[normhead]

I did that yesterday but only for 45 minutes...
That is such a nice walk around combo.

[BryantCP]

I did that yesterday but only for 45 minutes...
That is such a nice walk around combo.

One thing that no one has mentioned is build quality. If your used to a K-5, there is a big difference between the K-5 and the K-70. The K-70 is not nearly as rugged as the K-5. More importantly the K-70 is known to have the same aperture control solenoid that causes aperture control failures in the K-30 and the K-50. The flagship cameras and the KP do not have this potential problem. As a K-5, K-3 and KP owner I would recommend either as a replacement for your K-5. Regarding the KP, I've not found battery life to be a significant problem.

[luftfluss]

nearing its EOL as the noises in the shitter box

A character on The Sopranos EOL'd that way.

[CapitanXeon]

One thing that no one has mentioned is build quality. If your used to a K-5, there is a big difference between the K-5 and the K-70. The K-70 is not nearly as rugged as the K-5. More importantly the K-70 is known to have the same aperture control solenoid that causes aperture control failures in the K-30 and the K-50. The flagship cameras and the KP do not have this potential problem. As a K-5, K-3 and KP owner I would recommend either as a replacement for your K-5. Regarding the KP, I've not found battery life to be a significant problem.

I'm not a camera repair shop by any means, but i've worked my way into a K-m a fair bit of times, and i'm quite confident in the fact i can replace the solenoid for the proper one *when* it fails.

I just took the decision after talking it a bit with some friends and my girlfriend and got the 399€, brand new, K-70. It should last a good while, and the solenoid repair doesn't seem very dificult with the proper tools, which i'm confident i have as i have tons of precision screwdrivers and soldering tools, which pretty much seems all it's needed. I also have my very old and kind of broken Pentax K-m that, as far as i understand, has a white solenoid. Not the best option, but being realistic, i'd rather spend around a half of what i'd spend for around the same "usefulness" for me -don't forget that i'm replacing my camera as it's broken, not that it's short for me, much to learn yet

EDIT:

I know that just for the part of the aperture solenoid, having bought a K-70 might sound like a bad idea. But at the end, it looks like a repair i can do by myself as i could completely work around the absolutely disastrous supply system on the K-m, as well as work around every single problem that my car usually has, like rust on some classical spots or cold solder joints on the throttle body -Micra owner things-.

As a DIY someone i want to believe this is something i can carry on when the moment arrives, and won't be as hurtful as the fact that the shutter box on my K-5 will soon die, as i'm completely not able to replace that. I admit i wasn't 100% aware of this issue when i pushed the "buy" button, and i will face the consequences when the moment arrives, being this directed at every one of you that told me to either buy a K3 or a KP as a little bit of apology -sorry y'all-, but all things considered, price has been an important factor.

Anyhow, it will not make me unable to sleep, so i'm not going to stress myself out over this too much, specially being a brand new body that has seen no use. I have the tools and, suposedly, the white solenoid, so i will hope that it doesn't fail too soon, and when it does, let it be a weekend project as it was the K-m battery grip.

Thank you everybody about letting me see that, despite large diferences on some specific parts of all those cameras, inside the 24MP tier and for my exact use i won't be seeing much of a difference on what each camera can do.

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Last edited by CapitanXeon; 05-16-2020 at 04:08 PM.

[gatorguy]

I'm not a camera repair shop by any means, but i've worked my way into a K-m a fair bit of times, and i'm quite confident in the fact i can replace the solenoid for the proper one *when* it fails.

I just took the decision after talking it a bit with some friends and my girlfriend and got the 399€, brand new, K-70. It should last a good while, and the solenoid repair doesn't seem very dificult with the proper tools, which i'm confident i have as i have tons of precision screwdrivers and soldering tools, which pretty much seems all it's needed. I also have my very old and kind of broken Pentax K-m that, as far as i understand, has a white solenoid. Not the best option, but being realistic, i'd rather spend around a half of what i'd spend for around the same "usefulness" for me -don't forget that i'm replacing my camera as it's broken, not that it's short for me, much to learn yet

Aperture solenoid failure on the K70 seems almost non-existent here on the forums, at best 2 or 3 verified instances AFAIK? It's so unlikely it's of no concern to me at all. I'm far more likely to drop and shatter it than have a solenoid fail. It's not the K-50 despite some posters here wanting to wring out their worry towels over it.

IMO solenoid failure is a total non-issue. Enjoy your new camera, you got a heck of a deal. Congrats!

