pentax slr query
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Discussion

egor110

Original Poster:

17,675 posts

232 months

Tuesday 3rd January 2012
quotequote all
Has anyone got a pentax k-r?
They're selling them in my local camera shop 12mp and 6fps for £340 which seemed pretty good value?

Ady1970

31 posts

191 months

Tuesday 3rd January 2012
quotequote all
I have a K-x. Which is the model before the K-r. For the money a very good camera. I'm very happy with mine. At the price yout quoting the K-r is a bit of a steal. Is that with any lenses?

toppstuff

13,698 posts

276 months

Tuesday 3rd January 2012
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Its a great buy at that price. It has a great sensor inside it, so picture quality can be very good indeed.

All these were taken with a Pentax KR

http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/artists/loricole...

egor110

Original Poster:

17,675 posts

232 months

Tuesday 3rd January 2012
quotequote all
Yes comes with 1 lense http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/79341...
would the camera be up to the job of filming motorsports, obviously i'd need a longer lense.

toppstuff

13,698 posts

276 months

Tuesday 3rd January 2012
quotequote all
egor110 said:
Yes comes with 1 lense http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/79341...
would the camera be up to the job of filming motorsports, obviously i'd need a longer lense.
Capturing motosports is as much about technique really - once you have a suitable lens. Practicing panning techniques and nailing the focus is all about practice.

A quick google revealed this photostream on Flickr. All taken with Pentax KR.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davehamster/585273386...

They look pretty good to me !

Pentax do a nice 55-300mm lens. Tamron make a nice 70-300m too in Pentax fit that is not too expensive. about £130 on Amazon i think...

One of the good things about the Pentax KR is that the sensor can shoot at high ISO's like 1600 ISO or so, without the image getting too grainy. The high ISO allows you to shoot higher shutter speeds and so freeze the action, with the advantage with the Pentax that when you do this you are not having to sacrifice picture quality too much with the image getting grainy. With some cameras the picture quality can get a bit bad when you shoot at 1000 ISO or more... but the Pentax is quite good in this respect.

Its a pretty cheap camera for what it can do. For the money its a good buy. The picture quality is easily as good as Canons and Nikons costing a lot more.



Ady1970

31 posts

191 months

Tuesday 3rd January 2012
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When you say filming, do you mean video or stills? Would be able to do stills easily enough, but it may struggle in video. Not really used the video side of my K-x as i have a video camera for that sort of thing. And yes you wou;d need a longer lens for that, and a lot more besides. Have a look for a twin lens kit, especially if it contain the 55-300 zoom. Or just go out and by one that suits your needs and/or budget.


DOH beaten to it!!!

egor110

Original Poster:

17,675 posts

232 months

Tuesday 3rd January 2012
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Thanks for your replys, how quick is the autofocus on the pentax.

Ady1970

31 posts

191 months

Wednesday 4th January 2012
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That depends on how you set it. I have found it to be pretty good in auto mode, and can be quite quick in some of the scene modes. Jowever it also depends on where you are and what you are shooting. As it can hunt a bit at times, for example when taking pictures of obbjects against a plain background. On the whole i have no problems with it.
It may be a good idea to try one out in the shop and compare it to one of the others at the same orice point. As i have no experience of those cameras i can not comment on the differences.

egor110

Original Poster:

17,675 posts

232 months

Wednesday 4th January 2012
quotequote all
Will be taking a trip to the camera shop this week to have a look.
On paper the pentax seems very good value , it's got 12.4mp, 6fps and 11 point auto focus. Also in my price range are the nikon d3100 14.2mp, 3 fps, 11 point autofocus , nikon d5100 16.2mp,4fps, 11 point autofocus and the sony a35 which has 16.2mp and 5.5fps not sure about the autofocus.

Deluded

4,968 posts

220 months

Wednesday 4th January 2012
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Looked at these myself and was very tempted by the low prices (esspecially that deal from Jessops) but changed my mind when I realised they (as well as most entry level DSLRs) don't have an AF assist lamp. They use the pop up flash to blind your subject whilst focusing.

The K-5/K-7 has an AF assist lamp but for an extra £4-500, is it really worth it for a bulb?

Maybe it's just me but I find this very irritating. Why is such a basic feature not included on the cheaper cameras? I would rather have an AF assist lamp than the usual bullst face recognition, art filters etc.

egor110

Original Poster:

17,675 posts

232 months

Thursday 5th January 2012
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canon 600d 3.6fps/ 6 frames
sony a35 5.7fps/ 6 frames
pentax kr 6.0fps/ 12 frames all raw, sony a35 and pentax k-r both available for under £400 leaving money for a longer lense.