[MadMathMind]

Those 90's models stunk, go back to the 70's where our family CRT TV was so awesomely massive, it was a piece of furniture with a fish tank on top of it.

My parents still have one in the basement---wood box and all! Thing looks like a fish tank. :P

[Gray]

The K-5 was good, but it did suffer tungsten low-light and fast lens focus issues, which were resolved to my satisfaction in the K-5II/s.

Ergonomics and great sensor (and value for money) make the K-5II a classic for me. That's why I have two of them . I'm able to take great landscapes and make really decent prints of 75 cm (30"), sometimes even hand-held or with a monopod, something I wasn't able to do with previous cameras. Subsequent cameras, even the K-1, haven't been compelling enough (for me) to move away from the K-5II. You could say the K-5II hit my sweetspot of value for money, ergonomics, dynamic range, function and output, which I suppose makes it a classic. But I will look at the Pentax APS-C K-3II successor as a possible replacement.

[jddwoods]

Thanks to its durablitlity and low second hand price, it's not surprising that the K-5 remains a favorite. Its image quality is not far removed from the current bodies and its low-light performance remains competitive.

This is the reason why I am hesitating on upgrading my K-5 to a KP or another K-3 or even a K-1. The camera was built to last and mine certainly is.

[audiobomber]

The K-5 was good, but it did suffer tungsten low-light and fast lens focus issues, which were resolved to my satisfaction in the K-5II/s.

I owned a K-5 for a few weeks and got rid of it due to the above, kept my K20D. The K-5 was a cash grab by Hoya, released without sufficient development, prior to selling Pentax off. The K-5 II is what the K-5 should have been. It's not as though the technology wasn't available to release the II version instead of the original K-5. It's just what Hoya chose to do, release a flawed body, which damaged Pentax's reputation.

I love my K-3 due to superior tracking controls and extreme cropping capability. I'm anxious to see what the K-3 II replacement will be (anticipating K-3 II features with KP sensor and improved AF). I'm not interested in FF.

[Yoda boy]

The K5 was an excellent camera at the time and still is for many. In fact, there are some features on the K5 that were omitted on the K3. I use both regularly and it doesn't really matter which one I am using since they behave so similarly. I usually have a wide angle on the K5 and a telephoto on the K3. Just before the K3 was introduced, the price was very competitive.The Users Manual of the K5 is vastly superior to the K3's. If you have the K5 manual, you can use it for the K3 for almost everything. The only noticeable downside for me to the K5 is that it only had one SD card slot. I like having two with one for JPEG and one for RAW. I also like the slightly larger screen for the K3. In reality, for most people, whichever they have is likely to make them happy.

[Theov39]

Interesting to see that the Australian distributor (C R Kennedy) have a K-5 + DA 18-135 lens for AUD1369 available on their site...not sure if it's a mistake or new-old-stock.

Wow, that is $360 more then what they were selling the K-3 + 18-135 lens package for recently! Must be a mistake.

[Adam]

This is the reason why I am hesitating on upgrading my K-5 to a KP or another K-3 or even a K-1. The camera was built to last and mine certainly is.

The KP sports the same build quality and shutter rating as the K-5, the K-3 and K-1 are superior (at 200k and 300k clicks, respectively). There's no question it's a good upgrade if you're thinking of something new.

Adam
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[pakinjapan]

The Pentax K-5, K-5 II, K-5 IIs will go down as one of the most beloved Pentax DSLR's cameras ever, but not the K3. Anybody knows why ? (sorry for the troll)

I have both K5 and K3. I "like" my K-3 but somehow I "love" my K5. It is nothing wrong with K3 and I really like its higher pixel density sensor and way way better auto focus.
I guess what make me "love" K5 is the less confusing button layout? Using one hand can operate K5 most of the time. Also on K3, I change and mess up my own setting by accident [during walking] very very often.

[Rob-48]

Interesting to see that the Australian distributor (C R Kennedy) have a K-5 + DA 18-135 lens for AUD1369 available on their site...not sure if it's a mistake or new-old-stock.

Cheers,
Terry

Digital Camera Warehouse have "clearance" K-5 + 18-55WR @ $1199
CR Kennedy, apparently, have cleared their stock
I bought one from DCW, with 4-years warranty

[Theov39]

I have both K5 and K3. I "like" my K-3 but somehow I "love" my K5. It is nothing wrong with K3 and I really like its higher pixel density sensor and way way better auto focus.
I guess what make me "love" K5 is the less confusing button layout? Using one hand can operate K5 most of the time. Also on K3, I change and mess up my own setting by accident [during walking] very very often.

That guess that confirms that it is personal preference as I find the button lay-out on the K-3 much better and more intuitive, and so prefer using that camera.

[audiobomber]

That guess that confirms that it is personal preference as I find the button lay-out on the K-3 much better and more intuitive, and so prefer using that camera.

Aside from better AF and higher pixel count, I also much prefer the more powerful User modes on the K-3.

[Rob-48]

As a Pentax SLR user, since the 1970's,
yes, we did have cameras , before most of you were born,
This "K-5-is-a-classic" ---> "K-3-is-the-best" sounds a lot like a civil war, about trivia, and totally ignores the SUPERIOR qualities of our Pentax cameras (and lenses)
Keep up the good work, children !

[Theov39]

You have completely missed the tone of the thread. People are comparing features and why they prefer that. That is not a 'war' and nor does that make people children. Besides just being an interesting discussion hat could be helpful for others trying to decide between the two cameras. This tend to be a very civil forum so perhaps it best you take your abusive comments elsewhere.

[Eric Seavey]

Wasn't the K10D considered a very successful model and therefore a bit of a classic? The K5 was a huge step up from the K7 in terms of sensor performance, and maybe that is what people really liked that made it a little more popular. However, the low light focus issue was really bad. The K10D was solid and worked solidly.

[c.perkins]

I will let you know
Just got back into photography recently and wanted to try a Pentax DSLR since I already have a K1000.
Did not want to spend too much so picked up a lightly used K7.
After using it for a few months now decided to stay with Pentax.
Have a slightly used K5IIs on it's way.
For my photography style I am sure I made the right choice

cp