[Finntax]

Pre-production K-1 is on display at Helsinki Kuva&Kamera 2016 fair this weekend. I took the opportunity to play with the camera for about 30 min yesterday.

For a person with K-7, K-5, K-01 and K-3 history the camera felt familiar and easy to use right away. All the buttons and adjustments are on right places and easy to access and customize. The feature set is overwhelming. Naturally the VF is very good after APS-C. As mentioned many times the body is a bit larger than K-3, but for me it was still surprisingly manageable. Same goes with the battery grip attached. The build quality is what you would expect from top model Pentax. The mechanism for the back-screen felt much more durable than one would think based on the pictures. No concerns for me there. All the small lights placed around the body were also a good addition to low light work.

I was not allowed to save any pictures, but was able to try the DFA 24-70 and DFA 150-450 as well as my own FA 31, 44, and 77 limiteds with the body. Also tried the DFA 24-70 and 150-450 with my K-3. The AF works a bit faster and a bit more accurate than on my K-3 with all of these lenses (based on the examination of the pictures from the back screen). Very positive feeling from this. The attached pictures with the 31 ltd are taken with the 24-70.

I also tried the pixel shift hand held and based on the examination of the pictures from the back screen it worked pretty well with the motion correction. Pixel peeping would of course tell the truth.

All in all very positive feeling, even better than I hoped for. I placed my pre-order to local dealer on 27.2.2015, so it would had been a shame to cancel it at this point

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Last edited by Finntax; 03-05-2016 at 12:24 AM.

[rawr]

Thanks for the report, and the great K-1 photos.

Now I am jealous. Why does Japan, Vietnam, Finland, and every other country it seems, get to see a real K-1 before Australia does?

[ffking]

Why does Japan, Vietnam, Finland, and every other country it seems, get to see a real K-1 before Australia does?

I'm frequently amazed at the size and enthusiasm of the Australian corps here on PF considering how little servce you seem to get

[creative69]

Nice photos! Personally I think the K-1 is one handsome camera, but I wished / hope Pentax put grip material on the sd card cover. It makes such a difference to the grip and feel holding a camera.

[M.B.Yates]

I'm frequently amazed at the size and enthusiasm of the Australian corps here on PF considering how little servce you seem to get

Me too...I find it strange from a business point of view how the wholesaler can compete with their distributors ie. Have a web store selling the product I like to hold the product before I buy it that seems to be disappearing...the last photo expo I went to in Perth had no Pentax gear on show, plenty of Fuji, Canon Nikon Panasonic and even a rep from Samsung...I wanted hold the new 150-450 sadly not there...it's the Pentaxians in Australia who need to support the retailers and boycot the web option as has been said in other posts. But at the end of the day most will vote with their pockets and not take into consideration the bigger picture.

[squizzytaylor]

Me too...I find it strange from a business point of view how the wholesaler can compete with their distributors ie. Have a web store selling the product I like to hold the product before I buy it that seems to be disappearing...the last photo expo I went to in Perth had no Pentax gear on show, plenty of Fuji, Canon Nikon Panasonic and even a rep from Samsung...I wanted hold the new 150-450 sadly not there...it's the Pentaxians in Australia who need to support the retailers and boycot the web option as has been said in other posts. But at the end of the day most will vote with their pockets and not take into consideration the bigger picture.

I for one would like to support the locals here in Australia however its has not been uncommon to save 40-50% by purchasing overseas ( this is my 6th Pentax DSLR), When I bought my K3 Prestige, the ONLY option here was a k3 bundle with an 18-135 which I already own and they could not even give me a date on a prestige and the arrogance that came with making the enquiry was also offputting. If reliability were an issue I might reconsider buying local.

Geoff

[IgorZ]

Pentax is not easy to find in Canada either. The last time I asked Henry's camera in Ottawa why they don't carry Pentax, they told me something about Ricoh not sending them any stuff anymore. So they don't have any Pentax gear on display, but can order on demand.

[Zygonyx]

Thanks for the report, and the great K-1 photos.

