Фотоаппарат Pentax K-5

We liked the older Pentax K-7 a lot, and our only significant criticism was its relatively poor high ISO performance. The new K-5 brings all the things that we liked about the K-7 - the compact, solid body, and generally well thought-out ergonomics, and excellent feature set - but adds substantially better image quality, in both still and movie modes, and a host of other improvements. In our opinion this makes it one of the best APS-C DSLRs currently on the market. Image quality is now up there with the best of its competition, and all of the K-5's key systems are reliable and effective. Throw really nice ergonomics into the mixture and you have a compelling little camera that we have really enjoyed using. We have some minor criticisms, listed in the 'cons' above, but none of them constitute a good reason not to seriously consider a K-5. The most irksome of them is the lack of a direct video shooting button, which hamstrings the K-5's video mode, making it much less spontaneous than it should be.

Good detail and dynamic range (even better in RAW) Exceptionally low shadow noise in RAW files at low ISOs One of the best APS-C DSLRs in terms of high ISO image quality Very good build quality and handling Maximum ISO of 51,200 at full resolution Excellent burst depth in RAW mode (with firmware 1.0.1) 1080p HD video mode with basic editing built-in Useful electronic level and composition adjustment functions Comprehensive customization options including adjustable NR for each ISO Large, bright viewfinder with 100% coverage Fast contrast detect Auto Focus in Live View Versatile (but poorly documented) auto ISO function

AF system not as versatile as Nikon D7000 (which is a cheaper camera) Lockable exposure mode dial can be annoying No dedicated movie shooting button No AF during movie shooting Poorly implemented live histogram in live view/manual exposure mode (doesn't show final exposure) No 'live' aperture control during movie shooting Shadow Correction mode doesn't take full advantage of K-5's sensor Jaggies can be a problem along very fine diagonal lines

It is hard to find a negative thing to say about the Pentax K-5. Most of our criticisms are very minor, and as a consequence we would wholeheartedly recommend the camera to any Pentax user. It is an interesting camera, with an excellent feature set, and one which is capable of producing images which are up there with the best of its competition. It is fast, responsive, and very enjoyable to use, and its key systems are as reliable as we would expect from a camera at this level and price point. Speaking of price point though, the K-5 is a very expensive camera right now, and although we consider that it is good value from a Pentax-users perspective, there is no doubt that such a high asking price (currently around $300 higher than the Nikon D7000, which has a similar sensor and boasts a significantly more versatile AF system) will put some people off. It should be noted though that the prices of the K20D and K-7 also started high but soon dropped - the K-5 will almost certainly come down in price in the coming months. The K-5 is a no-brainer upgrade from a K-x or earlier Pentax DSLR, but obviously, for users of other systems it is harder to justify, and price is only part of the reason for that. Importantly, Pentax has some way to go before it can market a system as complete as those offered by Canon and Nikon. That's not to say that the system itself is at all restrictive, and in some ways (most notably the lovely 'Limited' range of high-quality prime lenses) it's unique. One other thing that we love about the Pentax system is that it is so backwards-compatible; there is a lot of fun to be had in mounting older, manual focus optics on the K-5, both for still and video capture. Ultimately, we have no hesitation in recommending the Pentax K-5 to anyone - not only existing Pentax users, and despite its high cost (for the moment- we expect it to drop once the K-7 leaves dealers' shelves) it earns a solid gold award. A note on categories though - the K-5 is a hard product to categorise. Although it competes with the Nikon D7000 and even the Canon EOS 60D in some respects, it's introductory price clearly indicates that Pentax wants the K-5 to be viewed alongside the likes of the Nikon D300S and Canon EOS 7D. For this reason we have classified the K-5 as a semi-pro model (as we did the K-7), and scored it accordingly.

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