Originally posted by jpzk Creampuff ... Congrats on your presentation(s)! A job very well done ...
This is a very surprising and pleasant aspect of what the "little" K-r does at high ISO, something I long for in replacement of my K7. Not saying that the K7 isn't an able machine, to the contrary.
I noticed that you said ...
"... wait for the K5 ..."; do you expect better ISO handling with the K5? I'd be very surprised if it can actually better the K-r in that department. We shall soon see when you've some pics taken with the K5.
Will you be able to make comparisons, side by side pics?
You also mentioned that the K-r AF was able to lock fast on a subject ... have you tried a couple of shots with moving subjects: people, cars ... ?
All those questions for one big reason: will I "upgrade" from a K7 to a K5 or to a K-r?!!
If the tests show that the K-r will perform as well as the K5 in "all departments", what's the use to get the K5 now?
Wouldn't that be a Pentax suicide to have the "little brother" perform as well as "Big Brother" ?
I realize that you cannot answer all of those questions with simple tests but at least I now have a darn good idea of what this camera (K-r) can do!!
Cheers!
JP
In terms of camera handling, ease of operation and usability, the K-7 is a very well thought out camera. Unfortunately the sensor used didn't really endear itself well when pushed into high-ISO territory. Blotchy noise and heavy handed noise reduction during post processing is needed, which many people would find a challenge.
The K-5 will keep the K-7's very good handling but will show improvements in a lot of areas, most notably image quality and AF. This is the first Pentax DSLR that will have a 14-bit RAW image, and I'm expecting the image quality to be a very big step ahead of the K-7. We've got a Pentax user outing this Saturday and we'll put the K-r and the K-5 through it's paces.
Well as to K-r vs K-5, my take is those who want to shoot and change settings on the fly will immediately opt for the K-5. I like to shoot quickly, so less fiddling of controls when I compose in the viewfinder is always good. So the K-5 has that edge in camera operation.
Frank and I also used my DA 17-70mm f/4 SDM last night and it definitely wasn't the proverbial "slow as molasses" SDM experience. AF locked quickly with no hint of hunting. It's all good.