[wldrnss]

Hi everyone,


I have been on here for quite a while but this is my first time posting. Everyone is such a help so I thought I would ask my question here. I have a K-7 a lot of lenses The K-7 has seen a lot of use and has hit the ground (sometimes with me) more than a few times. I have some dents and the top glass has a small crack. My lens is starting to be loose on the mount. I am sure what happened but twice it came off while zooming. It is possible that it wasn't locked but there is a tiny amount of play when it is locked. I love the K-7. I am looking at the KP and K70 but, like many of you have been waiting for an APS-C type camera upgrade. I am going on a trip in late July and wanted a new camera soon. What are your thoughts on replacing now or in the near future? At times I feel like giving up on Pentax but have had great luck with the K-7. I have seen lots of opinions and compared specs on both the K70 and KP and still haven't decided. Each has something I like. Neither has the battery life I want. I am looking to lose some of the camera body weight. Any thoughts or ideas would be welcome
.

Thanks

[Saltwater Images]

I was waiting for a new APS-C flagship but rolled the dice on a KP as an upgrade to my K-5II. No regrets! Fantastic ISO and image quality upgrade. Excellent AF upgrade. I bought an extra battery and that resolved my battery life concern. Prices on the KP are pretty good.

[wldrnss]

I was waiting for a new APS-C flagship but rolled the dice on a KP as an upgrade to my K-5II. No regrets! Fantastic ISO and image quality upgrade. Excellent AF upgrade. I bought an extra battery and that resolved my battery life concern. Prices on the KP are pretty good.

Thanks Saltwater Images! Your input is a helpful.

[Adam]

The KP is great, but you could also go for the K-3 or K-3 II if you don't want to compromise on battery life. These are just as durable as the K-7 (more so in terms of shutter life) and are an upgrade in every other aspect.

Adam
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[Ex Finn.]

KP with the D-BG7 grip without a hesitation.
(K100D, K7,K5,K1 mk1)

[BigMackCam]

A belated "welcome" It's great to have you posting with us

The K-70 and KP are both excellent cameras and I'm sure you'd be happy with either. However, my recommendation would be to buy a (relatively) lightly-used and well-cared-for K-3 or K-3II. You'll notice a big jump in every aspect of performance and image quality compared to your K-7, whilst maintaining the same heavy-duty build quality and feel and every feature you may already be used to, plus some new stuff you may find useful

[C_Jones]

Maybe you could rent a K-70, KP, or K-3 II for your trip just to see what one of them can do. Then you could still wait out the possibility of a new APS-C body coming out before you make an actual purchase. I have never rented camera bodies or lenses, but have seen the option mentioned here in the forums many times.

[ramseybuckeye]

I have a KP and love it, yes it has the small battery but that also makes carrying a spare easy. It's a very well built camera with excellent low light ability and much improved autofocus. Everything will be vastly improved over the K-7, but the basic operations of the camera will be familiar. When another APS-C body is introduced, it may be twice the price of the KP now.

[nicolpa47]

My first DSLR was a K100D. Several years later, I bought K30 followed by a K50. Later again I bought the K-3ii. The step up in build and feel quality and features on the K3-ii was very noticeable. I had not noticed the drop from the K100D as it had not had much use at the time due to battery problems but now, even that early camera feels better than the K30/K50 line. I understand the KP build quality is on a par with the K7/K5/K3 line, so I would prefer that camera or to wait for the new model, but that will surely cost more for at least a couple of years. If I had to buy now, I'd try to get a K-3ii or a KP.

[bobmaxja]

I replace my K-5 with the KP, it’s simply a better camera than the old one. No hesitation

[wldrnss]

Thank you everyone. The 3 ii is another possibility. The price for a new is really up there if you can find it. A used one is a nice idea. Not too many recommendations for the K70. I was looking at it for the IR remote possibility and the articulating screen. The KP screen will fill that desire to a large degree. Why did I wait so long to ask? No place to rent around here but I like that idea. For the price of the K70 or KP I will probably buy one. I could wait another couple of weeks. Thanks again.

[onlineflyer]

Welcome aboard, wldrnss . One thing no one mentioned is buying a used, low mileage K-5iis and upgrading to the new model when introduced, while keeping the former as a backup. I don't know if a built-in flash is important to you but it's likely the new model will not have that feature, so the K-5iis with flash might be a handy second body.

[Greg1956]

Hi,

I bought the K70 over the KP because I liked the flip screen and onboard flash, big step up for low light performance (still use the lovely K200d).
Battery life is not any issue for me, ~300+ shots before I change batteries. That's more than I usually take in a day anyway.

You won't be disappointed with either.

It depends if you have the budget to buy another camera soon if a new APS-C appears, or if you just need to buy one for long term use.

Good luck
Greg

[Des]

Another welcome to PF

Not too many recommendations for the K70. I was looking at it for the IR remote possibility and the articulating screen. The KP screen will fill that desire to a large degree

I suspect that you didn't get a lot of recommendations for the K-70 because you have a flagship model now and stressed how rugged it was. The entry to mid level models like the K-30 (I had two of them), K-50, K-S2 and K-70 are pretty tough, but not as rugged as the flagship models (K-5 and K-3 series). The KP doesn't fit neatly into either group, but it has a solid metal chassis like the flagship ones and should be quite durable. The K-70 doesn't have a shutter life rating, the KP is 100,000 and the K-3/K-3ii are 200,000.

I've got a K-3, KP and K-S2 (which is similar to the K-70). I like each of them in its own way. I love the feel of the K-3; it's just perfect for me. The AE metering and AF are very good, its burst rate is excellent. But for image quality, the KP is better - particularly at high ISOs. Personally I don't love the ergonomics of the KP - even the large handgrip is too small and the layout of buttons and dials is a bit cluttered. The third dial is handy though. The tilt screen is very good. The K-S2 is relatively light and compact and the flippy screen is more versatile than the tilt screen on the KP. Its metering and AF (which are similar to the K-70) are well behind the K-3 or KP, but adequate for most purposes.

If I could only keep one camera, it would be the KP, despite its ergonomics and the lack of IR remote. It's rugged enough and compact enough and its IQ is the best of the three. Battery life is OK; just carry a spare. The KP has been selling in this country for barely more than the K-70 lately. At that price there is no contest.

[wldrnss]

Welcome aboard, wldrnss . One thing no one mentioned is buying a used, low mileage K-5iis and upgrading to the new model when introduced, while keeping the former as a backup. I don't know if a built-in flash is important to you but it's likely the new model will not have that feature, so the K-5iis with flash might be a handy second body.

Am I seeing right? Abe’s of Maine has a brand new K-5ii?