[CaymanImaging]

My wife told me that I could get a K7 and grip as my Christmas gift this year. I was excited!

But then I thought about it. I currently have a K10 and K20. Both have served me well through the years as a "pro". I have nice *DA lenes. So is it worth it to "upgrade" to the K7?

I do senior portraits, weddings, kids and families. I've heard mixed opinions on upgrading. Is the AF that better? FPS that much better??

I'm looking to hear back from people that have owned the K20 and K7. Is it worth it to spend the money for a K7? Or should I wait until the next thing comes out??? I can't say that I'm waiting on a FF model.

[Ratmagiclady]

Hrm, that's a toughie. Well, if the money's not a big deal, that machine does seem pretty sweet. Happy with K20D is happy with K20d, but if you're working with these cameras, (I'm certainly content, but then again, no one's offering me a K7 and grip to go with DA*'s. )


.....There are worse things than having good backup, anyway. I consider the K20d to be at one of those plateaus of tech where it's possible to pretty much do the same jobs as I would with film, so, if it were my job, I'd also think there would be worse things to have than two cameras past that plateau. If it's your work, you want to be able to make images even if any one thing goes wrong. This was simpler in days when everything pretty much just took the same film.

I almost have the feeling you should be asking what it'd mean as a *gift* and worry about the photography secondarily.

[JohnBee]

Man the K-7 looks and feels so nice compared to other camera's right now(it's sublime).
I don't care much for the noise handling at higher ISO and that's what's holding me off from obsessing over it. But... if I could truly afford it, I'd probably get one anyways just because it's such a nice piece of kit.

I say go for it, you won't be disapointed(how could you be?)

[Ash]

There seems to be never a 'good' time to upgrade - a slightly better camera is available now, but an even better camera may be available some time next year. But I suppose what good is that if you're keen on it now?

The K-7's AF is definitely a major selling point, and is significantly improved on the K20D, so that alone may make you want to jump at it, but if the K20D/K10D have been serving you well, and you're happy with them, you could of course save that money for the next flagship that comes out... hmmm - my opinion is to enjoy what you have now - it's doing the job just fine for you, then reassess next year...

[photogerald]

If you can wait, a lot of people (myself included) feel that we're going to see an update to the K-7 next year.

[Pentaxor]

if it's me in your position, I'd want a K-7 kit for X'mas, sell both the K10D and K20D while they are of value before the year ends, save the money earned from them and wait for arrival of a new body. since the K-7 is an excellent camera, it can serve as your back-up or second body. IQ-wise, it is as good as the K20D, but performance and feature-wise, it will blow the K20D out of the water.

[Wheatfield]

I wanted the improvements in AF speed and frame rate, white balance and exposure acuracy that the K7 brought to the table. In my studio work the K20 never gave me any grief, other than it's AF not being especially accurate, and the K7 shares this trait, so no improvement there.
If the K-20 performance is up to your needs and you aren't depending on it's light meter, you aren't going to get anything out of the K7.

[CaymanImaging]

I'm still torn. If the image quality is on par with the K7, I'm ok with that. Doing weddings, I wanted something with higher FPS and faster and better AF. Is it worth the $1,100+ for that in your eyes?

I recently moved, thus the "business" is starting all over, again. So it's not like I'm shooting weddings everyweek and seniors everyday in the summer. I'm hoping to maybe doing 10 weddings next year.

Those of you with a K7 who do weddings, is it worth the money? I think I'm 51% leaning on waiting.

[Pentaxor]

I'm still torn. If the image quality is on par with the K7, I'm ok with that. Doing weddings, I wanted something with higher FPS and faster and better AF. Is it worth the $1,100+ for that in your eyes?

I recently moved, thus the "business" is starting all over, again. So it's not like I'm shooting weddings everyweek and seniors everyday in the summer. I'm hoping to maybe doing 10 weddings next year.

Those of you with a K7 who do weddings, is it worth the money? I think I'm 51% leaning on waiting.

the AF assist-light will come in handy.

in my eyes, it is worth it for a camera that I will be using for a longer time along with another body. I myself was on the same boat before, whether to get the much cheaper K20D for 700 bucks or pay for an additional 500-600 for a well-built solid cam. to make it much easier for you, I suggest that you got to a camera shop and try or test the camera. that would give you a much clearer perspective of whether you will like the camera or not.

[jbinpg]

I should think that the very quiet shutter of the K7 would be a trigger point for those in need of such.

[Ash]

I don't have a K-7 and have never felt wanting when doing my weddings with the K20D.
AF speed has perhaps let me down once or twice, but this hasn't justified me abandoning the K20D/K10D combo for the K-7.
Mirror slap has not been obstructive in any church wedding I've shot at, so no problem there, and the extra FPS in the K-7 is a luxury to me, no a necessity.

So the K-7 is a fine camera, but I don't *need* it at this point.
I can easily see, however, a wedding photographer going after a successor with a 14-15Mp sensor producing clean ISO 6400 images...

[snostorm]

If you can wait, a lot of people (myself included) feel that we're going to see an update to the K-7 next year.

I agree with Gerald. It's unlikely that Pentax will stand pat with a lineup where the entry level model outperforms the flagship in the important area of high ISO performance.

That being said, the refinement in functionality of the K-7 over the K20 is significant to me, and might be an important consideration, especially if I depended on my gear to pay the bills. For my purposes, the IQ is essentially the same, but I feel that the K-7 shows considerably less chroma noise at higher ISO settings, which I tend to use quite a bit with long tele/TC combos.

I would think that the improved low light AF and the AF assist light would be a significant asset for shooting weddings. I also like the Info button menu

. . . and it would be hard for me to pass on a pre-approved purchase agreement with the CFO. . .

I'd give the K-7 a try, then decide if I wanted to wait for its replacement.

Scott