Up grading to a newer Pentax

charliezap · 03-28-2022, 06:23 AM - **1 Like**

Time to upgrade my Pentax K5IIs that I had since 2014 ($450 camera body) I'm not looking for the latest and greatest just one that is a couple of steps above what I have now. There are several in the $1000 range and below.Looking for suggestions from my fellow Pentaxians. The picture here is with the K5IIs with my newly acquired Pentax DA 300mm lens.--Thanks--charliezap.

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The Squirrel Mafia · 03-28-2022, 06:54 AM - **4 Likes**

It's hard to beat the K-5IIs. Spec wise, the K-3II is "better", but when it comes to image quality, I still think the K-5IIs does better. Then there's the KP that has better image quality, but lacks some of the features that the K-3II has. The plus side to both of those cameras is that they can shoot the latest KAF4 lenses.

If you're not planning to get recent KAF4 lenses, I'd say you keep shooting that K-5IIs. It's probably one of the best Pentax cameras ever released.

krazny · 03-28-2022, 06:57 AM - **1 Like**

I would not bother with upgrading from K-5IIs to K-3 I or II.

K-3 III is out of the question if your budget is around 1000 USD.

That leaves K-70 or KP. I think most would suggest the KP over K-70. Although the KP price is somewhat higher currently than it has been previously.
These two use a different battery (D-Li109) than K-5/3/1 (D-Li90).

Or you could go full frame with K-1. The cheapest are coming down to 900 USD +/- shipping (on ebay at least).

Your current lenses may not be ideal for full-frame so that would bring a further investment.

Sidney Porter · 03-28-2022, 07:05 AM

I have the k3 and KP. I would go with the KP over the k3. The IQ, auto focus and low light is superior on the KP.

The only thing I miss is the top lcd and IR remote.

I shot a lot of sports so fps is important. This is where the K3 wins except the auto focus is substantially better on the KP so the KP has more keepers

The k3ii has the built in GPS if you have an interest in astro

chrism888 · 03-28-2022, 07:09 AM - **1 Like**

I've had the K5iis and the high ISO performance was better than the K3 / K3ii, the latter models will offer improvements in the menus, slight improvements in focusing and technical / ergonomic improvements, commonality with batteries

Depending on the subjects your shooting, I'd prob opt for a used K1 with or without a grip and look to increase your FF lenses at a later date, good glass will outlast bodies

**FozzFoster** · 03-28-2022, 07:56 AM - **3 Likes**

If you're not happy with the image quality results, may I suggest some changes?
To me, it looks like the image is over exposed. The white on the bird is all clipped and there is no detail.
Under exposing slightly will be able to capture more detail in those bright areas.
Are you shooting in JPEG or RAW? If you are shooting in JPEG, I would suggest shooting in RAW then in post-production you can recover more detail in the shadows and highlights without crunching the detail.
Last, you're at f/10 and 1/800 shutter at 300mm and ISO 400. I don't think you need that deep of a field for this tele shot.
I probably could suggest opening up the aperture a stop and maybe even reduce the shutter a stop and place that extra light into reducing the ISO.
Keep shooting! Good luck!

DeadJohn · 03-28-2022, 08:21 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by charliezap

Time to upgrade my Pentax K5IIs...

What do you want most from an upgrade: better autofocus, more resolution, better low light, ??? What annoys you about your current K5IIs?

A Pentax K-70 would be my pick. It gives all 3 of those upgrade features I mentioned and can be found new for under $600. It's a good camera, arguably the best "entry level" DSLR ever made. Tradeoffs compared to your K-5: Expect a slightly less sturdy build quality than your K-5, and a shorter battery life due to a smaller battery.

KP is a bit better in terms of quality than the K-70 and a little more expensive. No longer easily available new so you'd need to search used. It's a smaller body, though, and if the K-5 is a good size for you you might find the KP too small.

K-3 series offers better autofocus and resolution than your K-5. The latest revision (iii) is out of budget so you'd need to look for a used K3 i or ii. Low light is unimproved from the K-3i or ii and your K-5.

K-1 was a great upgrade for my K-5 based on my photography, but if you don't do much ultra wide angle or low light it's not worth the lens upgrades needed to make the best use of a full frame sensor.

**aslyfox** · 03-28-2022, 08:54 AM

Originally posted by DeadJohn

What do you want most from an upgrade: better autofocus, more resolution, better low light, ??? What annoys you about your current K5IIs?. . .

great questions

would the OP be better with sticking with the K 5 IIs and adding different lenses ?

