The Pentax K20D set new standards in the mid range DSLR market for image resolution and noise performance for APS-C size sensor DSLRs. The pack has caught up, and some offer a greater range of facilities than K20D. The Canon 50d offers the most direct competition to the Pentax flagship DSLR
Pentax owners tend to be more passionate about their cameras than other brands, and they clearly identified the camera’s weaknesses and spread the word over the web. Pentax listened to their owners and considered the trends, and along with their electronics partner Samsung, set about improving these areas of the camera’s performance while retaining the things owners love about their Pentax.
Who will use it
“The K-7 will appeal to many current PENTAX SLR photographers who have been asking for more advanced features, but in a smaller, solid, comfortable-to-hold body,” said Ned Bunnell, president, PENTAX Imaging Company. “We also believe the combination of the K-7’s smaller, high quality construction coupled with the growing line-up of our Limited compact prime lenses will appeal to serious shooters who currently don’t own or previously hadn’t considered adding a PENTAX to their camera bag.”
Autofocus and Burst Rate
This is the weak point of the earlier K10 and 20D cameras and Pentax says the K7 has “improved focus algorithms over previous generation K series DSLR cameras, providing faster, more responsive AF”. The old focusing system has always been accurate but it is sometimes frustratingly slow in high speed action situations.
The continuous shooting capability of the Pentax K7 received attention and goes from a pedestrian 3 frames per second to a respectable 5.2 fps. This is still not amazing, but it is comparable with other cameras of similar price and performance capabilities.
Sensor Size, Noise and ISO
The inescapable compromise in digital cameras is as designers pack more pixels onto a sensor, noise becomes more of a potential problem. The introduction of the Samsung CMOS sensor in the K20D proved a major step forward over the K10D in terms of resolution and noise performance. However when Canon released the 50D, their 15mp APS-C sensor DSLR it had better noise performance in the ISO range for 1600 to 3200 according to independent DXO tests Then Nikon’s D90 upstaged both of them in noise performance, so the K7 needed some work in this area.
Pentax said the K7 has “A new 14.6 megapixel CMOS sensor rebuilt from the ground up to minimize noise”. It is possible to make gains in noise performance by tweaking the cameras image processing software and Pentax says the K-7 features a newly developed PRIME (PENTAX Real Image Engine) II, an upgrade of the original PRIME, as its imaging engine. Pentax say this new imaging engine offers faster data-processing speed for higher quality images with richer gradation and more accurate color rendition
Brand New Chassis
The Pentax K7 has a new magnesium alloy chassis under the black skin, replacing the stainless steel of earlier Pentax DSLRs. Magnesium is lighter and more rigid than steel providing a very stable platform for good optical and mechanical performance. The weather resistant body sealing is carried over and Pentax are extending this to more of their lenses, not just the professional DA* range. The larger rear LCD screen drove the need for a new layout of controls. The new 3-inch screen has also greater resolution, up from 230000pixels to 921000pixels.
Movie Mode and Live View
Like just about every other new DSLR, the K7 can produce HD video as well as conventional still images. The Pentax K7 only a mono microphone built in but it does have provision to plug in external microphones for stereo sound. Where the Panasonic Lumix GH1 is equipped with stereo microphone sin the body, it has the room left by not fitting a proper optical viewfinder.
Pentax went the other way and improved the optical viewfinder on the K7, and it now comes with 100% view and more emphasis on manual focusing performance. Pentax lenses have a quick shift clutch on focusing mechanism so photographers can fine tune focus without disconnecting the autofocus system.
Battery
The Pentax K7 has a larger battery and Pentax say the K7 can shoot up to 980 images on a charge, up from 740 for the K20D using a similar measuring method. .
The increased battery capacity is a good move considering Movie mode and Live view with the larger LCD screen all potentially consuming more power. Then there is the new battery grip with the option of using the normal D-L190 battery or AA batteries, a handy option when it may be difficult to recharge the normal batteries while traveling.
Price and Availability
The PENTAX K-7 body only will ship in July 2009 for $1,299.95 USD. The PENTAX D-BG4 battery grip also will ship in July 2009 for $229.95. The newest weather-resistant lenses will be priced at $199.95 for the DA 18-55mm and $249.95 for the DA 50-200mm. These products also will ship in July 2009.
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