[interested_observer]

... all I know is that it has several articles featuring the K1 and is in French - which I can't read. I know - I am just a product of a poor pathetic public school education...

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[Davidparis]

Well, it's a somewhat positive review, which says a lot from these guys who are pretty much pure Canikon. Funny how they rate acceptable quality images from the K-1 only up to 3200-6400 ISO...not beyond.

[biz-engineer]

... all I know is that it has several articles featuring the K1 and is in French - which I can't read. I know - I am just a product of a poor pathetic public school education...

Not sure French is most spoken in the world. I'd rather learn Spanish and Mandarin first.

The AF is very interesting for the photographer to understand how best to use it. The test bench shows two things: 1) Frequency of AF update and 2) Precision. With the same test bench, they compare a D500 and a K1. What that means for the K1 AFC success is the following: do not use the burst mode, but use AFC first frame focus priority and shoot multiple shots which using the shutter release button. In this way, the number of shots is less but they're should all be in focus.

[pathdoc]

I can read enough French to understand the broad gist of the review, and I was able to fill in the gaps from context. The complaints seem like the usual ones - not enough new glass and what's there is expensive; a bit on the heavy side; slower frame rate - but they certainly sing the praises of the image quality. Oddly enough, given how consistently it's panned by those coming from Canikon Land, I noticed the AF was among the positives (probably due to its improvements from the APS-C line).

[biz-engineer]

Oddly enough, given how consistently it's panned by those coming from Canikon Land, I noticed the AF was among the positives (probably due to its improvements from the APS-C line).

Yes, good note. In their test, they also measure how close AF is able to track and according to the AF comparison chart, it seems that K1 AF update is slower but can keep tracking closer. I like their chart because it apparently compares different cameras with the same bench.

[CarlJF]

Here's my quick on th fly translation of the round up and conclusion:

The roundup:

+ Good IQ up to 6400
+ Build quality and tiltable screen
+ Effective AF
+ Special features (Astrotracer, Pixel-shift)

- Price of lenses
- Particular handling with doubling of command buttons
- Burst mode
- AF sensitivity in low light

Conclusion:
The Pentax K-1 has for itself an excellent IQ, great ideas and a reassuring robustness. But it is weighty and slow in burst mode. Above all, the enticing price of the body (for a 36MP) is higly penalized by the announced optics line at discouraging prices hard to justify. Something that cost two "hearths" to the body.

It's kind of strange and unusual to lower the overall note of a body because of the price of some lenses... AFAIK, Canon L lenses aren't exactly cheap either...

[HopelessTogger]

Here's my quick on th fly translation of the round up and conclusion:

The roundup:

+ Good IQ up to 6400
+ Build quality and tiltable screen
+ Effective AF
+ Special features (Astrotracer, Pixel-shift)

- Price of lenses
- Particular handling with doubling of command buttons
- Burst mode
- AF sensitivity in low light

Conclusion:
The Pentax K-1 has for itself an excellent IQ, great ideas and a reassuring robustness. But it is weighty and slow in burst mode. Above all, the enticing price of the body (for a 36MP) is higly penalized by the announced optics line at discouraging prices hard to justify. Something that cost two "hearths" to the body.

It's kind of strange and unusual to lower the overall note of a body because of the price of some lenses... AFAIK, Canon L lenses aren't exactly cheap either...

They do have a point. The 2.8/15-30 and 2.8/24-70 are in effect Tamron lenses. Compare the Pentax price for these with the Tamron price in other mounts.

[CarlJF]

They do have a point. The 2.8/15-30 and 2.8/24-70 are in effect Tamron lenses. Compare the Pentax price for these with the Tamron price in other mounts.

Maybe, but they should highlight this in these specific lenses reviews if they feel the need to. But giving 3/5 instead of 5/5 to the body because they feel two lenses in the whole lineup are overpriced is really harsh and nasty, IMHO.

