[sam-joseph]

My k7 underexposes too, and it'staken me a long time to start getting results in contrasty situations. Frustratingly, during a recent trip to the blue mountains, nsw, I found that my wife's older model Sony a200 produced consistently better results with the cloudy/sunny mountain scenes. She was using a tamron 18-200, and me a sigma17-70. I've always argued the k7 is a fantastic camera, but I can't help but wonder how a k5 would have behaved in the same situation.

Regards

[Imcalfin]

It shouldn't do that. The clock on mine runs for days without the main battery inserted.

After digging around the net for a while I have come to the conclusion that mine probably has a dead capacitor. I'll go and bother the local camera repair when I have the time.

[Reiner]

Well mine forgets date and time every time it is turned off. Talk about nuissance!!!!

[kh1234567890]

Actually it would seem that the clock runs of a little lithium rechargeable - https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-30/200711-date-time-lost-withou...ml#post2124975

This has a pretty poor life (50 cycles) if 100% discharged. I wonder if the people with failing backup batteries habitually store their cameras without the main battery inserted and charged ?

[Northern Soul]

I have had mine for almost 2 years I think, although it looks like I've had it for 20. Still works like clockwork though.

I shoot raw mostly, and I can't say I've noticed mine underexposing - or at least I am happy with the way it exposes. A slightly dark picture can be corrected in post much more readily than can a blown one, so I'm happy.

I used ISO 6400 the other day for the first time, and that was poor - worse than a modern phone levels of bad. Most of the time I rarely go above ISO 800, although I give it leeway to go up to 1600 if needs must.

It's a good, solid camera. I'd love a K-5 for it's low noise (and the astro-tracking GPS thing) but for as long as the K7 still works it's camera enough for me, and I'll spend whatever spare cash I can afford on glass instead. Hopefully by the time the k7 dies I will be able to get a bargain k5 or better.

I do hope Pentax keep this basic body shape too; it works well, and it means there is a chance I might be able to hire a waterproof housing one day

[Reiner]

I honestly dont find it acceptable that failing to charge the main battery should have any influence on the cameras ability to remember date and time. The camara house isent a 1$ toothbrush. With the guarantee period expired i will probably be looking forward to pay for the repair myself.

[Northern Soul]

I honestly dont find it acceptable that failing to charge the main battery should have any influence on the cameras ability to remember date and time. The camara house isent a 1$ toothbrush. With the guarantee period expired i will probably be looking forward to pay for the repair myself.

I've never had a problem with mine, or the K10 before it. I never take the main battery out apart from to charge it though, so perhaps the clock battery never fully discharges on mine. The clock has to be powered by something though. Remembering the time is no use, it has to mark time too - that needs power.

[Milooshea]

Good points. I have my K-7 for 3 years and I would tend to agree overall with your comments. However I would disagree with your final comment: "under average conditions it takes quite a lot of hard work to do so". This might be true with the kit lens .... but it is untrue with good glass.

With good prime lenses, I am getting excellent results without hard work. I shoot mostly in the hyper mode (P) and I use rarely any manual settings. It is simply worth to invest in 'good glass' and this is true for the K-7.

Now that I used the K-7 with prime lenses, there is no way that I would go back to a P&S camera... and I can re-use my lenses with other Pentax dSLR: eg, my K-01 for now.

Food for thoughts....

hcc: A very belated reply, for which apologies! Perhaps I am being naive, but I see 'good glass' as primarily leading to clarity and sharpness and the availability of fast apertures, rather than to accurate exposure or correct representation on digital monitors, which are the result of other factors, notably metering of the photo and the brightness and calibration of the PC monitor. I do have a 50mm f1.7 SMC prime lens, which I use occasionally, and is good for portrait work, but for the type of holiday/tourist photography that I generally do, I prefer to minimize the number of times I change lenses, to minimize weight, hassle and the risk of contamination. I've now switched to generally operating with multi-point metering, combined with AV mode, and center focus. Generally that seems to be producing better results for me. I'm beginning to think my issues with apparent under-exposure are, in most cases, more to do with the transition from memory card to PC than to do with the initial taking of the photo.

Milo

[Milooshea]

Very helpful tip, which I will certainly try. Many thanks.

Milo

[mcgregni]

The K7 was a trailblazer in some respects when first released, and was highly reviewed and regarded. For those of us who came to it much later (me only early this year) it has provided an entry into serious DSLR shooting at a truly bargain price (along with the option to attach old k & M series lenses), and along with the grip the whole lot really looks the business!

