[timcatn]

I'm also struggling between original K5 and K30...they are both at the similar price ~A$1260 with 18-135 lens in an Australian online store. K5 II is not an option, because it's only a very small improvement with much higher price than K5.

I have played around with both of them recently. I bought the K-5 for the 14bit RAW, and a friend bought the K-30 for the Video features. Handling wise I prefer the K-5, because a few more functions are easier to access. For pure IQ (from a non-pro point of view) the differences are minute. Buy the one that fits your hand best.

[top-quark]

K-30 has a modal delete button. In image playback mode it will delete an image that you don't want. Otherwise it will engage live view. This will drive you nuts. It was the thing I disliked most about the K-r (on that body the delete button would pop up the flash). Not tried the K-30 but can attest that the K-5 feels lovely in the hand - balance is really good. I find the K-30 a wee bit ugly too.

[sbroadbentphoto]

K30 screen is brighter and much more clear, quicker review speed, better handling than k5 without the battery grip, better video options, allows use of AA batteries, snappier AF.
K5 has 14bit RAW (which is kind insignificant when you know how little difference it makes), quieter shutter, has top LCD, can have battery grip, longer battery life, goes to ISO80.

I have both and seem to enjoy the k30 more as it is quicker with the review and the screen is much more vibrant and shows sharpness of image better where as the k5 you need to zoom in on the jpeg to check. The 14bit vs 12bit is nothing if not a gimmick to most people as most don't use its advantages and don't know what part if the image it even affects. People who do know what they are talking about barely can tell the difference.

All i can say is that the K30 feels better to use coming from a wedding shooter, a glamour shooter, and event shooter and a family/children portrait shooter.

[Wingincamera]

Well, I finally made up my mind and ordered the K-5 II with the SMC DA 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 ED and the SMCP-DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED lens. Also ordered the Mecablitz 50 AF-1 TTL Shoe Mount Flash unit, extra battery & memory card and the extended Pentax warranty for the camera. Ordered it all from B&H, should be here by Wednesday.
Tough part will be when that cold camera gets delivered out of a cold truck I will have to let the box warm up before opening it. Patience, must learn patience.

[Wired]

from having owned both the K5 and K30... I would go with the K5. in fact I returned my K30 (bought as a second body/backup to my K5) due to the fact that I found it more plasticy and not as solid as the K5. Some of the features were missing (5 bracketing exposure modes, rear remote sensor, two things I use quite a bit) and I didn't like the louder shutter. The K30 is very comfortable though, and I do miss how it felt in the hands. End of the day, the K5, in my opinion, is a better performer in every essence aside from low light focus speed, memory card write speed, and LCD quality.

[john5100]

sbroadbentphoto - you said that you shoot weddings and events. Is the shutter on the K30 too loud wedding and event photography? My KX seems to be so I'm just curious. Wouldn't the K5 II be better?

[davek]

Well, I finally made up my mind and ordered the K-5 II with the SMC DA 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 ED and the SMCP-DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED lens. Also ordered the Mecablitz 50 AF-1 TTL Shoe Mount Flash unit, extra battery & memory card and the extended Pentax warranty for the camera. Ordered it all from B&H, should be here by Wednesday.
Tough part will be when that cold camera gets delivered out of a cold truck I will have to let the box warm up before opening it. Patience, must learn patience.

Congratulations! Sounds like a nice setup. I've been doing reading up on the K-5 II, and it's looking tempting to replace my K7 as well. Hadn't really thought about the K-30 though, maybe I;ll take a look.

[jeffryscott]

I'm still trying to decide. Since I started this process, and thread, I've seen prices dropping on K5's, both new and used, and that tempts me as I really think I'd appreciate the better build of the K5 over the K30. But, K30 kits have fallen in price too, but not as much. A K30, if the price is right, is certainly a possibility. I keep watching the classifieds here and looking on Amazon for warehouse deals, as well and other vendors, and have come close a few times, but still not exactly sure what I want, either camera wise or lens wise.

The good thing about this choice is it is win win

[sbroadbentphoto]

sbroadbentphoto - you said that you shoot weddings and events. Is the shutter on the K30 too loud wedding and event photography? My KX seems to be so I'm just curious. Wouldn't the K5 II be better?

No, it isn't too loud. it is halfway between the kx and k5. i think it is almost the same as the k7. I think most cameras from canon and nikon are as loud. The K5 is just freakishly quiet.
I can't speak for the K5ii, but the only problem i see is that the processor is the same as the originalK5 and henceforth is just as laggy to replay images. Should be very good by any standard though.

[kadajawi]

Actually I didn't think the K-30 was nicer to grip, though I do prefer the grip on my *istDS.