[HopelessTogger]

Maybe, but they should highlight this in these specific lenses reviews if they feel the need to. But giving 3/5 instead of 5/5 to the body because they feel two lenses in the whole lineup are overpriced is really harsh and nasty, IMHO.

Agreed, no argument from me.

For its very few minor shortcomings, I wouldn't have anything different. (I have the 15-30 and 70-200 too).

Pentax need to really nail those few shortcomings and then there's no excuse for Pentax bashing from the reviewers.

[Nicolas06]

Sigma 24-70 + sigma 70-200 + D610 = 2700€
Sigma 24-70 + sigma 70-200 + D810 = 4200€
DFA 24-70 + DFA70-200 + K1 = 4800€

There many lenses out there you don't find at the same price (or not at all):
24mm f/1.4 at 800€
24-70 f/2.8 at 700€
16-28 f/2.8 at 600€
24-105 f/4 at 800€
70-200 f/2.8 € at 1000€
150mm macro at 1000€
150-600 at 1000€

Don't say you wouldn't welcome such choice un K-mount ! Having choice is never a bad thing !

[biz-engineer]

Pentax K1 + 28-75 SP + 70-200 SP 2750 euros.
Better compare prices apple to apple. So Pentax K1 + DFA lenses and Nikon D810 + Nikon lenses

[Nicolas06]

Pentax K1 + 28-75 SP + 70-200 SP 2750 euros.
Better compare prices apple to apple. So Pentax K1 + DFA lenses and Nikon D810 + Nikon lenses

I agree and this is a nice combo. And if that all you want that perfect. There a few points still:
- if i do the same with D610 I spend only 2000€, You do not get pixel shift, 36MP then of course. But if that to get in FF territory at a cheap price one still get the dof/noise advantage for a bargain.
- 28-75 is not as conveniant as 24-70 honestly. You'll want at least a 24-70 from sigma to make things fully comparable, so that would be 3150€.
- DFA24-70 is actually a tamron that exist as tamron in Canikon and is 25% cheaper than the rebranded pentax. While I think price for both will go down, It could be argued that there no much reason to think the DFA version that has no in lens SR should be priced any more than the pure tamron. The argument on the branded lens doesn't really hold.
- The other echosystem all have an intermediate choice between the cheap old screwdrive and the latest greatest of the branded lenses. For some people this intermediate choice to have silent and faster focusisng, WR, optics more near to the level of branded one but still for nearly half the price is I think an interresting compromize. That's cannot be made on K-mount.

[biz-engineer]

I agree and this is a nice combo. And if that all you want that perfect. There a few points still: - if i do the same with D610 I spend only 2000€, You do not get pixel shift, 36MP then of course. But if that to get in FF territory at a cheap price one still get the dof/noise advantage for a bargain. - 28-75 is not as conveniant as 24-70 honestly. You'll want at least a 24-70 from sigma to make things fully comparable, so that would be 3150€. - DFA24-70 is actually a tamron that exist as tamron in Canikon and is 25% cheaper than the rebranded pentax. While I think price for both will go down, It could be argued that there no much reason to think the DFA version that has no in lens SR should be priced any more than the pure tamron. The argument on the branded lens doesn't really hold. - The other echosystem all have an intermediate choice between the cheap old screwdrive and the latest greatest of the branded lenses. For some people this intermediate choice to have silent and faster focusisng, WR, optics more near to the level of branded one but still for nearly half the price is I think an interresting compromize. That's cannot be made on K-mount.

That's if you consider list prices and buy lenses and camera one at a time :-) . When considering the purchase of the full Pentax full frame lineup, there may be way to get off the official list prices. I don't know if I can tell here, but I got the full Pentax FF lineup for a super price, so I'm in heaven, I can't be happier. I'd like to thank Ricoh for their products and willingness to please customers :-)

[fs999]

On page 8 they say all shots are in focus from 50 to 2 meters.
On page 119 they say the 2 meter shot is out of focus...
Is that because every other tested camera has failed the 2 meter shot ?

[Zygonyx]

Probably so.