[Ash]

It's great to have 1001 cool menus and features, but essentially once the camera is set up the way you want, the 3 most used controls are ISO, aperture and shutter speed. If the aperture control adjustment is awkward (try this thing when shooting manual flash a lot), then the ergonomics are a failure

This is the most down to earth comment made about camera design in general.
Exposure settings have got to be at your fingertips - dual customisable e-dials are to me a must have (I personally loathe that 5D/7D joystick, especially for M mode setting changes).

The review is reasonably fair and objective, and indeed comes down more to personal preference than to functionality differences.

[patriotap]

This is the most down to earth comment made about camera design in general.
Exposure settings have got to be at your fingertips - dual customisable e-dials are to me a must have (I personally loathe that 5D/7D joystick, especially for M mode setting changes).

The review is reasonably fair and objective, and indeed comes down more to personal preference than to functionality differences.

HUH? the 7d exposure controls are at your fingertips AND whats the joystick have to do with it in M mode? You cant tell me that moving quickly between settings, quickly up, down or sideways is a bad thing. MUCH faster than having to scroll sideways through every setting to get to the last one.

I shoot in M mode all the time, and I can change shutter speed with with front dial and change aperture with the rear dial, if i want to change my ISO i hit the button right above the front dial.

[twitch]

I enjoyed reading the review, found it very informative, and appreciate the large amount of effort that would have gone into researching it and writing it. There's no credit in the article itself, but it looks to be the work of deadwolfbones perhaps? So..... a big thumbs up and thanks from me

[Ash]

I shoot in M mode all the time, and I can change shutter speed with with front dial and change aperture with the rear dial, if i want to change my ISO i hit the button right above the front dial.

This to me is not as intuitive as having two e-dials. You can sure get used to the 7D's ergonomics, and hence I say that it's personal preference. I consider good UI to have separate thumb and index finger functions for exposure setting changes without having to take your eyes off the viewfinder. You may be able to do this on your 7D, but I found it considerably more finnicky to do so. Again, personal preference.

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Last edited by Ash; 05-31-2011 at 08:49 PM.

[liukaitc]

It is good that this review contain so much information.
but just by read at the begining where it states the size and weight of k-5 as a pro and of 7d as a con, I immedeately realize this review might be more preference based.

[Geos]

Any K5 review that doesn't mention the shutter vibration issue is disingenuous at best.

[patriotap]

This to me is not as intuitive as having two e-dials. You can sure get used to the 7D's ergonimics, and hence I say that it's personal preference. I consider good UI to have separate thumb and index finger functions for exposure setting changes without having to take your eyes off the viewfinder. You may be able to do this on your 7D, but I found it considerably more finnicky to do so. Again, personal preference.

hmm, maybe im misunderstanding, so let me reiterate, I CAN without taking my eye off the viewfinder, change the aperture with the rear dial wheel with my thumb and shutter speed with my index finger on the front dial on my 7d. If i want to change ISO, i move my index finger above the front dial and hit the iso button still w/o taking my eye out of the viewfinder.

There is a reason why the wheel and didnt put a dial up at the top of the thumb, but unless you use the 7d and some of its features you wouldnt know that. I didnt and now I use it and its come in handy many a times.

The AF-ON button is there. That button can be modified to be the "half press" of the shutter INSTEAD of it being on the shutter button. Its really nice to do that, so when you seperate the two, you can use your thumb to hit the AF-ON button, that will AF/Track etc and once you take your thumb off it will be set, then you can just press the shutter button and take the pic WITHOUT having to worry about it focusing again.

Sports shooters use this to be able to say track a player get focus and then let the button go and if say a ref passed in front it wont refocus on the ref coming across.
The link says it better than I do
Canon DLC: Article: Back-Button Auto Focus Explained

[Ash]

I didnt and now I use it and its come in handy many a times

Yes, I too realised that after some fiddling around with a borrowed 5D and 7D for a shoot. Before then, I had to change shutter speed in M mode with the joystick. I just prefer the K-5/K-7 layout, but I do wish there was a separation between focus point selection and fast menu options on the 4-way controller section.