The shutter of the K-30 is actually quite ok, but that being said my old camera was the *istDS, quite possibly the loudest camera... in the world. That thing could easily be heard like 10-15 meters away. The K-5 is very, very quiet though. I'd imagine that's good for lets say a wedding photographer too, since he can take photos unnoticed, so that people don't pose if he doesn't want them to.

There are basically 2 things I dislike about my K-5 (just bought it yesterday): The shutter button feels a bit mushy, and the lens release button also doesn't feel right. It can be rotated 360°, which just feels odd. Apart from those two things though I'm very happy. The AF is much faster than on my istDS, despite using the same lens (though the speed of the AF motor on the istDS would vary greatly depending on the battery you are using. Especially using the DC adaptor it is actually rather swift, in general the whole camera felt faster that way. I guess that's why the K-5 doesn't use AA anymore, there's just not enough juice (at one time) in those, unless they would have gone for 5 AAs...

[frank]

No, it isn't too loud. it is halfway between the kx and k5. i think it is almost the same as the k7. I think most cameras from canon and nikon are as loud. The K5 is just freakishly quiet.
I can't speak for the K5ii, but the only problem i see is that the processor is the same as the originalK5 and henceforth is just as laggy to replay images. Should be very good by any standard though.

Well, I didn't even remember that K5 had a slower card access speed after I saw your post. No wonder I feel the K5IIs is quite a bit slower than my K30 during record or replay. Now I remember the K01 (which I also briefly reviewed before) did have faster card access speed than K5, and K30 has pretty much the same card read/write speed as the K01.

Actually I didn't think the K-30 was nicer to grip, though I do prefer the grip on my *istDS.

The shutter of the K-30 is actually quite ok, but that being said my old camera was the *istDS, quite possibly the loudest camera... in the world. That thing could easily be heard like 10-15 meters away. The K-5 is very, very quiet though. I'd imagine that's good for lets say a wedding photographer too, since he can take photos unnoticed, so that people don't pose if he doesn't want them to.

There are basically 2 things I dislike about my K-5 (just bought it yesterday): The shutter button feels a bit mushy, and the lens release button also doesn't feel right. It can be rotated 360°, which just feels odd. Apart from those two things though I'm very happy. The AF is much faster than on my istDS, despite using the same lens (though the speed of the AF motor on the istDS would vary greatly depending on the battery you are using. Especially using the DC adaptor it is actually rather swift, in general the whole camera felt faster that way. I guess that's why the K-5 doesn't use AA anymore, there's just not enough juice (at one time) in those, unless they would have gone for 5 AAs...

The two things you mentioned happen to be some major issues w/ some K5 cameras (other than the mirror flapping issue). Quite some users have reported drop-off lens release button on their K5, and some had problem w/ their shutter button which just don't pop up after pushed down sometimes.

[john5100]

Buttons falling off? Never heard this before. So it sounds like the k30 could be used for weddings and events then. I like the K5II low light auto focus ability.

[frank]

Buttons falling off? Never heard this before. So it sounds like the k30 could be used for weddings and events then. I like the K5II low light auto focus ability.

Well, a simple search on word 'button' under K5 forum revealed these threads:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-5/182311-len-release-button-finally-fell-off.html

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-5/154835-lens-unlock-button-missing.html

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-5/195019-k-5-lens-removal-button...-now-what.html

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-5/147149-lens-release-button-fell-off-my-k-5-a.html

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-5/195946-yet-another-lens-releas...-off-post.html

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-5/199351-lens-release-button-lost.html

These were from the first four pages of the search results....


At lease five local friends I know had the same problem happened to their K5s. I guess it's definitely something we should be aware of.

[jeffryscott]

months after starting this thread, I'm still on the fence but found a K7 in the marketplace for a very good price, so I will live with that for a while. Having never held any of these cameras, I'm going into this blind ... If I like the K7 I will look into a K5 variant ... With prices about even between K5 classic and K30 I know in my heart the K5 would please me more, just because of the more solid build.

So far I'm going cheap, less than $500 for K7, 18-55WR and 80-320. That will get me by for now. Thanks all!

[Wingincamera]

I wrote above that I had purchased the DA 18-135mm and DA 55-300mm to go with the K5 II. Well, I guess having owned a Canon 5D with "L" lenses sort of spoiled me. I returned the 55-300mm lens to B&H, will keep the 18-135 for it's range and being weather proof. Since I shoot mainly landscape, I took advantage of these sales going on and purchased the SMC-DA 35mm F2.8 Limited Macro. I am extremely pleased with the results from this lens, plus it does a little macro. From the "for sale" board I have purchased the SMC-D FA 50mm F2.8 Macro. From the reviews this should be just as good. Next I will be saving my allowance for either the SMC-DA 15mm F4 ED AL Limited or the Tamron 17-50 f2.8 and eventually one of the 70-200's F2.8 lens.
That's my plan, unless it changes......