[jk2011]

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get the kr body & get an old manual pentax smc 50mm f1.4.
you get to play around & not being lazy, expecting the auto focus to do the job.
you'll learn loads from a manual lens. ( which i did for the last 3 months. me being a convert from p&s compacts for the last few years)

i've got the 18-55mm kit but my favourite combo todate, is still with this manual lens.
it's not easy but patience will pay-off. the best thing is low light shooting whereby the kit lens will let you down.
this oldie has not let me down don't to date. it's super sharp.
you've my word on this, no bull.

[Verglace]

K-r currently has many issues that I'm not sure, if it's a good choise for a beginner. Beginners easily think it's always their fault when images are bad in quality.

If you shoot indoors in artificial light at all, K-r will be a disappointment. You have to check every image you take. Majority of them will be out of focus. You can get very nice pictures, but it means that you have to forget auto focus etc.

Pentax hasn't given any official statement about resolving the focusing or other issues. No one knows, if problems will ever be fixed. Therefore I cannot recommend K-r at the moment. Save yourself from the hassle and buy something else. Situation can definitely change with a firmware update in the future, but currently the situation looks bad (over six months has gone).

What he said. If you want a Pentax go for the cheaper K-x or the more expensive K-5, not the K-r. There really is not credible source that a firmware update will be released. It has been over six months now since the problem was identified and based on the last communication by Pentax, the solution is to "Change the white balance" which many have noted is only a minor improvement. At this point in time it is far safer to get another camera. Pretending that the problem doesn't exist will not make it go away, and purchasing hoping for an update no one knows for sure will come or not is a risk. If you are willing to take that risk then go a head. Having said that, if you get the K-x you get the best things about the K-r, none of the issues, it is considerably cheaper and the only thing you are giving up on is bigger LCD an LI-ion battery and viewfiender AF points.

[arrondee]

Here is where i got mine, took 3 days to arrive. Price is US $649.99

NEW! PENTAX K-x DSLR w/18-55mm & 55-300mm 2 LENS KIT on eBay.ca (item 310311288310 end time 12-May-11 08:05:42 EDT)

[Stepalex]

Avoid K-r at all costs - if u can come across a situation, where u must shoot under tungsten light, as it JUST WILL NOT FOCUS correctly (and I imagine there will be lots of these situations...). And six months after the launch, it's becoming pretty obvious that Pentax has no plans of releasing a fix at all...

[jk2011]

i disagree, i will back the kr.
autofocus dslr will suffer in low light situation. given that it's not a fast lens will have further disadvantage.
as per my comment earlier, in low light you need a fast lens & do manual focus to get the results.

for the money, i'm not too sure what you can get with all the features, which is also on par with an intermediate dslr of other brands.

as an example, my colleague bought a canon 500d with canon 16-35 f2.8L lens ( $2k for the lens!) he took day shots & they were perfect but with shot taken auotfocus-lowlight were utter disappointment. so you go figure that one out.
the moral of the story, dslr are not easy machines to use but you need to learn how to use it.
final note. just make sure you don't buy it from a grey market to ensure warranty is locally covered

[Verglace]

for the money, i'm not too sure what you can get with all the features, which is also on par with an intermediate dslr of other brands.

the k-x is... the k-x can take as good if not better photos than the k-r, it has the same sensor and the feature set are the same, the main difference is a smaller LCD screen and AF points in the viewfinder (not such a big deal because the focus confirmation is still present)... in other words any photo the k-r can take the k-x can, at a cheaper price and it's not plagued by FF issues.

[gp1806]

the k-x is... the k-x can take as good if not better photos than the k-r, it has the same sensor and the feature set are the same, the main difference is a smaller LCD screen and AF points in the viewfinder (not such a big deal because the focus confirmation is still present)... in other words any photo the k-r can take the k-x can, at a cheaper price and it's not plagued by FF issues.

