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LFLee · 06-25-2012, 07:31 PM

The correct way to state is K5 is the best camera in its class.
But hey, it really depends on the photographer skills (photo taking and post-process)... like this guy who drop his D700 but still manage to get great photo for client with his G12:
Dropping Your DSLR Down a Mountain Can Be Bad for Its Health

But I am not going to tell my fiance this as she will stop me from buying new lenses....

AussieTrev · 06-25-2012, 08:59 PM

I'm going to sort of go a different way with this. Yes I own the K5 and love it. Also have the K-01 and it is fantastic. I moved from the K20D and my wife still shots with her K20D and it is fantastic. So where am I going with this. Well to quote Chase Jarvis, "The Best Camera is the One That's With You™" Home page | The Best Camera.

ronnies · 06-26-2012, 12:21 AM

Originally posted by hjb981

There are definitely more things to making the out of camera images than just the lens and the sensor, namely the cameras jpeg engine. I have heard others mention elsewhere that Sony's jpeg engine is not as good as the rest, and I have also heard elsewhere that the Pentax jpeg engine is one of the best. From my own experience, I tend to agree with the latter (I cannot say about Sony because I do not have that much experience with their camera -- Sony was pretty much off my list of possible choices after I realized that they went and changed the one standard that all the other manufacturers still stick to -- the flash hot-shoe -- and made their own -- completely unnecessary engineering, with the only purpose of making it more complicated for the users (us) to buy anything non-Sony, which is also why you will find "Sony special hot-shoe" to normal hot-shoe adapters -- a completely unnecessary cost for Sony shooters, and one more part that can break or get lost when using non-Sony flashes).

Of course, the exact same reasoning goes for the lens mounts -- of course it would be great for all of us that use cameras if all lenses were compatible with all cameras -- but here, all manufacturers are the same since a long time. That is not the case when it comes to professional video recording equipment. I was talking to a journalist and a camera man some time ago, when I realized that he had a Sony video camera with a Canon lens on it. I asked, and he said that "sure, there is an industry standard for the lens mount. We mix them all the time". Unfortunately, we "personal users" cannot put the same kind of demands as the professional market. Too bad...

Sorry about all the off-topic ranting. Ii's just that I am allergic to that kind of engineering, which is only meant to cripple the products and not to improve on anything.

So, some people like the CCD better than the CMOS. Even if there could have been changes to Pentax's jpeg engine between K10D and K-5, of course what you put into it will also effect the output. CCD:s are less sensitive to the angle of light hitting it, afaik, which I belive is the reason they use CCD:s for the largest sensors (like medium format). Maybe that has something to do with it...

Just have to say that the jpeg engine in a camera is irrelevant if you shoot raw. The other thing is don't blame Sony for the 'hot shoe' change. They inherited that design from Minolta.

Ronnie

TOUGEFC · 06-26-2012, 12:41 AM

The K-5 is a really great camera, but its far from the best camera in the world LOL!!

NKK · 06-26-2012, 02:19 AM

Originally posted by LFLee

The correct way to state is K5 is the best camera in its class.
But hey, it really depends on the photographer skills (photo taking and post-process)... like this guy who drop his D700 but still manage to get great photo for client with his G12:
Dropping Your DSLR Down a Mountain Can Be Bad for Its Health

But I am not going to tell my fiance this as she will stop me from buying new lenses....

I agree on the K-5

and wow a beating the D700 took

the G12 is a nice little camera too... so nice he had that with him.

hjb981 · 06-26-2012, 04:57 AM

Originally posted by ronnies

Just have to say that the jpeg engine in a camera is irrelevant if you shoot raw. The other thing is don't blame Sony for the 'hot shoe' change. They inherited that design from Minolta.

Ronnie

You are absolutely right about the jpeg engine not mattering if you shoot raw. Personally, I use a big memory card, and always shot both at the same time. I would estimate that I just take the jpegs in more than 99% of the cases, and only use the raw files for some special photos where I want to adjust something more than what the jpegs allows (like lifting the shadows a lot or extracting the last bit of highlight information). Shooting only raw and developing each image is way to tedious for me. For someone that does shoot raw, I could think of two camera-specific things (except the lenses) that could effect the results: the AA filter and the color filters (the Bayer-pattern array of red, green and blue filters in front of the pixels). I am not sure if the AA and color filters are different between different brands using the same sensor, but I think that it might be the case

Thanks for enlightening us (especially me). I really like how Sony has improved sensor and battery technology, and now I can have a little less mixed feeling about them.

