove one of those sensors into a 40D

03-09-2011, 07:18 AM	#22
30v iPentax Inactive Account Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Suomi , Finland Posts: 368	Nyt kun minulla on Pentax K-5. En ole kiinnostunut canon tai nikon hyvinvoinnista. Kiinnostaa vain yksinomaan Pentax nykyisyys ja tulevaisuus.

03-09-2011, 09:40 AM	#23
LeeRunge Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 993 Original Poster	K5 will be here tomorrow and I'll post up some pictures and impressions between the two. I know most Pentaxians are not curious about the 7D but for the people roaming the internets who research before a purchase (me) it helps to have people give thoughts to the two cameras in there decision to make a purchase. I suspect the AF speed is identical to K7 because of SDM limitations but the K5 probably "locks" faster which will make me satisfied. Right now I'm researching ultra wide angles, Sigma 10-20, 8-16mm Pentax 12-24 Pentax 15mm Limited Pentax 14mm Decisions......

03-09-2011, 10:39 AM	#24
LeeRunge Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 993 Original Poster	Originally posted by str8talk83 Interesting post. I dabbled with the idea of switching over to Pentax recently (for the weather sealing mostly), but just didn't feel like I could find a lens that would match my 400L, so I ended up sticking with Canon. Now that I have the 70-200 IS II, I think I'll probably stay with Canon because that lens is amazing. I agree about the 17-55 build quality. I love the optics and the autofocus is blazing fast and accurate though, so I have dealt with it. That being said, I always admired the "bang for your buck" quality of pentax products and the fact that you don't have to pay a fortune for high quality weather sealed lenses. Good luck with the K-5. I wish I could figure out a way to shove one of those sensors into a 40D The L glass is really nice. I think the DA* line is excellent for the money but the 70-200IS II is regarded as one of if not the best lenses out there in that range. If you couple that with a 7D or 1 series your getting the fastest AF you can get and for action that is probably the best combo you can have. Canon seems to intentionally not make EF-S lenses that are rated L. Thats to bad for Canon as it would be nice if you could couple WR lenses to a body like the 7D without having to go full L glass (and be careful to not get one of the non sealed L's) As APS-C gets better and better (K5 is an example) Full frame is going to be less and less attractive.

03-10-2011, 12:41 AM	#25
str8talk83 Veteran Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Bluffton, SC Photos: Albums Posts: 674	Originally posted by LeeRunge Canon seems to intentionally not make EF-S lenses that are rated L. Thats to bad for Canon as it would be nice if you could couple WR lenses to a body like the 7D without having to go full L glass (and be careful to not get one of the non sealed L's) That is a good point. Canon is definitely not going after the "bang for your buck" factor. They tend to intentionally cripple anything that isn't top end pro in one way or another. Having used L lenses, I now cringe when I have to use the lower end models, which often have great optics. I just miss the quality feel and nice zoom rings when shooting the 17-55.

03-10-2011, 01:00 PM	#27
raphtze Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Oakland, CA Posts: 136	LeeRunge--congrats on your purchase! -raph

03-10-2011, 01:04 PM	#28
qtopplings Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Marin, CA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 282	It's so nice to see someone excited and satisfied with their purchase! That's how I feel, every time I use the K-5. Welcome to the club, and happy shooting!

03-10-2011, 01:12 PM	#29
LeeRunge Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 993 Original Poster	Originally posted by qtopplings It's so nice to see someone excited and satisfied with their purchase! That's how I feel, every time I use the K-5. Welcome to the club, and happy shooting! I'm very happy with it. You can imagine I had a little doubt as the 7D is a nice camera and I set expectations low figuring it would be a "small" improvement in some areas but worse in others. I am very impressed. Only thing I can find better is AF on the 7D right now and K5 improved a bunch of K7 so I won't really miss that as I feel it's adequate for 95% of what the 7D can accomplish in that respect. You get a much nicer sensor in the K5. I have both and am shooting both right now, seriously impressed with this sensor. Pentax if your out there your weather sealing for half the price it would have cost me with Canon kept me with your brand. You need to market this camera to adventure types and let the word spread. I looked at Nikon as well and they are extremely vague as to weather anything in Lenses. I have no reservation at this point to go all in with Pentax. I bought the 7D thinking I wouldn't look back. I missed the controls and ability to take off the grip frame for a compact slr if needed. I missed photo opportunity because i was worried about dust with the 7D in the middle east. I watched quietly with the sensor issue as I knew it would be resolved. The FF is now looking to be in the past. This camera is the best overall crop frame on the market.

03-10-2011, 06:49 PM	#30
Rondec Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Gladys, Virginia Photos: Gallery Posts: 27,652	Congratulations! Keep us informed on how you settle in with your new camera, likes and dislikes.