Quote:

Pentax K-mount Lens Compatibility Chart
Copyright 2006-2020 Mosphotos.com. All rights reserved.

The Pentax K-mount Camera Lens Compatibility Chart

wadge22 · 03-28-2022, 09:56 AM

K3ii makes sense if you're excited by the built in GPS. KP if you like the smaller form factor and somewhat different interface (esp. 3 wheels). K1 is also probably within price range if you find a good deal; DA300 works fine on FF (with less "reach"), but don't know about any other lenses you have. Comparison of those with your current camera.

gatorguy · 03-28-2022, 10:06 AM

Originally posted by DeadJohn

What do you want most from an upgrade: better autofocus, more resolution, better low light, ??? What annoys you about your current K5IIs?

A Pentax K-70 would be my pick. It gives all 3 of those upgrade features I mentioned and can be found new for under $600. It's a good camera, arguably the best "entry level" DSLR ever made. Tradeoffs compared to your K-5: Expect a slightly less sturdy build quality than your K-5, and a shorter battery life due to a smaller battery.

KP is a bit better in terms of quality than the K-70 and a little more expensive...

For clarity sake if the OP isn't familiar with both, In build absolutely. Image quality is identical.

**JensE** · 03-28-2022, 10:17 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by wadge22

KP if you like the smaller form factor and somewhat different interface (esp. 3 wheels)

The KP is about the same size as the K-5IIs, just with a slightly lower shoulder with more dials and different grips: Compare camera dimensions side by side

AF, folding out display, KAF4 lenses would be reasons to move from a K5IIs to a KP.

bschriver11 · 03-28-2022, 10:48 AM - **2 Likes**

I always ask myself one question before upgrading my equipment, am I getting the most out of what I am currently using? Your technique just might be the best upgrade available and it's also free.

wadge22 · 03-28-2022, 11:05 AM

Originally posted by JensE

The KP is about the same size as the K-5IIs

Thanks, I didn't realize that. KP is smaller than the others I mentioned tho, and K70 is smaller than all of them. KP seems to look smaller than the others, likely because of the grip.

Originally posted by JensE

AF, folding out display, KAF4 lenses would be reasons to move from a K5IIs to a KP.

Also notable: Pixel Shift, more megapixels, focus peaking, more flexible multi-exposure modes, better metering, and slightly better viewfinder. All of those ,and everything you mentioned (except foldout lcd for k3ii), are true of any of the cameras being mentioned in this thread.

**ramseybuckeye** · 03-28-2022, 11:21 AM - **4 Likes**

Originally posted by charliezap

Time to upgrade my Pentax K5IIs that I had since 2014 ($450 camera body) I'm not looking for the latest and greatest just one that is a couple of steps above what I have now. There are several in the $1000 range and below.Looking for suggestions from my fellow Pentaxians. The picture here is with the K5IIs with my newly acquired Pentax DA 300mm lens.--Thanks--charliezap.

I'm kind of surprised that a lot of replies from users that don't know what an outstanding photographer you are. It's amusing to say the least, hopefully not insulting. My thought on your quest is to always go for the newest technology that you can get in your price range, which is probably the KP, the K-70 is slightly older even though not that much. The K-1 II is probably not going to be found in the range. The only one I've used is the KP, I actually have two of them (they replaced a K-50 and K-30, which replaced a K20D). I love the KP, I shoot mostly nature, wildlife, landscapes, my lenses I use most are the DA20-40, DA 300, and the DA 55-300PLM, along with the DA 1.4 converter. One of the features that I've grown to like the most is the tilt screen. I use it all of the time with live view and focus peaking when I'm using a tripod, it makes tripod use so much easier. And it makes shooting low angles way easier than lying on the ground looking for a viewfinder. I don't mind lying down, but getting back up is not always so easy, I think my knees are somehow older than the rest of the body. I would love to be able to get a K-3III, but I would have to keep my KP for tripod use, I could not go back to a fixed screen after having the tilt screen for tripod use, that's how great of a feature it is to me. Another that I've just really got to know over that last several months is the function dial and how quickly is is to change focus parameters, quickly going from single focus on center point to a continuous focus with multiple points, nice since I've done more birds in flight over the last year than ever before. The K-70 is not far behind the KP, the possibility of aperture block failure puts me off a little on that though, My K-30 had that, it was fixed under warranty, but I had to do without it for a while. Good luck with your decision.