Of course technology moves on , and the more recent models have the edge in sensor and AF technologies, but if you don't always shoot under the most demanding conditions then this may not matter at all.

I was aware from my film days of what a 'Pro' range SLR camera would have - mostly the features that separated them from consumer models were usability enhancing controls, the sort of things pros used to quickly set up the camera and quickly change things in mid -shoot - this always included items like levers for Meter modes, Focus mode, AF point select, DOF preview, click-lock mode dial, 100% viewfinder, PC sync socket, remote release / cable release, low light focus detection on the body......hang on a second, I know a camera that's got all of this...... my K7!!!

[p38arover]

And I am assuming Pentax uses a dedicated clock chip - if date/time are provided by the internal clock of the processor, this processor would need to have 2 separate power inputs, one directly from the voltage regulator, the other via a buffer capacitor.

Now-a-days we are used to the luxury of our computers, but they have a separate clock chip powered by a battery. My computers in the early eighties always lost time/date every time they were switched off!

My *istD has a button cell for the clock. My K7 doesn't lose its date/time settings. I can't recall how the K100D went (no clock battery there either) - my daughter has it now and she's 500km away so I can't check it. My Fuji Finepix S5500 used to keep the clock setting when changing batteries but no longer does so.

I was aware from my film days of what a 'Pro' range SLR camera would have - mostly the features that separated them from consumer models were usability enhancing controls, the sort of things pros used to quickly set up the camera and quickly change things in mid -shoot - this always included items like levers for Meter modes, Focus mode, AF point select, DOF preview, click-lock mode dial,

I hate the button lock in the middle of the K7 mode dial. the *istD doesn't have it and neither does the K100D. The dial isn't that easy to accidentally move unlike my FinePix S5500 which is extremely easy to move without realising it - and consequently getting fluffed pics.

[gooseta]

Do you have experience carrying around a bag of primes and not like it? I also have a K7 (and came from using a cybershot oddly enough) and found that the issues that come with prime use are far outweighed by their benefits for my shooting style anyway

Well as they say you need to be able to shoot a fifty to be good at shooting anything else

[Zaphodmonster]

Well as they say you need to be able to shoot a fifty to be good at shooting anything else

100% agree.

I still need years more practice but getting that M series 50mm f1.7 taught me a hell of a lot about the basics everyone should know about

[mcgregni]

Whenever we're not getting the results we really want it always raised this question of what to look at buying next - and where to get more 'bang per buck'. There is a longstanding and entrenched view, probably resulting from experiences with film SLRs (when buying a new camera would not affect image quality directly at all) that you'd be better off buying faster / prime / pro-grade lenses; this alone would lead to instantly higher image quality.

Now of course there are obvious and quantifiable differences between cameras that could have a similar effect, and you can choose a clear upgrade (such as going for a Pentax K5IIs), or look at reviews and choose between similar offerings from different makes. The reality though is that it depends on what you've already got, and what you need to output.

My own view ? I'll take a traditionalist approach, and try to persuade someone to buy better glass. How come ? So long as your current camera is reasonably well endowed spec-wise and has all the bells & whistles needed to help you catch the shots (such as a K7), then the majority of perceived IQ shortcomings, (which would only be apparent under certain more challenging conditions) should be able to be ironed out by either altering settings on camera or on the computer later. But do without the pro-grade, wide aperture lenses? Well you won't be able to get those same results from clever post processing.

[westmill]

The k5 exposes about a third of a stop under. Personly, I like it that way. It is easy to get detail from the shadows but not so much so with the highlights. As long as it is constant ( which it is ) then it should not be a problem for you to set less or more exposure with the compensation dial. This allows anyone to set it to there own prefferance. Because of the low noise base of the K5 sensor, if it shot perfect then I would likely change it to shoot at one third under anyway. As it shoots this at default, I find it perfect. I shoot with a Nikon D300 too and just like the D7000 and D700 etc it is really bad for blowing out your pic entirely under bright high contrast conditions. Flash is another story, but in ambient light the Pentax metering is one of the best ive used. An I have used a lot Where metering is concerned I think Minolta/sony has the best of all but in daylight the pentax is as good as it gets. The biggest most important thing is consistancy. The Pentax has that !