[lithos]

This need for high ISO performance just sounds silly. If your style shooting demands that you shoot at ISO of 3200 without a hint of noise, then I say spend more money on lighting equipment other than simple flash and brighter primes.

Oh, go and get-

If your shooting style demands lights, static subjects, and a controlled environment, then I say you're a pretty poor photog.

[Boris]

Some pople like you say "shut up and go practice photography" Yes is true but remember that Pentax is here not as a god but as a provider of goods/services who has to offer value for money and when people feel that they are paying too much for a certain product/service they start to say that and eventually switch.

One example: one of the most active Pentax bloggers, hinman (I hope he does not get angry because I am using his story) decided to switch - you can find his threads in the marketplace and his thoughts here and on photo.net. Letting this happen is a mistake in my book.

Personally, I am very worried by Hinman's story. I wrote so on the respective thread. Beside technical innovation Pentax ought to have solid customer service/support base and proper service centers network. If they fail to put their act together, regardless of the height of the sky on top of their heads, people will start voting with their legs, so to say.

[conordoherty]

re: #6 (1/180 sync) - non issue.
re: #7 (frame rate)- I'm actaully extremely excited about the 1.6 FPS speed. I can't use my K-7 in slow drive move when shooting in studio because my lights don't recycle fast enough, but at 1.6 at low power I'll be able to shoot in drive mode! can't wait.

[AngryCorgi]

I think the biggest con of the K-5 from a consumer pov is that it looks just like the K-7. Like the 50D, which is really too much like the 40D and people didn't perceive it was a complete upgrade.

Mind you, the 40D -> 50D upgrade was disliked by many Canon users mostly because the 50D's sensor showed gobs and gobs of banding issues at high ISO. Canon resolved the issue in the 60D/7D/T2i sensors.

The size/weight of the K-7/K-5 along with pro-level ergonomics/features is its greatest asset, IMO. The K-7's drawback was its sensor, and now that issue seems properly addressed. If the K-7 had been launched with the K-x sensor, the K-5 would have had to raise the bar higher to attract upgrades/newcomers.

[deadwolfbones]

The only *potential* weaknesses I see are:

1. Possibility that SR blur (cf. Falk's lengthy post earlier this year) hasn't been solved
2. Possibility that AF still isn't up to snuff.
3. Possibility that the reach for high ISO has hurt the base ISO IQ (though the D7000 would presumably have the same problem)

The rest looks great. I love my K-7 beyond those first two issues.

There are too many armchair economists/marketing experts here and not enough photographers.

[NaClH2O]

If it doesn't have a "World Peace and Fluffy Bunnies Everywhere" function, I'm switching brands!

AND I want it to give me a chocolat bon bon every time I nail a shot.

NaCl(preferably one filled with coconut)H2O

[johnmflores]

I won't be happy until Pentax delivers the K-5 to my door, on the back of a Unicorn, and with a Pegasus escort. Wait a second, there's someone at the door.....






!!!!!

[Mister Guy]

I hate to sound all fan boy and negative at the same time, but the K-5, from reading the spec sheet at least, looks like someone from Pentax came over here right after the K-x came out, saw that everyone that got a K-7 seems to mostly love them, with a few exceptions. Then they saw those same people saying they'd be thrilled with the K-7 with a few envelopes pushed out a little farther, and the K-x quality high ISO, and they said, "Sounds good to us", and used that to spec out the K-5.

I'm pretty satisfied with my K-7, and I'd hate to give myself buyer's remorse this far out, but I have to admit the K-7 is starting to look like the prototype for the K-5, and was just the first stable version, rather than the K-5 being an extension of the K-7.

[Sailor]

AND I want it to give me a chocolat bon bon every time I nail a shot.

NaCl(preferably one filled with coconut)H2O

Hey, buddy. I was hoping for a Tanq and tonic dispenser and a sliced lime compartment in the grip. How could they have left this out - what were they thinkng?

Jer

[Inspector 17]

Plain and simple (at least in the USA apparently) - P R I C E

The premium pricing in the states will not allow much business for this camera. It should be $1200 to 1300 to start.

What is going to happen is that when it begins its usual pentax price decline - too many people will have figured that that resale value was a plummeting loss

A lot of people are on the edge of a decision of "stay with Pentax" or "switch"

This price of $1600 triggers a LOT of the "switch" option

JMO

[atomiccow]

I hate to sound all fan boy and negative at the same time, but the K-5, from reading the spec sheet at least, looks like someone from Pentax came over here right after the K-x came out, saw that everyone that got a K-7 seems to mostly love them, with a few exceptions. Then they saw those same people saying they'd be thrilled with the K-7 with a few envelopes pushed out a little farther, and the K-x quality high ISO, and they said, "Sounds good to us", and used that to spec out the K-5.

I'm pretty satisfied with my K-7, and I'd hate to give myself buyer's remorse this far out, but I have to admit the K-7 is starting to look like the prototype for the K-5, and was just the first stable version, rather than the K-5 being an extension of the K-7.

To me it sounds like what Pentax decided to do was take the K-7 and fix all weaknesses fixable with buying a new sensor developed by someone else (Sony in this case) and putting it in the K-5. They haven't really listened to users by adding things that were NOT in the K-7 into the K-5.

Here's what we asked for from Pentax:

1. Manual video controls - not here
2. Video AF - not sure if its here but they didn't say it's here
3. A digital level that can be user calibrated - not here
4. 1/250 flash sync which is industry standard - not here
5. Better AF tracking - maybe but no mention of predictive AF so not keeping my hopes up

Here's what Pentax fixed using Sony's sensor:

1. Sub-par high ISO performance - fixed with Sony's sensor
2. Sub-par dynamic range - fixed with Sony's sensor
3. Higher fps (not a K-7 weakness) - provided by Sony's sensor
4. 14 bit raw (12 bit is really fine) - provided by Sony's sensor
5. 1080p video at 24 fps - provided by Sony's sensor

I dislike the K-5 because they're not pushing the bar with it like they did with the K-7. The K-7 was not the perfect camera minus a good sensor. It was a camera with a lot of useful nifty features minus a good sensor. Well it's a year later and the competition now have all these useful nifty features, good sensors, and even newer useful nifty features. We are getting now what should and could have been provided one year ago.

[SALUKIS97]

1/180 sync is a big issue for me. So much so that I think I will be switching brands when the time for my next purchase comes around.

[Adam]

We think there have been some typos. The FPS rates should be 7.0 and 3.3, and the buffers larger than originally specified

BTW, there's an official bashing thread in the DSLR section, so let's either use it or this thread, not both.

[kenyee]

Surprised they didn't replace the SD card door w/ a solid door but since it's a K-7 body, that was probably expected. The miss list I have is similar to the OP, but I'm happy w/ the new sensor's high ISO performance...looks like ISO1600 is usable and possibly even ISO3200 (it's also usable on the D7000 if that images Chase Jarvis posted on his blog is any indication :-)

I suspect they'll have to drop prices quickly because of the D7000, so that should help the early adopters...

[DronDrive]

I printed the iso 3200 shot from d7000 on a4, very very good without any restrictions