[CapitanXeon]

Aperture solenoid failure on the K70 seems almost non-existent here on the forums, at best 2 or 3 verified instances AFAIK? It's so unlikely it's of no concern to me at all. I'm far more likely to drop it than have a solenoid fail. It's not the K-50 despite some posters here wanting to wring out their worry towels over it.

IMO solenoid failure is a total non-issue.

That surely conforts me, all things said. Nontheless, i will say my first impressions with the K-70, and i'm still open at people indications about it.

[Apet-Sure]

I eventually sold the KP.

I bought it, and have been very happy with it. It was an upgrade from my still-beloved K-5IIs. Here are my impressions:

The color rendering is more accurate than the K-5IIs. I love the images it produces, but the KP is noticeably better. It is what impresses me the most about the KP. This aspect of the camera was discussed in the PF in-depth review.

The middle-sized grip feels very good in my hands. Ergonomics are fine with my medium-sized hands; no downshift from the K-5, except for the exposure compensation button. Its location seems a bit inconvenient to me, but not a big issue. I'm sure I could re-assign its function to another button if I wanted to. It took me less than 5 minutes to get used to the location of the back focus button.

I thought I would miss the top LCD; I don't.

The battery life is shorter, but I wouldn't characterize it as 'extremely short' for the way I shoot. That said, I don't use live view extensively (although it's much nicer than the K-5), and only use burst mode occasionally. It takes, what, 10 seconds to swap a dead battery for a fresh one? That's a non-issue for me. The third-party battery lasts about half as long as the Pentax.

The flippy screen does come in handy. The overall build quality of the KP seems on par with the K-5IIs.

24MP is better than 16MP when cropping. Duh.

I bought Yvon Bourque's KP e-book. Well worth it since the KP is so configurable.

[Edit]
With my K-5IIs, I try to keep the ISO no higher than 1600 for good IQ. I have the KP auto-ISO set to top out at 6400 right now. A PF member recently posted a shot they took with their KP set at 10,000; it was remarkably good.

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Last edited by Apet-Sure; 05-16-2020 at 04:52 PM.

[gatorguy]

Duplicate post

[gatorguy]

I bought it, and have been very happy with it. It was an upgrade from my still-beloved K-5IIs.

24MP is better than 16MP when cropping. Duh.

I bought Yvon Bourque's KP e-book. Well worth it since the KP is so configurable.

[Edit]
With my K-5IIs, I try to keep the ISO no higher than 1600 for good IQ. I have the KP auto-ISO set to top out at 6400 right now. A PF member recently posted a shot they took with their KP set at 10,000; it was remarkably good.

You're safe at 12800 if shooting at night. Any noise can be eliminated in Topaz or DxO, and likely a few other programs too. FWIW I've successfully shot nighttime events with the KP at 25600 with very acceptable results.

It's really good to see the KP is a far better match for you than it was for me. It's gone to a great new home where it's appreciated. Good shooting Apet-sure!

EDIT: You probably noticed I did something I would never have done even three months ago: Added a K1 to the stable. I guess I can't ever say never.

[btnapa]

I have three possible models hovering my head

I would go for the KP if you had to buy today. I owned the K5IIs, K3 and now K1. Image quality wise for me it is K1, K5IIs then K3 in that order. I would have said for a cheap alternative, pick up a used low mileage K5IIs. However, you want speed and burst rate and I think KP is more suited for that. KP at $760 or so USD is a solid deal. If you don't want to miss out on new tech (as in the new APSc body coming down the road), get a K5IIs $200-300 max to hold you over and save and wait for the new APSc body. If you are happy with K5, I am sure you would be happy with the K5IIs too. The new body will be more money but if it lasts 5-7 years or more then it does not matter if it ends up being more expensive. You will get your mileage out of it.

[dms]

And why not get another K-5? You like it, the cost is low, and if you have case where you want to use 2 cameras--they are identical which can be an advantage/less likely to make an error. Or (even better?) do as btnapa suggested above.**
_____
** I shoot theatre and I worry about clothing creating moire problems, and the K-5 resolution is fine. But maybe/usually this is not a concern.

[JCCharles]

Hi folks!

This is something i've been thinking about in the past

I currently have a very trusty Pentax K-5, which apart from the pink pixels on video (that i don't even use), has been an absolute performer.

Now, currently sitting at around 68000 shots, looks like it's nearing its EOL as the noises in the shitter box, although esporadic, have been a bit more frequent. I know there's still life left in it, but i'm not confident it will reach 100k actuations, so i'm already thinking on getting a second body to be prepared when this one dies.