**UncleVanya** · 03-28-2022, 11:36 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by charliezap

Time to upgrade my Pentax K5IIs that I had since 2014 ($450 camera body) I'm not looking for the latest and greatest just one that is a couple of steps above what I have now. There are several in the $1000 range and below.Looking for suggestions from my fellow Pentaxians. The picture here is with the K5IIs with my newly acquired Pentax DA 300mm lens.--Thanks--charliezap.

What aspects of the current camera are letting you down? I have some thoughts below. I have excluded the K-3iii due to costs.

Resolution? APSC 24mp (50% increase in pixels): in these models (KP, K-70, K-3II, K-3); APSC 20mp: K-S1, K-S2

Low Light Performance: Accelerator based bodies provide meaningful high iso improvements - this is more evident in jpg shots but has impact even on Raw files. The best post processing tools like DXO Photo Lab DeepPrime noise reduction can provide similar output but I like the built in accelerator. APSC models with this are: K-70, KP, K-1ii (might be above budget, is full frame which may not fit well depending on your lenses and budget.); K-3, K-3ii, K-S1, K-S2 all have slightly lower low light performance than the K5iis unless you use down sampling to reduce resolution back to 16mp. In my own experience this isn’t a major factor. For example the slight differences between K-5iis and K-3 is not large.

Focusing: k-3, k-3ii, k-70, k-1, k-1ii. All of these improve focusing over the k5iis. I am unclear how the K-S1 and K-S2 stack up against the K-5iis.

Frame rates: The K-70 has a slight bump in buffer performance but about a 1fps drop in continuous frame rates from the current K5iis you have. The K-3 / K-3ii both offer a slight bump (1.3fps) in frame rates and a deeper buffer. The KP offers the same frame rate but a slightly reduced buffer size.

Ergonomics: The KP is more like a film SLR in that the grips are quite different than the K-5/K-3 type. This can be an adjustment for some; for me I found that the KP was something I liked after a week of actual use. The k-3 I still own is a better grip and the top lcd is nice. The KP offers a third control wheel which I find is a huge benefit on that camera. The KP does have a few less dedicated buttons and less features lacking an Infrared Remote control option for example.

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03-28-2022, 06:54 AM - 4 Likes	#2
The Squirrel Mafia Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2015 Posts: 3,054	It's hard to beat the K-5IIs. Spec wise, the K-3II is "better", but when it comes to image quality, I still think the K-5IIs does better. Then there's the KP that has better image quality, but lacks some of the features that the K-3II has. The plus side to both of those cameras is that they can shoot the latest KAF4 lenses. If you're not planning to get recent KAF4 lenses, I'd say you keep shooting that K-5IIs. It's probably one of the best Pentax cameras ever released.

03-28-2022, 06:57 AM - 1 Like	#3
krazny Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2016 Posts: 118	I would not bother with upgrading from K-5IIs to K-3 I or II. K-3 III is out of the question if your budget is around 1000 USD. That leaves K-70 or KP. I think most would suggest the KP over K-70. Although the KP price is somewhat higher currently than it has been previously. These two use a different battery (D-Li109) than K-5/3/1 (D-Li90). Or you could go full frame with K-1. The cheapest are coming down to 900 USD +/- shipping (on ebay at least). Your current lenses may not be ideal for full-frame so that would bring a further investment.

03-28-2022, 07:05 AM	#4
Sidney Porter Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Columbus Ohio USA Posts: 353	I have the k3 and KP. I would go with the KP over the k3. The IQ, auto focus and low light is superior on the KP. The only thing I miss is the top lcd and IR remote. I shot a lot of sports so fps is important. This is where the K3 wins except the auto focus is substantially better on the KP so the KP has more keepers The k3ii has the built in GPS if you have an interest in astro

03-28-2022, 07:09 AM - 1 Like	#5
chrism888 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 178	I've had the K5iis and the high ISO performance was better than the K3 / K3ii, the latter models will offer improvements in the menus, slight improvements in focusing and technical / ergonomic improvements, commonality with batteries Depending on the subjects your shooting, I'd prob opt for a used K1 with or without a grip and look to increase your FF lenses at a later date, good glass will outlast bodies

03-28-2022, 07:56 AM - 3 Likes	#6
FozzFoster Custom User Title Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Alberta Photos: Albums Posts: 6,806	If you're not happy with the image quality results, may I suggest some changes? To me, it looks like the image is over exposed. The white on the bird is all clipped and there is no detail. Under exposing slightly will be able to capture more detail in those bright areas. Are you shooting in JPEG or RAW? If you are shooting in JPEG, I would suggest shooting in RAW then in post-production you can recover more detail in the shadows and highlights without crunching the detail. Last, you're at f/10 and 1/800 shutter at 300mm and ISO 400. I don't think you need that deep of a field for this tele shot. I probably could suggest opening up the aperture a stop and maybe even reduce the shutter a stop and place that extra light into reducing the ISO. Keep shooting! Good luck!