(Sony was the company that introduced usable lithium ion batteries back about 20 years ago.)

zapp · 06-26-2012, 07:53 AM

I know many ways to improve the K5.
The only camera that can not be improved for what it is is the Alpa.

Rupert · 06-26-2012, 04:16 PM

I'd have a hard time naming any other camera with the K5 features and abilities anywhere close to its performance, and factor in the price and it is bound to be unbeatable.
If it's about IQ for you....and you haven't looked in the K5 Photo Thread for a while....you should! Other than a few damn Squirrels in that thread, it is full of superb photos!

Regards! ...& mark me down as being in full agreement!

ENicolas · 06-27-2012, 04:59 AM

I have in fact used every other camera ever made, and the K-5 is the best. In the world.

Unless I want something that will fit in a coat pocket. Then the Canon G12 is the best camera in the world.

And unless I want full frame - then it's the Nikon D800E.

And of course if I want the best lens selection, then it's a Canon.

But for general photography in good light, and if I don't mind needing to use manual focus now and then, and for great low ISO noise performance, and for just looking cool, it's the K-5!

Class A · 06-27-2012, 05:33 AM

Not to spoil anyone's party, but the K-5 will soon be bettered by its successor model.

Jean Poitiers · 06-27-2012, 05:39 AM

Originally posted by Class A

Not to spoil anyone's party, but the K-5 will soon be bettered by its successor model.

True ... sigh. But, it's still a great image making machine for my needs!

JimDickinson · 06-27-2012, 09:15 AM

The K-5 is the best camera in the world - for me - that is why I bought mine! The look, feel, solidity, functional design, lens selection and superb IQ make it a real standout. Yes, a new Pentax replacement will arrive soon and I bet it will be very nice, but I can't imagine giving up my K-5 for a very long time.

I also have to mention the Spotmatic - what a wonderful machine. I still have mine although I never shoot film anymore. On many photo shoots with friends back in the day we would exchange cameras for one roll of film. The Spotmatic never came back without comments about its size, ease of use and quiet operation, and regrets that they had whatever competitor they owned.

Sounds kind of familiar now that I think of it!

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06-25-2012, 07:31 PM	#31
LFLee Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Southern California Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,292	The correct way to state is K5 is the best camera in its class. But hey, it really depends on the photographer skills (photo taking and post-process)... like this guy who drop his D700 but still manage to get great photo for client with his G12: Dropping Your DSLR Down a Mountain Can Be Bad for Its Health But I am not going to tell my fiance this as she will stop me from buying new lenses....

06-25-2012, 08:59 PM	#32
AussieTrev Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Queensland Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,590	I'm going to sort of go a different way with this. Yes I own the K5 and love it. Also have the K-01 and it is fantastic. I moved from the K20D and my wife still shots with her K20D and it is fantastic. So where am I going with this. Well to quote Chase Jarvis, "The Best Camera is the One That's With You™" Home page \| The Best Camera.

06-26-2012, 12:21 AM	#33
ronnies Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Edinburgh Posts: 73	Originally posted by hjb981 There are definitely more things to making the out of camera images than just the lens and the sensor, namely the cameras jpeg engine. I have heard others mention elsewhere that Sony's jpeg engine is not as good as the rest, and I have also heard elsewhere that the Pentax jpeg engine is one of the best. From my own experience, I tend to agree with the latter (I cannot say about Sony because I do not have that much experience with their camera -- Sony was pretty much off my list of possible choices after I realized that they went and changed the one standard that all the other manufacturers still stick to -- the flash hot-shoe -- and made their own -- completely unnecessary engineering, with the only purpose of making it more complicated for the users (us) to buy anything non-Sony, which is also why you will find "Sony special hot-shoe" to normal hot-shoe adapters -- a completely unnecessary cost for Sony shooters, and one more part that can break or get lost when using non-Sony flashes). Of course, the exact same reasoning goes for the lens mounts -- of course it would be great for all of us that use cameras if all lenses were compatible with all cameras -- but here, all manufacturers are the same since a long time. That is not the case when it comes to professional video recording equipment. I was talking to a journalist and a camera man some time ago, when I realized that he had a Sony video camera with a Canon lens on it. I asked, and he said that "sure, there is an industry standard for the lens mount. We mix them all the time". Unfortunately, we "personal users" cannot put the same kind of demands as the professional market. Too bad... Sorry about all the off-topic ranting. Ii's just that I am allergic to that kind of engineering, which is only meant to cripple the products and not to improve on anything. So, some people like the CCD better than the CMOS. Even if there could have been changes to Pentax's jpeg engine between K10D and K-5, of course what you put into it will also effect the output. CCD:s are less sensitive to the angle of light hitting it, afaik, which I belive is the reason they use CCD:s for the largest sensors (like medium format). Maybe that has something to do with it... Just have to say that the jpeg engine in a camera is irrelevant if you shoot raw. The other thing is don't blame Sony for the 'hot shoe' change. They inherited that design from Minolta. Ronnie

06-26-2012, 12:41 AM	#34
TOUGEFC Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Brisbane Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,561	The K-5 is a really great camera, but its far from the best camera in the world LOL!!