The AF-ON button is there

If this is a frequently used feature, it's good for such photogs. I find it a feature that could be buried in a menu without much concern since I've rarely flipped between AF button only function and shutter half-depress enabled.

Any K5 review that doesn't mention the shutter vibration issue is disingenuous at best

Why? Are you getting blurry images with your K-5?
If this is an issue with all K-5s, then a lot of us here must miraculously be getting sharp images with our K-5s at all sorts of shutter speeds.

[Class A]

Of course they will say that!

Ash, that's wrong.

Metz is a reputable German company with a lot of engineering history. Their products are known to be quality products. If the problem had been with their flashes, they would have fixed it. But they cannot fix the K-5.

Note that you wrote yourself:

"For me, the only fix is to permanently dial down FEC to -2.0."

You also wrote:

"Not bad performance with the Sigma EF500 Super, but there is significant overexposure I experienced so far, even with the flash compensation turned down."

You have a Pentax and a Sigma flash which apparently require a workaround when used with the K-5, but yet you imply that Metz is incorrectly blaming the K-5?

I'm puzzled by your comment.

Pentax too has looked at their K-5s and 'have not seen any trend of P-TTL exposure problems' so far...

What is your source?
Was Blende8 wrong when he wrote "Pentax Japan knows of the phenomenon and is investigating it."

Have you returned the K-5 which required a -2.0 FEC and received one that works?

[patriotap]

If this is a frequently used feature, it's good for such photogs. I find it a feature that could be buried in a menu without much concern since I've rarely flipped between AF button only function and shutter half-depress enabled.

That was my point in my first post, you cant just take a picture of a fence and say one is better than the other. Different tools for different jobs.

As I said, if you just take portraits, the K5 is fine for that and if you do a review on just taking portraits, then the K5 could have a slight edge on the 7d, do a sports review and its the 7d on top, do a video and again its the 7d advantage.

[Ash]

I'm puzzled by your comment

My comment was in jest. I have no proof that Metz didn't check their flashes on the K-5. I expect they did. I also acknowledge the P-TTL exposure discrepancies experienced with the K-5, as you've referenced. Don't stress over my inadequacies of humour.

What is your source?

My source is Randall at PentaxImaging Support. I had written to him twice regarding the same issue and on both occasions he denied Pentax recognising a systematic problem with P-TTL exposure. This position may have changed since I last corresponded with them a couple of months ago.

[Xiaomao Yang]

As a happy user, you probably dont need any 'professional proff of k5's strengths'. The camera meets your needs the most is the best camera for you.

You're right, happygui! I think K5 meets my needs the most, though K-x and D-Lux 4 used to. It fits comfortably in my small hands. It fits me better after I add a 1.36x "Tenpa" viewfinder on it.
Best regards.

[Class A]

My source is Randall at PentaxImaging Support.

He is a very friendly and helpful person. I respect him.

But he probably belongs to those people at Pentax who have never heard about an "SDM problem" either.

In summary, the K-5 flash problem exists (as you know yourself when you are not jokin' ) and a statement to the contrary from Pentax USA doesn't change that fact. Pentax Japan seems to have implicitly acknowledged the problem.

I personally don't sweat P-TTL problems too much. I shoot with manual flash settings. But in a camera comparison such issues should be mentioned because there are people around who expect their flash to work.

[dongcai]

我本人拥有 k200D k-7(丢失) 5D2 我对佳能是有看法的，就比如闪光灯引闪问题，多重曝光。我选K-5

[pinholecam]

The article was a good read.
Too bad its on this site, so '0' points to credibility if I post if as 'proof' of comparison

Any upcoming D7K vs K5 review?
The D7k has been seen as the rival to the K5 ever since they were both launched at about the same time last year.

Edit :
Original comment sounded rather ungrateful.
Just want to say that its good knowledge to know how the K5 generally stacks up against the 7D. Thanks