I used the
Pentax K-5 IIs all day today, and here's what I have to say:
-The resolution is MUCH higher than that of the K-5, and it is very impressive. I wasn't able to induce any moire out in the city or in the park, meaning that it's not going to be a problem for outdoor shooters. I will be trying shooting other subjects later
-The screen is easier to see than that of the original K-5, and it has a much wider viewing angle. I recommend you turn up your brightness all the way, which makes it even easier to see!
-The AF isn't any faster in everyday use. The Canon 7D still dominates the K-5 II/s for action photography in terms of AF accuracy, speed, framerate, and buffer size
-Expanded area AF is neat, and it certainly makes SEL mode more useful
-Everything else, including CDAF and Live View, remains unchanged. The strap has been redesigned, though!
I've yet to conduct any low-light or controlled AF tests or to tabulate the data from my action photography tests (number of sharp images / total). The effect of moire still has to be properly evaluated as well.
The bottom line is that the K-5 IIs may well produce the best image quality of any APS-C DSLR, and is an absolute steal even at $1299. At the same time, it's getting increasingly farther behind the competition in remaining areas (except for handling of course) such as overall performance and video. Stay tuned for more soon!
Here's a comparison of the IQ from the K-5 and K-5 IIs. All the settings were the same, except that the sun went away during the K-5 shot.
Adam
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