'in other words any photo the k-r can take the k-x can'

Ah... No. I thought of two. With both cameras as shipped and no extra added bits, the K-R can take time-lapse sequence - The K-X can't. The K-R can do hand held HDR - The K-X needs a tripod. There may be more, but that was just what I thought of.

'and the feature set are the same'

Again... No. The K-R has an auto focus light, takes Li ion batteries as well as optional AA batteries, faster FPS, improved video. There may be more, but that was just what I thought of.

'and it's not plagued by FF issues.'

The K-X has little FF in tungsten light, but it is there if you check carefully with a test target. K-5, K100D too. I suspect they all do to a small amount.
And don't forget that some K-X blur at certain shutter speeds.

[Verglace]

The K-X has little FF in tungsten light, but it is there if you check carefully with a test target. K-5, K100D too. I suspect they all do to a small amount.
And don't forget that some K-X blur at certain shutter speeds.

K-5 has been fixed, but if the K-x has the FF issues then Pentax has had since 2009 to fix it (not just 6 months) and still haven't. That's a bad sign. I wish I knew that earlier...

To the OP, I would suggest you think about the information above...

And for the other points

HDR can be done in post processing and a lot of people shoot in raw which makes the feature unavailable.

Timelapse... if you use it

FPS, just think about it, how many times do you think you will need to shoot a photo at 1/6000 vs how many times you would shoot a photo in a tungsten light if you need 1/6000 more then I guess go for the K-r for the faster FPS... if you think you will shoot in low light more then I would have suggested the k-x but with the information above I guess I can't anymore.

[ccd333]

K-5 has been fixed, but if the K-x has the FF issues then Pentax has had since 2009 to fix it (not just 6 months) and still haven't. That's a bad sign. I wish I knew that earlier...

To the OP, I would suggest you think about the information above...

And for the other points

just think about it, how many times do you think you will need to shoot a photo at 1/6000 vs how many times you would shoot a photo in a tungsten light if you need 1/6000 more then I guess go for the K-r for the faster FPS... if you think you will shoot in low light more then I would have suggested the k-x but with the information above I guess I can't anymore.

I guess I am wondering who are all of these people that take a lot of shots in low light tungsten? It might be a regional thing, but I live in Colorado (a photographic playground) and most people I know who have DSLR's primarily shoot OUTDOORS. I guess if you make your living with tungsten light then you wouldn't want the K-r. Otherwise, man.....if that's the only reason someone is not buying one, all I can say is WOW....you're missing out. It's a GREAT camera.

I bought my K-r with the two lens kit and I use it almost exclusively for two things.....landscape shots (hiking around mountainous areas) and my kids playing soccer. For the latter, yes....I like the fast shutter speeds and the FPS. A 1/6000 shot will ensure that if the auto focus locks on and you hold the camera steady enough (easier at those speeds), there likely won't be blur induced by sudden fast movements of the subject. So for me, that's a heck of a lot more important than taking shots indoors in low light tungsten. Maybe I'm in the minority here.....just in general I spend much more time outdoors than indoors. Things are much more interesting to me out there.....and the K-r has no issues capturing anything I find while I am.

[Fl_Gulfer]

My wife has a Red K-R and the Pentax 18-250 and dose awesome photography and hasn't any complaints with the camera. Of coarse we don't do any shooting indoors.

[SteveUK]

I guess I am wondering who are all of these people that take a lot of shots in low light tungsten? It might be a regional thing, but I live in Colorado (a photographic playground) and most people I know who have DSLR's primarily shoot OUTDOORS. I guess if you make your living with tungsten light then you wouldn't want the K-r. Otherwise, man.....if that's the only reason someone is not buying one, all I can say is WOW....you're missing out. It's a GREAT camera.

...

Two things :
- its been shown that strongly lit rooms suffer more from this than dim (see https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-r-forum/127862-might-front-focus...e-problem.html)
- some countries don't have the weather to use the K-r outdoors for half of the year ! Even Royal weddings struggle for good weather.

