Originally posted by creampuff I find the criticism of AF points to be kinda pointless... well given the intended target market, would be buyers moving up from PnS cameras have no issues with cameras focusing in full Auto or with "Face Recognition", so I don't see it as a deal breaker or a negative at all. I bought a K-m for my niece awhile back and I had no issues focusing with it, so I don't see the new K-x should be any worse considering the specs are better...
To me, he K=m/K=x ergonomics is actually very good, but then again I'm sure some here will express their negative sentiment... without even using the cameras at length.
Where can you get a camera offering HD video at 24 fps at such a price point? This camera WILL sell...
The Nikon D5000.
$40 more on the latest quote, and Nikon is notorious for over-pricing in the first 3 months after release. Articulating LCD. A real AF system including excellent low light performance and assist lamp, all black like Henry Ford insisted, same video, similar sensor, HDMI-out, etc.
Don't want video, most of the same with the D3000 for $200 less.
And the Nikon lens is not an "L" kit lens. There may be a kit downgrade here from Pentax with plastic and not metal mounts.
What's dumb about the K-x AF is that it appears to be the same as the K200D (Safox 8), but crippled with no LED superimposition, at the same price point.
In any market, that's called a downgrade. If DP Review and Falk imply that this is the 2-model Pentax line (and I agree) this is a rare instance when an existing model (K200D) has been replaced at the price point by a model that has shed some existing qualities that every other competitor has now included. The D60 had no super (but an AF assist), and now the D5000 has one.
Since AF and low-light focus has been the bane of Pentax with reviews constantly bringing it up in a negative way, this does not look likely to change despite the fact that the K-7 solved this problem.
There are more gripes on this board about the Pentax AF than most other topics.
If there was
ANY feature the K-x should have borrowed from the K-7, it was this.
BTW- According to my bill, my K200D in June, 2008 cost US$625 with kit lens. I paid another $165 for the metal mount 50-200. The selling point for Pentax compared to my Nikon investment was ruggedness, the "Subaru" of camera brands, weather resistance at the price point, AA batteries, semi-pro layout and options.
Vs. K200D the K-x gains:
1. Sensor
2. Video
3. Pretty colours
4. Terrific size/weight
5. Buffer and AF-C speed
6. In-camera options/menus
7. ISO performance
Losses:
1. WR
2. Direct controls (SR, RAW button)
3. Lens mount quality (w/kit)
4. AF superimposition and choice
5. Optional grip
6. Top LCD
The K-x is a very good camera on paper, and may have an awesome sensor, but clearly for the same unit value measured over a year, the K-x is not as much of an improvement as the colour choices make it out to be. In terms of some pretty standard features offered by the competition, the Pentax is generally on par, but then oddly cripples some features compared to its previous model in the exact same price point, and compared to the competition.
Comparing what Nikon did between the D60 and the D5000, there is a vast improvement, with no compromise of core functions. Nothing was sacrificed to get to video, no AF crippling, they kept the excellent kit lens and did not feel the need to make a special "L" model, etc. It's just an accommodation of the same features with new ones. Same for Canon's T1i; and wait until the next model slots in below that one from Canon, expected soon.
Pentax back-pedalled at this price point by referencing the K-M. The competition has not. There are many things in the K-x design that say they made choices to cut costs, and active choices NOT to keep up with the competition (AF assist lamp, articulating LCD). Again, costs.
This camera will get very mixed reviews. A lotta love, a lotta WTF!
This is exactly the quote you do NOT want to see the day of product launch, from Imaging Resource (and a more tactful but similar quote from DPR):
Since almost every other camera on the market gives some kind of indication of what areas are in focus before I commit to a shot, this just feels like I'm using a broken camera
From a gatekeeper review site that had an advance model, that's a sales-killing quote. It is a marketer's worst nightmare.
But, ooh, the pretty colours!