[PentaxPoke]

I should take a deep breath before typing...

Please! This place wouldn't be the same without you!

[Peter Zack]

The camera store where I work had a K-7 for a couple of hours a week ago Friday. I too naturally use my left eye for composition and found the feel to be very much more comfortable than the K20. The K-7 will indeed take the O-ME 53 and I suspect that will boost the comfort rather substantially.

Tell me more. No issues with using the AF, Green button and rear e dial?

[PentaxPoke]

The camera store where I work had a K-7 for a couple of hours a week ago Friday. I too naturally use my left eye for composition and found the feel to be very much more comfortable than the K20. The K-7 will indeed take the O-ME 53 and I suspect that will boost the comfort rather substantially.

Woohoo, Peter Stays!

[Miserere]

Seriously Peter, have a Scotch, or whatever it is you Kanukstanis drink to calm down. One way or another you'll be able to test a K-7 before leaving Pentax for good.

I'm a (mostly) right-eye shooter and I still find my nose gets in the way if I don't use something to extend the eyepiece away from the screen. I currently have a diopter plus a non-Pentax eyecup on my K10D, but I just placed an order for a Nikon magnifying eyepiece. Together with the diopter and the eyecup I might finally be able to take photographs without nosebleeds!

I should probably note that it's not Pentax's fault I have a big nose. I don't blame them for it...I blame my mother's genes!

.

[legacyb4]

Being Asian, that's one thing in life I don't have to worry too much about...

I'm a (mostly) right-eye shooter and I still find my nose gets in the way if I don't use something to extend the eyepiece away from the screen.

[holoso]

Tell me more. No issues with using the AF, Green button and rear e dial?

AC Milan's Paolo Maldini will retire after this season, which makes me very sad.
If our Peter left, all the member in the forum are sad...

I feel comfortable when I take shoot with left eye in K20d, so I trust K7~

Thx Dave for your particular report!

[beaumont]

I'm really disappointed with seeing these overhead comparison shots. I've been looking at all the threads of size comparisons and pictures anywhere I could find them on the net. Photo #8 just showed me I'll be selling my gear at the end of this year if a new, larger body doesn't come out in the next model.

I'm a left eye shooter. I'm 75% blind in the right eye and can't shoot with the right eye. I was concerned that the body was so much narrower (24mm) and I'd have trouble with my nose covering the rear buttons and making the rear e dial hard to use. If you look at the 8th picture and notice that the eye cup on the K-7 is almost flush with the body, there's no way I'll be able to use this camera.

I love the K20D but where I have issues is shooting weddings in low light and at higher ISO's. It just ain't that great. So what I wanted in a new camera was better high ISO shooting and a little better low light AF. Well it seems we got that.

But they have abandoned people like me. If this is the trend, and I would guess it is, the small body won't work for me. Since everyone is so excited by the small body size, I don't expect that new models will go back to the K20D size.

Look for a big sale of Pentax gear coming in the fall. I can't afford to carry a full Pentax kit and get a 5DMkII and related lenses etc.

It's been a fun ride for the last 28 years....


.

One solution might be to use the camera upside down (which also has the added benfit of accomodating you if you are left thumbed)

[Peter Zack]

Now that's funny. I can just see me shooting a wedding and the guests at the church watching this idiot (or should I say more of an idiot than normal) with the camera upside down, flash attached etc, shooting all day. I'm sure I'd get loads of referrals from that.

One solution might be to use the camera upside down (which also has the added benfit of accomodating you if you are left thumbed)

One of the members who was in Tokyo used a demo unit yesterday with his left eye and said it would be roughly the same as the K10D/K20D. I might turn on the LV with my nose sometimes but that's no big deal.

Looking forward to the camera getting in stores and the added bonus is the Canuckistan $$ is getting back closer to par with the Greenback. By the time this gets in the stores, it will be affordable. I wonder if the first shipments will sell out? Everyone is happy with this body it seems.

Now we need some shooting tests once the firmware is ready. Pick up the pace Ned.....

[RioRico]

Not to break the spell, but I'm underwhelmed. That's just as well, as I'm not incited to immediately ditch my K20D and buy buy buy. The WR kit lens sounds good, I might go for that, but otherwise I'll sit on my paltry cash supply until the FF K30D emerges. I like a camera where my 21 and 24mm lenses are actually WIDE.

OK, start throwing things at me, I'm ready.

[gawan]

I'm really disappointed with seeing these overhead comparison shots. I've been looking at all the threads of size comparisons and pictures anywhere I could find them on the net. Photo #8 just showed me I'll be selling my gear at the end of this year if a new, larger body doesn't come out in the next model.

I'm a left eye shooter. I'm 75% blind in the right eye and can't shoot with the right eye. I was concerned that the body was so much narrower (24mm) and I'd have trouble with my nose covering the rear buttons and making the rear e dial hard to use. If you look at the 8th picture and notice that the eye cup on the K-7 is almost flush with the body, there's no way I'll be able to use this camera.

I love the K20D but where I have issues is shooting weddings in low light and at higher ISO's. It just ain't that great. So what I wanted in a new camera was better high ISO shooting and a little better low light AF. Well it seems we got that.