Now I am jealous. Why does Japan, Vietnam, Finland, and every other country it seems, get to see a real K-1 before Australia does?

Not any opportunity to touch the beast in France either, yet...
Generally aloof medias have once more been granted priority....
And loyal customers don't seem to have been considered, they are only encouraged to suscribe for pre-orders, with nothing clear afac shipment date...
In one word : pityfull.

[aleonx3]

Pentax is not easy to find in Canada either. The last time I asked Henry's camera in Ottawa why they don't carry Pentax, they told me something about Ricoh not sending them any stuff anymore. So they don't have any Pentax gear on display, but can order on demand.

I wouldn't be surprised... since Henrys is a big store chain in Canada, they probably demand more (cut) from camera manufacturers. I have a feeling they (Ricoh) are more willing to work with smaller shops (like McBain, thecamerastore etc.) than big chain stores.

[tapiolan]

Pre-production K-1 is on display at Helsinki Kuva&Kamera 2016 fair this weekend. I took the opportunity to play with the camera for about 30 min yesterday.

I was there today and had a chance to check it briefly. (I had to wait about 45min to check the K1, a couple really used some time to play with the camera at the stand, I am guessing they might be around here too)

The handling of K1 felt great! Not so small, almost perfect for the hand. (I have K20d and K01)

The lcd screen looks and feel VERY robust, but I was thinking it would actually tilt all the way (up down or sides), my bad I guess. 45deg. up and down (also to the sides) looks very useful though.

I do not have any experience with the menu system with K5-K3 but somehow it looked like too much information on top of each other on the lcd while going through menus.

Also the additional top dials makes a lot of sense, it was really helpful as a short cut.

Again no experience with K3 but the shutter sound was really ok, especially after k20 but i guess it is not even a comparison.

the auto focus felt very responsive, with 24-70. - they were quite heavy together -

I also saw the 15-30 at tamron stand, that lens is ridiculously big and heavy! Pentax has the size factor which many of us love and all, but the 15-30 is really something in size. even 70-200 being taller didn't feel that big.

Overall, K1 looked and felt like something really new and different, especially seeing the nikon bodies just a few meters away.
when the price is right for my budget it will be great to own one.

Finntax, where did you preorder yours? which one is your local dealer?

[Finntax]

I also saw the 15-30 at tamron stand, that lens is ridiculously big and heavy! Pentax has the size factor which many of us love and all, but the 15-30 is really something in size. even 70-200 being taller didn't feel that big.

Finntax, where did you preorder yours? which one is your local dealer?

I also noticed the Tamron 15-30 and I agree about the size. However I'll most likely buy the Pentax version.

On this forum by local I mean Finnish I live in Lappeenranta but buy all my gear from Top Shot.

[ppohja]

I had also my share of the camera at the fair. The guy presenting the camera was knowledgeable and professional. I didn't go through all the speculations (in this preproduction specimen, there was the 1:1 crop mode), but instead tried to get the overall feeling of the cam.

Feature-wise its very competent camera. What I'm mostly worried for my own use is the feature creep - the number of bells and whistles can be overwhelming. Its obvious that this is a model that requires active use for the user to stay current. The menu system was familiar to a pentaxian - the added top wheel actually reminded me of the original istD. I can imagine this being a good tool for many use cases. The time will tell if theres some case for which is better than anything else or is its sole strength the cost effectiveness.

[ffking]

(in this preproduction specimen, there was the 1:1 crop mode)

why on earth would they have backed away from that, I wonder, unless difficulty integrating it with the auto select mode or something - but if it reached the early firmware, it's difficult to see that that would have been a problem????

[Gimbal]

why on earth would they have backed away from that, I wonder, unless difficulty integrating it with the auto select mode or something - but if it reached the early firmware, it's difficult to see that that would have been a problem????

I guess it's because there are no dedicated guide lines in the viewfinder, and thus users could forget they where in 1:1 mode and get pissed afterwards when the pictures are cropped, or something.

[Kerrowdown]

get to see a real K-1 before Australia does?

Relax... I think Scotland must be even further down the list than Australia.