03-28-2022, 08:21 AM - 1 Like	#7
DeadJohn Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: New York Posts: 4,833	Originally posted by charliezap Time to upgrade my Pentax K5IIs... What do you want most from an upgrade: better autofocus, more resolution, better low light, ??? What annoys you about your current K5IIs? A Pentax K-70 would be my pick. It gives all 3 of those upgrade features I mentioned and can be found new for under $600. It's a good camera, arguably the best "entry level" DSLR ever made. Tradeoffs compared to your K-5: Expect a slightly less sturdy build quality than your K-5, and a shorter battery life due to a smaller battery. KP is a bit better in terms of quality than the K-70 and a little more expensive. No longer easily available new so you'd need to search used. It's a smaller body, though, and if the K-5 is a good size for you you might find the KP too small. K-3 series offers better autofocus and resolution than your K-5. The latest revision (iii) is out of budget so you'd need to look for a used K3 i or ii. Low light is unimproved from the K-3i or ii and your K-5. K-1 was a great upgrade for my K-5 based on my photography, but if you don't do much ultra wide angle or low light it's not worth the lens upgrades needed to make the best use of a full frame sensor.

03-28-2022, 08:54 AM	#8
aslyfox Seeker of Knowledge Join Date: Aug 2016 Location: Topeka, Kansas Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 24,581	Originally posted by DeadJohn What do you want most from an upgrade: better autofocus, more resolution, better low light, ??? What annoys you about your current K5IIs?. . . great questions would the OP be better with sticking with the K 5 IIs and adding different lenses ? Quote: Pentax K-mount Lens Compatibility Chart Copyright 2006-2020 Mosphotos.com. All rights reserved. The Pentax K-mount Camera Lens Compatibility Chart

03-28-2022, 09:56 AM	#9
wadge22 Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2021 Location: NE Ohio Photos: Albums Posts: 897	K3ii makes sense if you're excited by the built in GPS. KP if you like the smaller form factor and somewhat different interface (esp. 3 wheels). K1 is also probably within price range if you find a good deal; DA300 works fine on FF (with less "reach"), but don't know about any other lenses you have. Comparison of those with your current camera.

03-28-2022, 10:06 AM	#10
gatorguy Moderator Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Central Florida Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,092	Originally posted by DeadJohn What do you want most from an upgrade: better autofocus, more resolution, better low light, ??? What annoys you about your current K5IIs? A Pentax K-70 would be my pick. It gives all 3 of those upgrade features I mentioned and can be found new for under $600. It's a good camera, arguably the best "entry level" DSLR ever made. Tradeoffs compared to your K-5: Expect a slightly less sturdy build quality than your K-5, and a shorter battery life due to a smaller battery. KP is a bit better in terms of quality than the K-70 and a little more expensive... For clarity sake if the OP isn't familiar with both, In build absolutely. Image quality is identical.

03-28-2022, 10:17 AM - 1 Like	#11
JensE Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Leipzig Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,969	Originally posted by wadge22 KP if you like the smaller form factor and somewhat different interface (esp. 3 wheels) The KP is about the same size as the K-5IIs, just with a slightly lower shoulder with more dials and different grips: Compare camera dimensions side by side AF, folding out display, KAF4 lenses would be reasons to move from a K5IIs to a KP.

03-28-2022, 10:48 AM - 2 Likes	#12
bschriver11 Pentaxian Join Date: May 2008 Location: Maryland Photos: Gallery Posts: 558	I always ask myself one question before upgrading my equipment, am I getting the most out of what I am currently using? Your technique just might be the best upgrade available and it's also free.

03-28-2022, 11:05 AM	#13
wadge22 Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2021 Location: NE Ohio Photos: Albums Posts: 897	Originally posted by JensE The KP is about the same size as the K-5IIs Thanks, I didn't realize that. KP is smaller than the others I mentioned tho, and K70 is smaller than all of them. KP seems to look smaller than the others, likely because of the grip. Originally posted by JensE AF, folding out display, KAF4 lenses would be reasons to move from a K5IIs to a KP. Also notable: Pixel Shift, more megapixels, focus peaking, more flexible multi-exposure modes, better metering, and slightly better viewfinder. All of those ,and everything you mentioned (except foldout lcd for k3ii), are true of any of the cameras being mentioned in this thread.

