[HistoryMilkshake]

Hi everyone and I do apologise if this gets asked a lot but a few years ago I sold my K-70 and moved exclusively to film shooting. It's been great, however, I have been asked to teach some kids about photography and I'll need a digital body. I have found a K-5 II in excellent condition for not a lot of money. Is there anything I should be looking out for in terms of differences between the bodies or can I just treat the K-5 II like a more rugged K-70 with slightly older tech? I imagine that's the case but just in case the K-5 II has any red flags I should know about before buying.

All the best
Stuart

[pepperberry farm]

I'm currently using a K-5 IIs daily - I can't think of any red flags at all....

expect a bit more noise above ISO 1000 than the K-70, but that's all I can think of.,...

[aslyfox]

it was my first advanced DSLR and then I moved to the K 3 family

I recommend you check out the owners reviews:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/camerareviews/pentax-k-5-ii.html

and the in depth review

Pentax K-5 II / IIs Review - Introduction | PentaxForums.com Reviews

as well as its threads

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/115-pentax-k-5-k-5-ii/

here is the side by side:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-cameras-compared/?c1=Pentax%20K-7...tax%20K-5%20II

[kypfer]

Unless the shutter count is excessively high (over 100K?) there shouldn't be an issue.
I'm still using my K-5 on a regular basis and expect to continue to do so for quite some time.
My K-70 does have more megapixels (good for extreme cropping) and the low-light performance is a lot better, but for "normal" photography, especially for covering the basics with pupils, having all the separate knobs, wheels, buttons and dials on the K-5 will make demonstrating features a lot easier, rather than having to dive in and out of menus to change anything

[aslyfox]

Unless the shutter count is excessively high (over 100K?) there shouldn't be an issue.. . . )

Check Your Camera's Shutter Count & Manufacture Date
Use this tool to check your camera's shutter count and find out when the camera was manufactured. Note that if you upload an image that has been processed by Photoshop, etc., it might not be usable as some of its EXIF data could have been stripped. To proceed, simply upload an unedited JPEG photo taken with your camera using the form below! Your files are not stored on our server after the EXIF data is read.

Upload a JPEG photo from your camera:

Read more at: Check Camera Shutter Count and Manufacture Date

[HistoryMilkshake]

Thanks! Good to know it's still a solid camera. I was just a little concerned as it was being sold at half the price of a used K-70 on the same site and it has only 8,000 shots on the shutter. So I was wondering if there was a reason it was used so infrequently after all this time. I've got a 30 day money back, so if there is an issue with this particular unit I should still be okay

[macman24054]

At only 8000 shutter count, that body is still a baby. The K5 is a great body. I have one and still use it. For half the price I'd rather have it than a K70 due to the fact it was a flagship model and should more durable than a K70.

[ChristianRock]

I would not hesitate to get it...

[pres589]

I still shoot with my K-5 II quite often. Probably the only thing I'd really think about off the bat is getting a new Pentax battery. The 3rd party batteries all seem pretty poor in comparison. I would only purchase the new battery after shooting with the camera a little to make sure it doesn't have any other issues.

I find shots taken at ISO 1600 very easy to deal with in post-processing of the RAW files from this camera. ISO 3200 is where I start to get a bit edgy about noise. ISO 6400 is kind of where I start thinking about things like black & white conversion of the end image to make the noise less distracting.

[normhead]

We recently bought a K-5ii for my wife with a low shutter count, she loves it. It is still awesome after all these years.

[UncleVanya]

That’s a well loved model. It’s not uncommon to find a lot of shelf queens in used cameras that sell for a lot lower than you might think with low shutter count. I wouldn’t let the low shutter count worry you.

Things to think about (that shouldn’t put you off buying and using it):

16 vs 24mp

No AA filter - moire is unlikely to be a major issue, but if it is you’re going to need to approach it differently.

No support for electronically controlled aperture (Kaf4 lenses). Still not very many of these around.

No accelerator chip, but good iso performance in the sensor.

Overall a great option I think.

[aslyfox]

I would urge the OP to consider getting a copy of the Ebook as well

The op could pass on the information found there to the students

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[THoog]

I still prefer that 16MP sensor for shooting holiday lights and things like that. One quirk I can think of is a tendency to blow out on blue lights, especially blue LEDs.

[jumbleview]

Do you prefer to shoot through the viewfinder or Live View? If viewfinder is your preference (probably it is as you are shooting film) you will not be disappointed. If live view is important you may want to reconsider.

[Oldbayrunner]

If your going K5 ll models your much better off getting a K5 lls. Outside of the occasional moire the pictures are crisper, yet you still can enact an alias filter.

---------- Post added 08-24-21 at 04:09 PM ----------

No AA filter - moire is unlikely to be a major issue, but if it is you’re going to need to approach it differently.

The K5 ll has an AA filter, it's the K5 lls without one.