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My first “branded” camera — a film SLR camera, that is — was a Pentax. I bought it for less than US$100 from a friend who was upgrading to a semi-automatic Yashica film SLR.
I couldn’t recall the Pentax model but I remember operating the camera manually in all aspects — focusing, changing the ISO setting (known as ASA back then) and advancing the film by pushing the film-advancing lever after a shot was taken. This act would also “cock” the shutter.
It has no burst mode. You would have to advance the film real fast and turn the manual focusing ring equally fast and shoot to achieve some kind of “burst” mode. I think I did manage to shoot in 5spf (five second per frame).
As you can now see, Pentax is a brand I am sentimental about and if I see a good Pentax, I don’t mind skipping Canon or Nikon. So when Pentax announced its new DSLR, the K-7 two days ago, I was pleasantly surprise to note that the K-7 did not turn out to be just another face in the crowd, but a very noticeable one.
Among the special features that make the camera stands out among its peers are its 30fps HD video and its deployment of High Dynamic Range function that takes three exposures and combines them into one.
Below are the side by side comparison between the Pentax K-7 and two other cameras which it might be competing with, the Canon EOS 50D and the Olympus E-30. To me, the fight is really between Pentax K-7 and Olympus E-30.
Pentax K-7 vs Canon EOS 50D vs Olympus E-30
| Pentax K-7 | Canon EOS 50D | Olympus E-30 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sensor | 14.6 megapixels | 15.1 megapixels | 12.3 megapixels |
| 23.4mm x 15.6mm | 22.3mm x 14.9mm | 17.3mm x 13.0mm | |
| Lens Mount | Supports all Pentax K-mount lenses | Canon EF mount | Four Thirds Mount |
| Crop Factor | 1.5x | 1.6x | 2x |
| Processor | Prime II (Pentax Real Time Image Engine II) | DIGIC 4 | Truepix III+ |
| Dust Reduction | Image sensor cleaning function by supersonic vibration | Automatic sensor cleaning, Manual cleaning of sensor, Dust Delete Data appended to the captured image | Supersonic wave filter |
| Weather Seal | Yes | Yes | No |
| Image Stabilizer | Image sensor shift mechanism , Max 4 stops | No built-in stabiliser; relies on lens for image stabilisation | Built in (imager shift image stabilisation) |
| Image Sizes | JPEG: [14M] 4672x3104 pixels, [10M] 3936x2624 pixels, [6M] 3072x2048 pixels, [2M] 1728x1152 pixels RAW: [14M] 4672x3104 pixels | JPEG: 4752 x 3168 pixels, 3456 x 2304 pixels, 2352 x 1568 pixels; RAW: 4752 x 3168 pixels; sRAW: 3267 x 2178 pixels, 2376 x 1584 pixels | JPEG: 4032 x 3024, 3200 x 2400, 2560 x 1920, 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 1024 x 768, 640 x 480; RAW: 4032 x 3024 |
| Movie | HD at 30fps [0.9M] (1280x720, 16:9), [1.6M] (1536x1024, 3:2), [0.3M] (640x416, 3:2) | No | No |
| Movie Duration | Maximum 29m 59sec or 4GB, which ever comes first | Not applicable | Not applicable |
| Movie Format | Motion JPEG (AVI) | Not applicable | Not applicable |
| Sensitivity | Auto, Manual : 100-3200 (1EV steps or 1/2EV steps or 1/3EV steps) can be expand to ISO6400 Bulb mode : up to ISO1600 | Automatically set, ISO 100 – 3200 (in 1/3-stop or 1-stop increments) Basic Zone modes: ISO 100 – 1600 set automatically Extension settable (with C.Fn.I-3-1): ISO 6400, ISO 12800 High Tone Priority settable: ISO 200 – 3200 | AUTO (ISO 100 - 3200) / Manual (ISO 100 - 3200), 1/3 or 1 EV steps |
| Special Filter | DIGITAL FILTER: Toy Camera, Retro, High Contrast, Extract Color, Soft, Star Burst, Fish-eye, Custom | Not applicable | ART FILTER: Pop Art, Soft Focus, Pale&Light Color, Light Tone, Grainy Film, Pin Hole |
| Special Feature | High Dynamic Range function takes three exposures and combines them into one | N/a | |
| Multiple exposure and interval (time-lapse) options | N/a | Multi exposure (2-4 pictures) | |
| Shutter Speed | 30 sec - 1/8000 | 30 sec - 1/8000 | 60 sec - 1/8000 |
| Bulb | Yes | Yes | Yes up to 30 min |
| Continuous Shot | approx. 5.2 fps, sequence : until approx. 40 frames (JPEG and continuous (Hi)), approx. 15 frames (RAW(PEF)) , approx. 14 frames (RAW(DNG)), approx. 3.3 fps, | 6.3fps (JPEG unlimited), RAW (16 shots) | 5fps (JPEG up to card capacity with fast CF cards); RAW: 12 frames |
| Memory | SD, SDHC | CF Card Type I and II | CF Card Type I and II |
| Exposure Modes Modes | Green, Program AE, Sensitivity-Priority AE, Shutter-Priority AE, Aperture-Priority AE, Shutter and Aperture Priority AE, Metered Manual, Bulb, X speed | Program AE (Shiftable), Shutter-priority AE, Aperture-priority AE, Depth-of-field AE, Creative Auto, Full auto, Manual | Auto, P: Program AE (Program shift can be performed), A: Aperture priority AE, S: Shutter priority AE, M: Manual, Scene program AE, Scene select AE |
| Picture Styles/Scene Modes | Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Fluorescent Light ( D, N, W, L), Tungsten Light, Flash, CTE, Manual setting , with WB fine adjustment | Programmed image control modes (portrait, landscape, close-up, sports, night portrait, flash off) | Children, High Key, Low Key, DIS mode, Nature Macro, Candle, Sunset, Fireworks, Documents, |
| Focus | AF-single (with focus lock); Manual focus AF-continuous | Auto, One-Shot AF, Predictive AI Servo AF, AI Focus AF, Manual focusing (MF) | Single AF (S-AF) / Continuous AF (C-AF) / Manual Focus (MF) |
| Auto, Select, Center | Automatic selection, manual selection | S-AF + MF / C-AF + MF * C-AF mode is not available with the contrast detection system | |
| TTL phase difference detection, 11-point wide autofocus system (SAFOX VIII+) | 9 cross-type AF points | 11 points full-twin cross AF sensor with the phase-difference detection system | |
| White Balance | Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Fluorescent Light ( D, N, W, L), Tungsten Light, Flash, CTE, Manual setting , with WB fine adjustment | Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten Light, White Fluorescent Light, Flash, Custom, Colour Temperature setting | Lamp (3000K), Fluorescent 1 (4000K), Fluorescent 2 (4500K), Fluorescent 3 (6600K), Daylight (5300K), Flash (5500K), Cloudy (6000K), Shade (7500K) |
| Vari-angle Tilt and Swivel LCD Monitor | No | No | Yes |
| LDC screen resolution | approx. 921,000 dots | Approx. 920,000 (VGA) | Approx. 230,000 pixels |
| Power Sources | Rechargeable D-LI90 lithium-ion battery | Rechargeabe BP-511A battery | Rechargeable BLM-1 Li-ion battery |
| Price | Available in July for $1299.95 (body only) | US$1,266 (body only) | US$1,099 (body only) |
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