03-28-2022, 11:21 AM - 4 Likes	#14
ramseybuckeye Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Hampstead, NC Photos: Gallery Posts: 17,291	Originally posted by charliezap Time to upgrade my Pentax K5IIs that I had since 2014 ($450 camera body) I'm not looking for the latest and greatest just one that is a couple of steps above what I have now. There are several in the $1000 range and below.Looking for suggestions from my fellow Pentaxians. The picture here is with the K5IIs with my newly acquired Pentax DA 300mm lens.--Thanks--charliezap. I'm kind of surprised that a lot of replies from users that don't know what an outstanding photographer you are. It's amusing to say the least, hopefully not insulting. My thought on your quest is to always go for the newest technology that you can get in your price range, which is probably the KP, the K-70 is slightly older even though not that much. The K-1 II is probably not going to be found in the range. The only one I've used is the KP, I actually have two of them (they replaced a K-50 and K-30, which replaced a K20D). I love the KP, I shoot mostly nature, wildlife, landscapes, my lenses I use most are the DA20-40, DA 300, and the DA 55-300PLM, along with the DA 1.4 converter. One of the features that I've grown to like the most is the tilt screen. I use it all of the time with live view and focus peaking when I'm using a tripod, it makes tripod use so much easier. And it makes shooting low angles way easier than lying on the ground looking for a viewfinder. I don't mind lying down, but getting back up is not always so easy, I think my knees are somehow older than the rest of the body. I would love to be able to get a K-3III, but I would have to keep my KP for tripod use, I could not go back to a fixed screen after having the tilt screen for tripod use, that's how great of a feature it is to me. Another that I've just really got to know over that last several months is the function dial and how quickly is is to change focus parameters, quickly going from single focus on center point to a continuous focus with multiple points, nice since I've done more birds in flight over the last year than ever before. The K-70 is not far behind the KP, the possibility of aperture block failure puts me off a little on that though, My K-30 had that, it was fixed under warranty, but I had to do without it for a while. Good luck with your decision.

03-28-2022, 11:36 AM - 1 Like	#15
UncleVanya Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2014 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 28,401	Originally posted by charliezap Time to upgrade my Pentax K5IIs that I had since 2014 ($450 camera body) I'm not looking for the latest and greatest just one that is a couple of steps above what I have now. There are several in the $1000 range and below.Looking for suggestions from my fellow Pentaxians. The picture here is with the K5IIs with my newly acquired Pentax DA 300mm lens.--Thanks--charliezap. What aspects of the current camera are letting you down? I have some thoughts below. I have excluded the K-3iii due to costs. Resolution? APSC 24mp (50% increase in pixels): in these models (KP, K-70, K-3II, K-3); APSC 20mp: K-S1, K-S2 Low Light Performance: Accelerator based bodies provide meaningful high iso improvements - this is more evident in jpg shots but has impact even on Raw files. The best post processing tools like DXO Photo Lab DeepPrime noise reduction can provide similar output but I like the built in accelerator. APSC models with this are: K-70, KP, K-1ii (might be above budget, is full frame which may not fit well depending on your lenses and budget.); K-3, K-3ii, K-S1, K-S2 all have slightly lower low light performance than the K5iis unless you use down sampling to reduce resolution back to 16mp. In my own experience this isn’t a major factor. For example the slight differences between K-5iis and K-3 is not large. Focusing: k-3, k-3ii, k-70, k-1, k-1ii. All of these improve focusing over the k5iis. I am unclear how the K-S1 and K-S2 stack up against the K-5iis. Frame rates: The K-70 has a slight bump in buffer performance but about a 1fps drop in continuous frame rates from the current K5iis you have. The K-3 / K-3ii both offer a slight bump (1.3fps) in frame rates and a deeper buffer. The KP offers the same frame rate but a slightly reduced buffer size. Ergonomics: The KP is more like a film SLR in that the grips are quite different than the K-5/K-3 type. This can be an adjustment for some; for me I found that the KP was something I liked after a week of actual use. The k-3 I still own is a better grip and the top lcd is nice. The KP offers a third control wheel which I find is a huge benefit on that camera. The KP does have a few less dedicated buttons and less features lacking an Infrared Remote control option for example.