And one ask - even if you are not too concerned please contact Pentax to ask when this problem will be fixed to show support for those who are concerned.

Not sure if I'll return mine yet or just get a proper focussing screen so I can manually focus indoors.

[Verglace]

I guess I am wondering who are all of these people that take a lot of shots in low light tungsten? It might be a regional thing, but I live in Colorado (a photographic playground) and most people I know who have DSLR's primarily shoot OUTDOORS. I guess if you make your living with tungsten light then you wouldn't want the K-r. Otherwise, man.....if that's the only reason someone is not buying one, all I can say is WOW....you're missing out. It's a GREAT camera.

I bought my K-r with the two lens kit and I use it almost exclusively for two things.....landscape shots (hiking around mountainous areas) and my kids playing soccer. For the latter, yes....I like the fast shutter speeds and the FPS. A 1/6000 shot will ensure that if the auto focus locks on and you hold the camera steady enough (easier at those speeds), there likely won't be blur induced by sudden fast movements of the subject. So for me, that's a heck of a lot more important than taking shots indoors in low light tungsten. Maybe I'm in the minority here.....just in general I spend much more time outdoors than indoors. Things are much more interesting to me out there.....and the K-r has no issues capturing anything I find while I am.

I doubt 1/600 is used as much as what people think. 1/6000 is so fast that you can only use it on the sunniest days, in studio conditions or if you bump the iso up so high. Otherwise at 1/6000 photos will usually be underexposed. I'm not sure what the weather is like where you live but where I live, days that 1/6000 can be used without any extra lighting is few and far between. For sports, most actually recommend using 1/500. For hand held cameras a good rule of thumb is 1/<lens focal lenght> for taking photos without blurring.

[ccd333]

Two things :
- its been shown that strongly lit rooms suffer more from this than dim (see https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-r-forum/127862-might-front-focus...e-problem.html)
- some countries don't have the weather to use the K-r outdoors for half of the year ! Even Royal weddings struggle for good weather.

And one ask - even if you are not too concerned please contact Pentax to ask when this problem will be fixed to show support for those who are concerned.

Not sure if I'll return mine yet or just get a proper focussing screen so I can manually focus indoors.

Whichever on the intensity of the light. My point was about the frequency of indoor shooting period.

Can't use it for half the year? Are you telling me that for the ENTIRE day EVERY day for 181 days there isn't a time when you can use your camera? I live in the Rocky Mountains and even I know that's ridiculous. Credibility is being stretched beyond reason.

No, I won't contact Pentax about a problem that doesn't affect me. While I am not unsympathetic to the plight of the K-r users who have an issue, I'm a satisfied customer. The complaints should reflect accurately those who have a problem.

Perhaps you should return your K-r and get a weather sealed camera/lens so you can shoot all year long.

[SteveUK]

....Perhaps you should return your K-r and get a weather sealed camera/lens so you can shoot all year long.

Would love to - K-7 on Amazon UK £899 = USD 1500 If I could buy one at the US price I would.

I do think the K-r is a superb camera though, but with the indoor problems I couldn't currently recommend it to a friend and would not have purchased it if I had found this forum beforehand. I'd have gone for the Canon 550D.

[jk2011]

majority of cameras suffer shooting indoors. please refer my posts above. when there's lask of light, the sensor will be affected/ be less effective. it will help to you a faster lens. however you can ask anyone, when it comes to low light, you will need to manual focus. this why your skills comes in. nevertheless, the kit lens are superb in 'ambient light' but it's not really designed to do manual focusing ie very loose focus ring.
your best bet is invest in a flash like an af360 & you'll see the difference.
however, if there's budget limitation, i suggest you look at a canon s95. it's a p&s with a f2 aperture.
like yourself, when i got my kr, i was not 100% impressed, but as time goes by with more playing around with, it's a fantastic mc. for the price, i don't think any dslr out there can match.
it's not the camera, it's the operator.
good luck