06-26-2012, 02:19 AM	#35
NKK Inactive Account Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Malmö, Sweden Photos: Gallery Posts: 583	Originally posted by LFLee The correct way to state is K5 is the best camera in its class. But hey, it really depends on the photographer skills (photo taking and post-process)... like this guy who drop his D700 but still manage to get great photo for client with his G12: Dropping Your DSLR Down a Mountain Can Be Bad for Its Health But I am not going to tell my fiance this as she will stop me from buying new lenses.... I agree on the K-5 and wow a beating the D700 took the G12 is a nice little camera too... so nice he had that with him.

06-26-2012, 04:57 AM	#36
hjb981 Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 71	Originally posted by ronnies Just have to say that the jpeg engine in a camera is irrelevant if you shoot raw. The other thing is don't blame Sony for the 'hot shoe' change. They inherited that design from Minolta. Ronnie You are absolutely right about the jpeg engine not mattering if you shoot raw. Personally, I use a big memory card, and always shot both at the same time. I would estimate that I just take the jpegs in more than 99% of the cases, and only use the raw files for some special photos where I want to adjust something more than what the jpegs allows (like lifting the shadows a lot or extracting the last bit of highlight information). Shooting only raw and developing each image is way to tedious for me. For someone that does shoot raw, I could think of two camera-specific things (except the lenses) that could effect the results: the AA filter and the color filters (the Bayer-pattern array of red, green and blue filters in front of the pixels). I am not sure if the AA and color filters are different between different brands using the same sensor, but I think that it might be the case Thanks for enlightening us (especially me). I really like how Sony has improved sensor and battery technology, and now I can have a little less mixed feeling about them. (Sony was the company that introduced usable lithium ion batteries back about 20 years ago.)

06-26-2012, 07:53 AM	#37
zapp Pentaxian Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 2,389	I know many ways to improve the K5. The only camera that can not be improved for what it is is the Alpa.

06-26-2012, 04:16 PM	#38
Rupert Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Texas Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 25,123	I'd have a hard time naming any other camera with the K5 features and abilities anywhere close to its performance, and factor in the price and it is bound to be unbeatable. If it's about IQ for you....and you haven't looked in the K5 Photo Thread for a while....you should! Other than a few damn Squirrels in that thread, it is full of superb photos! Regards! ...& mark me down as being in full agreement!

06-27-2012, 04:59 AM	#39
ENicolas Inactive Account Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Northern California Posts: 137	I have in fact used every other camera ever made, and the K-5 is the best. In the world. Unless I want something that will fit in a coat pocket. Then the Canon G12 is the best camera in the world. And unless I want full frame - then it's the Nikon D800E. And of course if I want the best lens selection, then it's a Canon. But for general photography in good light, and if I don't mind needing to use manual focus now and then, and for great low ISO noise performance, and for just looking cool, it's the K-5!

06-27-2012, 05:33 AM	#40
Class A Pentaxian Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Wellington, New Zealand Posts: 11,251	Not to spoil anyone's party, but the K-5 will soon be bettered by its successor model.

06-27-2012, 05:39 AM	#41
Jean Poitiers Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Lost in translation ... Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 18,076	Originally posted by Class A Not to spoil anyone's party, but the K-5 will soon be bettered by its successor model. True ... sigh. But, it's still a great image making machine for my needs!

06-27-2012, 09:15 AM	#42
JimDickinson Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 81	The K-5 is the best camera in the world - for me - that is why I bought mine! The look, feel, solidity, functional design, lens selection and superb IQ make it a real standout. Yes, a new Pentax replacement will arrive soon and I bet it will be very nice, but I can't imagine giving up my K-5 for a very long time. I also have to mention the Spotmatic - what a wonderful machine. I still have mine although I never shoot film anymore. On many photo shoots with friends back in the day we would exchange cameras for one roll of film. The Spotmatic never came back without comments about its size, ease of use and quiet operation, and regrets that they had whatever competitor they owned. Sounds kind of familiar now that I think of it!

Best camera in the world

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