[dotchoucou]

Very nice shots... I love the first one and the third as well. The background is amazing, nice bokey.
Can't wait for my K5, I still need to convince my wife ^^

[creampuff]

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I was impressed with all BUT the last shot. DARK!

The others are bright, sharp, and clear.

Lens?

I don't know if you know what you're saying or if you're clueless about exposure... the exposure is spot on for the sky, which is what I believe Feudal1 intended. Congrats Feudal1 on a great camera an nice photos.

[yusuf]

Beautiful pictures. Would love to see if you have any low light comparison picture with 5D Mark II

[aleonx3]

Thanks, Feudal1, for sharing your genuine user-experience (from pros like you) with us. I do agree that smaller and lighter DSLR is the future trend (at least in the Asian world), though some may not agree with that. Before the k-5 came out, I do feel that Pentax DSLR line up is a bit inferior to the big name players (especially when we were with friends who own the 5D MKII). However, since the introduction of k-5, I think Pentax has at the very least levelled the playing field a bit.

Although, on a side note, it may take longer for me to acquire the k-5 at the price point that I can afford. But I can live with that....

[DonDouglas]

One of the nice things with the K-5 is that its dynamic range beats most other cameras, incl. the 5d2.

There seem to be few references to this, although it is an IQ aspect of importance to many and a principal (perceived) weakness of the K-7. Is there forum thread or other online example of K-5's dynamic range, especially in comparison to previous models such as the K20D?

[falconeye]

There seem to be few references to this, although it is an IQ aspect of importance to many and a principal (perceived) weakness of the K-7. Is there forum thread or other online example of K-5's dynamic range, especially in comparison to previous models such as the K20D?

There are quite a few, around the time of Photokina. Combining GordonBGood's claims (which I don't fully endorse) after analyzing some K-5 RAWs and now DxO's release for the similiar sensor in the Sony SLT A55, I'd say K-5's DxO-DR score will be anywhere between 12.5 EV and 13.5 EV which both would be excellent.


BTW, you may like the following example on Pentaxeros:

La K-5 hace magia...

This is the Google translating link:
Google Translate

[Rondec]

Beautiful photos and welcome to the forum. I always think that a camera left at home is useless, even it is an awesome camera. You really need to look into one of the limiteds if you want a really small package...

[DonDouglas]

There are quite a few, around the time of Photokina. Combining GordonBGood's claims (which I don't fully endorse) after analyzing some K-5 RAWs and now DxO's release for the similiar sensor in the Sony SLT A55, I'd say K-5's DxO-DR score will be anywhere between 12.5 EV and 13.5 EV which both would be excellent

I tend to rely on Imaging Resource Imatest results, which aren't out yet for the K-5. Dynamic range figures for some other cameras based highest quality images processed from RAW files are: K10D: 8.19; K20D: 8.56; K-7: 7.73; 5DII: 8.89. The difference between K20D and K-7 suggests that sharing a sensor is not necessarily a good predictor of dynamic range results. Twelve stops would put it in MF territory, which would be, as you say, excellent.

[RBellavance]

Welcome to PentaxForums !

The K-5 and the Pentax lenses are light. In fact, compared to Canon and Nikon lenses, they are small and very light. This is very nice, as it will allow me to carry a few more lenses in my bag, while staying lighter than my Canon gear.

Just wait until you handle a Limited prime. The two DA* you have are huuuuge !!

[Feudal1]

Welcome to PentaxForums !

Just wait until you handle a Limited prime. The two DA* you have are huuuuge !!

That is what is great about having stabilization in-body - the lenses don't have to be designed to house stabilization mechanics. The "huuuuge" 16-50mm lens is tiny when compared to the Canon and Nikon 24-70mm lenses (which don't even have stabilization).

I'm planning on getting out this evening to do a little shooting. Now that I've read more of the manual and have the camera set up the way I want, nighttime shooting downtown will tell me a lot more about the handling and performance.