But they have abandoned people like me. If this is the trend, and I would guess it is, the small body won't work for me. Since everyone is so excited by the small body size, I don't expect that new models will go back to the K20D size.

Look for a big sale of Pentax gear coming in the fall. I can't afford to carry a full Pentax kit and get a 5DMkII and related lenses etc.

It's been a fun ride for the last 28 years....

.

I sure hope that the real thing proves still to be a usable body.

I am another left eye shooter, who fears any smaller body the the current K10D that I have. Also I was a little shocked to read "The Online Photographer" Mike's report that "the handgrip is beefy and deep enough that you can easily hold the camera with just your four fingers stuck in the grip". See the picture in here.

I would really hate having my fat fingers getting stuck in to a too small body (similar in size to Canon 450D?). How do you use this body in the winter with thick gloves on?

Please somebody prove me wrong!

[mickey]

I sure hope that the real thing proves still to be a usable body.

I am another left eye shooter, who fears any smaller body the the current K10D that I have. Also I was a little shocked to read "The Online Photographer" Mike's report that "the handgrip is beefy and deep enough that you can easily hold the camera with just your four fingers stuck in the grip". See the picture in here.

I would really hate having my fat fingers getting stuck in to a too small body (similar in size to Canon 450D?). How do you use this body in the winter with thick gloves on?

Please somebody prove me wrong!

I am also a fan of bigger cameras.
Using a eos 50e before my k10, I found the larger cameras good to handle.
Smaller, but not small, is how I'd describe it the k-7.
The handgrip is good, and quite deep.

[Miserere]

Not to break the spell, but I'm underwhelmed. That's just as well, as I'm not incited to immediately ditch my K20D and buy buy buy. The WR kit lens sounds good, I might go for that, but otherwise I'll sit on my paltry cash supply until the FF K30D emerges. I like a camera where my 21 and 24mm lenses are actually WIDE.

OK, start throwing things at me, I'm ready.

I might throw you a ruler, so you can measure the image circle of the DA 21 Ltd and see that you can't use it on a FF body

.

[Dekka]

I went to the show today (and got some fantastic deals .. I think I will always go the last afternoon of the show )

I am in love! I think it would depend on what issues you have with other Pentax cameras. I have a K20 (I think its AMAZING) and I would like faster focusing. I tried the smc PENTAX-DA* 300mm F4 ED[IF] SDM lens on both my K20 as well as the K7. The focus was MUCH faster on the K7.. and it didn't have to 'hunt' at all to find focus in low light/low contrast. That alone would have got me. (I like to take pics of fast moving dogs.. so fast focus is great)

I also liked the 5.2 fps shooting. As well as the improved noise reduction in low light.

Soo I will be selling my K20 and getting on the waiting list for a K7!

[asdf]

I went to the show today (and got some fantastic deals .. I think I will always go the last afternoon of the show )

I am in love! I think it would depend on what issues you have with other Pentax cameras. I have a K20 (I think its AMAZING) and I would like faster focusing. I tried the smc PENTAX-DA* 300mm F4 ED[IF] SDM lens on both my K20 as well as the K7. The focus was MUCH faster on the K7.. and it didn't have to 'hunt' at all to find focus in low light/low contrast. That alone would have got me. (I like to take pics of fast moving dogs.. so fast focus is great)

I also liked the 5.2 fps shooting. As well as the improved noise reduction in low light.

Soo I will be selling my K20 and getting on the waiting list for a K7!

I'm interested in K-7's focusing accuracy.

[panoguy]

Sorry you didn't hook up with a bunch of us Toronto-based Pentaxians yesterday, Dekka. We basically camped at the Pentax booth for 3 or more hours. Made it look downright *crowded* and helped sell passers-by on the "wonderful Pentax system."

Here is my tiny gallery of half-decent shots from the show floor (spent most of my time with the K-7 in my hands or jawing with the other dudes):

Toronto Photo & Imaging Expo

That "mirrorball" icon is a link to a Flash 9 interactive panorama from the booth. Dan Savoie looks a bit bored, but bearded forum-member "farfisa" is having a blast with the K-7! (Don't know what the deal is with that angry guy in the tweed jacket...)

The K-7 is sweet, small, built like a tank, and AF-powerful! The live view is actually a useful feature now, too! (I think MightyMike was focusing his Super Tak with the zoomed in live view on the 3" high-res LCD as a big focusing screen.) No idea about the HD video, but I did get a glimpse of some "you didn't see this" features like HDR capture. The menus are also a huge departure from the K10 and K20Ds, but they got more intuitive as I played with it.

The only things I *didn't* like were the jingly strap rings (the leather pads had gone missing and not strap was on the demo units), the ISO button by the shutter with the green button on the back (swap those, Pentax!) and the Shake Reduction on/off is not a physical button anymore but a menu item (which takes about 5 clicks to get to!).

Oh, and I hope someone from Pentax sends me a free K-7 production body since the reps had to borrow *my* DA 10-17mm to show an interested buyer!