I have three possible models hovering my head, which are the following:

Pentax KP
I'm not interested in jumping into the full frame boat yet, and even if i wanted, most of my lenses are APS-C so i'd have the same resolution in a K1 that i have in a K5.
Also, we don't K-new specs (not that i could afford it anyway) so currently the KP is the absolute best camera i would buy into the Pentax ecosystem.

Pros:
-24MP
-Up to 819200 ISO (usable images under 6400 make me happy, which is what the K5 delivers me)
-7 FPS (same as K5)
-Pixel shift
-UHS I support
-Bendy screen
-Software AA filter

Cons:
-Extremely short battery life (or that's what some say, i'd need your help here, i've been able to get 1300 shots out of a single K5 genuine battery while it's rated at half)
-No top LCD (can't say if it's an issue with a main screen pointing up?)
-Unless i get an extreme deal, probably not affording it
- max speed at "only" 1/6000 - i've seen myself shooting rather frequently at 1/8000 for some reason, mostly on extremely sunny days, i might have to spend a while looking into ND filters
-8 RAW Buffer

Neutral:
Wifi and smartphone control, nice to haves, but absolutely don't care about it - been sending pictures of my screen from racetracks with great results for the matter

Pentax K-70
This is one model that has caught my attention, as i could afford it and spec-wise looks like it can do almost everything the KP can do

Pros:
-24MP
-Up to 102400 ISO (again, while it works well under 6400, i'm completely fine)
-Pixel shift
-UHS-I support
-Bendy screen
-Software AA filter
-i might be able to afford it

Cons:
-Again, short battery life that could be mis-stated or somehow exaggerated on my camera
-No top LCD, but again, does it matter with an articulated screen?
-11 RAW Buffer -i don't know if it got bumped up with an update though

Neutral:
6FPS, slower than the K-5 but not by a margin i would care much
Wifi and smartphone control, nice to haves, but absolutely don't care about it - been sending pictures of my screen from racetracks with great results for the matter

Pentax K-3
While a bit older, the K-3 still has the "flagship carisma" from when it came out (i think?) and therefore the prices i've seen are a bit higher. Still:

Pros:
-24MP
-Articulated screen
-8 FPS
-24 RAW Buffer
-No AA filter

Cons:
51200 ISO -not a con per se, but not an upgrade in any way that we can see on a spec sheet
Fixed screen
Seemingly the best of the three regarding battery life, but not quite there with the K-5

My take

This has been get a bit tiring the last days, as there's so much i can't really tell from cameras from a specsheet, so maybe a KP has the greatest ISO range but can't handle the noise since too soon or things like that, so here's where i need your help. Money and specs get me pointing to the Pentax K-70 as it looks the best option, even with an 11 RAW buffer that, even being slower and shallower than the K-5 one, should be enough as i don't really recall bursts over 2 seconds anyway and 1.83s of burst shooting seems about right to me.

Battery life is a real concern to me though, so i'd like to hear real experiences about those numbers, My shooting consists almost in its entirety on car meets, track days and drift sessions, the reason i'd ideally want a rather fast camera (both on burst speed and through-the-roof-ISO capabilities mean). I've been able to go through that on a single K-5 battery, ending of course with a depleted indicator and spare energy for at most 100 more shots, i consider that stellar and i wouldn't mind having to use two batteries if those are going to last around the same, but 3 to 4 batteries on a single day -with the money that means- would hurt a little. I was this ****er tho.

Just as a punch list:

- 24 MP seems to be mandatory on this case, so i'll take 24MP
- Rather long battery life, even if not quite as good as K-5, but not ourtight a quarter of it
- Same or better ISO performance than the K-5
- I'd like a wiggly screen too but it can be sacrificed if the K-3 turns out to be much better (K-3 II prices around here are hovering the KP prices so i left it off the question)

Sorry for this extremely long post of mine, i hope i can redeem myself answering long posts too

I went through the same thing. I started οut buying new batteries, (Pentax Brand DO last longer than any aftermarket brand!) and that didn’t work for long. I did get the K-70, but didn’t like it; it felt too small compared to the Κ5 and no battery grip option, the button locations were a bit off and I never used either the WiFi or the articulated screen. I ended up with the K3ii and love it enough to get a second one (Thank you Pentax Forum for help on THAT!!). The battery grip is worth the extra $$ as it balances the camera nicely and the updated SR with panning helps a lot with my racing photography! I gave the K70 to my son, who is using it to make great skate boarding videos...