[Feudal1]

Thanks, Feudal1, for sharing your genuine user-experience (from pros like you) with us. I do agree that smaller and lighter DSLR is the future trend (at least in the Asian world), though some may not agree with that. Before the k-5 came out, I do feel that Pentax DSLR line up is a bit inferior to the big name players (especially when we were with friends who own the 5D MKII). However, since the introduction of k-5, I think Pentax has at the very least levelled the playing field a bit.

Although, on a side note, it may take longer for me to acquire the k-5 at the price point that I can afford. But I can live with that....

Based on what I've seen of K-7 images, that camera is capable of some pretty great images! It's kind of unfair to compare the K-5 (or K-7) to the 5D Mark II, consider the latter is full frame and currently $600-$700 more in cost (and in the case of the K-7, that difference increases significantly). Even with those advantages, the K-5 compares quite favorably in a number of areas. And when you do compare apples to apples, and put the K-5 up against the Canon 7D (which is not a full-frame), the K-5 does even better.

In the end, I'm not a pixel-peeper. As long as I'm getting sharp images with good color rendition, I'm happy. And all of these cameras today are capable of this. In reality, the differentiating factors between these cameras are things like handling, AF performance, build quality, size/cost, and lens/accessory selection. For me, these are critical factors, and ones that the K-5 seems to excel at quite well.

[falconeye]

I tend to rely on Imaging Resource Imatest results

The two dynamic range measurements aren't directly comparable. DxO has a better justified procedure.

If at all, the DxO figures would correspond to the Imatest figure labelled "Low":

1.0 (imatest low): SNR=1 (0 dB)
0.1 (imatest high): SNR=10 (20 dB)
0.03 (dxo high): SNR= 30 dB

So, subtract something like "4" from DxO to have figures in the same ballpark as imatest.

However, the imatest figues have 2 major flaws which is why the DxO results are more trustworthy:

1. Imaging Resource applies ACR with default settings which applies demosaicing, tone mapping and some NR. Not having an own raw converter, it's the best you can do. I do the same at lumolabs (except I don't use default ACR settings. I rather use flat ACR settings which I have verified to be much closer to raw). But DxO has a grip on the data prior to demosaicing. Therefore, the numbers don't match and the DR ranking at Imaging Resource depends on the version of ACR/LR. DxO figures are software-independent.

2. Imaging Resource doesn't correct for amount of pixels. DxO gets this trivial prerequisite correct which tells me they know better what they do. Imaging Resource seems to run the Imatest software w/o really understanding what's going on.

[Feudal1]

That's exactly the sort of effect I would go for a "last light" shot.
If you try to expose for the fore ground, you would end up with an overexposed sky, and the lovely evening colours would be missing.

Of course, if you shot RAW, I dare say you can actually bring out a lot of detail from the deep shadows.

I almost always shoot in RAW. However, on that last one, the camera was in JPG mode, a result of playing around with different camera settings earlier in the day.

I have a couple of events this weekend, which I plan on shooting with the K-5. On Friday, we have friends in a band playing at a local night club, so that should be interesting to capture. And on Saturday, my daughter has her final marching band competition, so I hope to capture some moments from that. Looking forward to seeing how the K-5 performs.

[Mystic]

I almost always shoot in RAW. However, on that last one, the camera was in JPG mode, a result of playing around with different camera settings earlier in the day.

I have a couple of events this weekend, which I plan on shooting with the K-5. On Friday, we have friends in a band playing at a local night club, so that should be interesting to capture. And on Saturday, my daughter has her final marching band competition, so I hope to capture some moments from that. Looking forward to seeing how the K-5 performs.

thanks for your initial thoughts on K-5, welcome to the forum.

I'm interested in your remarks regarding camera handling and ergonomics in comparison with Canon's.

and of course will look forward to see more great, quality pictures

[D4rknezz]

Welcome

Prior to K5 release, i was toying with the idea of getting a 5D, so i am very interested in direct comparison between both cameras. Your comment regarding low light performance is interesting, I almost thought we'd have an APS-C that can pull of a FF performance. Do you mind posting a couple unprocessed RAW from both cameras at the ISO level where you feel K5 start losing out just to see the noise difference?
And congrats on your new camera by the way