[Ant]

Perhaps so. But, it's still a very capable camera.
The K-7 would be an excellent choice.

And don't forget to buy your daughter (and yourself) a fast 50 lens. It would be one of the best gifts you could ever give / get.

I've got the Pentax 50mm F1.4 - a great lens !

[Ant]

I just bought a K-7 from a member of this forum for U$225 paypald and shipped. I choosed it over K-r (better AF, AA batteries) for the better handling and metal construction. But for a little girl I´d go for a lighter camera such as K-r.

Good point there - weight & portability always something to bear in mind especially for a young girl.

[Ant]

I picked up a sub $400 used original K5 to replace my K20D because I use almost all old manual A series lenses to maintain compatibility with my film cameras so I didn't need the better AF of the K5II or newer and I would buy a mirrorless if I cared about focus peaking or live view.
It's not worth going older than a K5 unless cost is your #1 concern. K5's are $425-450 used with under 10k shutter count quite often now thanks to newer bodies and its worth the extra over a K7.

For most people though a newer body like you are looking at is the better choice since they would be using modern AF lenses.
If you are a good dad you will get her an 18-135WR kit lens so as not to cramp her creativity, that one lens will do basically everything she needs.

Any girl that would be embarrassed to carry a pink camera when she is older is boring. A Pentax user never goes with the herds opinion of what is acceptable or we would all be using a Canikon.

EDIT: Giving her the K5 and getting newer yourself is a good idea.

I like your EDIT !

[.a.t.]

I've got the Pentax 50mm F1.4 - a great lens !

I'm glad to hear your daughter is in good hands!

[zekewhipper]

Get whatever color makes her happy.

[p38arover]

I have a K-5 and K-7.

What I do like is that both cameras are virtually identical in the hand so both of you will be able to swap cameras with no thinking about the differences.

The main reason I went to a K-5 was for the improved high ISO performance. However, I often carry both cameras set up with different lenses.

[adwb]

Get whatever you can afford, at the end of they day unless she is going to be super critical any of the bodies will do. Do they all not have the basics? Accurate meter, auto focus and so on? Yes there have been inmporovents in higher iso ect but how relevant is that to your daughter's needs?

[Ben78]

I picked up a K7 3 months ago after using a K5 for 3 years. I've since flipped the K7 as I just didn't gel with it. The K7's output as a B+W file was fantastic but I just didn't get any love from the colour shots. That said I was happy enough with it that I let my sister take it off my hands. Just grab another K5, you'll get one for not much more than $300 if you shop hard!

[sterretje]

I don't know your daughter but I can imagine frustration if she can't shoot under the same conditions as you. My wife gets frustrated when we go out together and low light prevents here from shooting while I happily continue. I'm planning to upgrade her K100D to a K500 or maybe a K50.

[Rondec]

A K7 is a fine starter camera. The biggest thing is that it isn't great at iso over 800 (usable to 1600). Dynamic range isn't great at low iso either. But it is very capable and basically has the same body type as the K5 with lots of easily accessible buttons for changing settings. I agree with the idea of a K7 and fast prime to start with, as long as the price is right.

[Szenario]

Get a K-r. It is lighter and has a better low light performance.
Even the K-r was availabe with a number of colours, so there is a chance to get a more colored one. Mostly you can find them in Japan.
On Purchasing Japanese items and delivering straight to your door!?FROM JAPAN LIMITED are two pink K-r's on sale right now.

[Ant]

Thanks for all the advice - I see quite a few recommendations for the K-r but on looking at its review on the forum there appears to be a lot of AF issues with it. I'm leaning toward getting a K-x for her as that seems to get good reviews, be more user friendly than the K7 and would suite a learner - or am I mistaken ?

[PPPPPP42]

There just won't be enough cost difference in all these older bodies to make them worth the compromises (especially the cheapy non WR models), maybe before the K5 price crashed but not now to be certain. Why get her training wheels when you can get her something she won't grow out of. If you wanted to treat her like a child you would be asking about getting her an idiot proof unbreakable WG model (a great camera btw).

I have yet to hear of anyone outgrowing a K5 quality wise, its mainly the improved AF of the significantly more expensive later stuff that some people really needed.
The extra high ISO of the K5 isn't really what she would be using, its the excellent 400-800 ISO performance that it offers that the older stuff can only match on very low ISO. Especially with the slow but capable kit lens (WR please) you will likely be getting her this is critical stuff if she wants to have any options for aperture without a tripod.

You could consider catching a new body on clearance but that is mostly done now for a year at least. A K-30 kit would have been good as the prices were just crazy low and those are very capable non crippled cameras with the dual wheels and as I recall the same sensor as the K5.

[dansamy]

I seriously might get my destructive 12 year old son a WG.

[Just1MoreDave]

In a few months I'll have owned my K-7 for 4 years. I planned for 5 and unless it breaks, I'll stick with that. A lot of what is great about the K-7 was carried into the K-5 variations, and all the 16Mp models are very capable. You didn't see that kind of life for the K-7's sensor because of its high ISO performance, the major reason not to get a K-7. That high ISO performance will be useful for everything from indoor candids to night shooting to video. I'd look at 16Mp models unless they are too expensive, then a K-r, then the K-7.