Pentax K-x Review
Pentax K-x Review (Last Update 5/15/2010: Neck Strap Setup)
May 2010, Carl Garrard
Pentax 16701 12.4MP K-X Digital Camera (Black; Body Only)
| This review is going to be a sort of new experiment. Of late I've been using Pentax as well as Sony mainly for photography so I am going to share those experiences here on this site about Pentax cameras as well for those readers here that might be curious. For this review I am going to write it from beginning to end based on my experiences as they happened in sequential order. All technical information will come when I have arrived at technical points during my experience with the Pentax K-x. Think of this review as a sort of verbal video, a step by step journal of my experiences with this camera along the way. Less formal than I am used too, but much more spontaneous, hopefully more like how the average person would experience the purchase and use of the K-x. |  |
Pentax K-x Review
I felt it would be more straight forward and easier for this type of format and ultimately something quite different from the past. I'll share my experiences and observations through the motions of the entire process of purchasing, receiving, opening, and experiencing this camera in a much more relaxed and informal manner. So without any further non-sense lets get right to it. Note: An easy way to keep up on the updates would be to bookmark this review and check in. I plan on working on it constantly but can't say when the next section will be added as I have to do this review as time allows.
Introduction (Review Part 1, Day 1 May 7)
I received my K-x today May 7th, on my porch delivered from Sunset Electronics purchased through Amazon.com. I purchased a black K-x for $499.00 (body only) which came about four days later from New York City to Southern California (ground shipment). Quick service from Sunset Electronics.
I opened the box and found to my surprise that it came with a beginner starter camera kit (lol) which included a small table tripod, lens cleaning solution, lens cloth, and something else in there I didn't take the time to look over. Thanks for the freebie Sunset.
The Pentax K-x box is pretty small and contained just the essentials. The camera, the strap, the usb cord, 4 energizer Lithium AA batteries, software and all all manuals etc. It looked brand new (sometimes I wonder about purchases being previously handled/opened).
I unpacked the K-x from the bubble wrap and installed my pre-charged Sanyo Eneloop batteries (saving the Energizers for travel) and a 28mm Pentax SMC f/2 Manual focus lens. Turning the K-x on, I set my language to English and standard font size (regular or large options, nice). I then set the date and went through the rest of the menu items setting the camera up much like my Pentax K7 and lastly chose the 28mm focal length option when prompted by the K-x.
Ready to go.
Build Quality and Ergonomic Impressions
The Pentax K-x is a pretty solid DSLR for the price. Holding it in my medium sized hand the grip felt thinner and shorter than the K7 grip but still with plenty there to hold. My fingertips just barely touch the body when wrapped around it. Fingernails do not touch thankfully.
The K-x feels light weight for the most part but feels slightly off balance to the left even with a small lightweight prime lens and a hefty set of Eneloop rechargables. Squeezing the grip a bit (the creak test) I noticed the battery door moves slightly with a tad of creek, nothing big but I did notice that this would be something that would occur often. The K-x feels solid otherwise and very comfortable in my right hand, almost has a direct molded feel to it. Fingertips hold well on the inside of it, in a relaxed carry to my side position hanging slightly down. It's a light camera for the most part.
Holding the K-x to my eye I adjusted the diopter to match my vision. The diopter does its job but seems slightly limited in range and a bit tight to slide. The viewfinder view is larger and brighter than I had anticipated or expected. For my good eyesight I shall have no issues manual focusing with it, even without the aid of a OEM-53 viewfinder eyepiece loupe. I'll probably install one anyways because that's just how I roll (gives my face relief from the LCD for less cleaning etc.).
I then adjusted the main control dial up top to my favorite shooting mode, Aperture Priority and noticed the dial operates pretty light footed and smooth. I'm not picky with my dials having a lock or not, I don't move that dial around all that much anyways (manual or aperture priority are my preferred methods of exposure). The mode dial is large enough and close enough to where the thumb lay that it can be moved with my thumb holding the camera in a normal shooting position if I so choose (quick and easy, me thinks).
When I saw pictures of the rear side of the K-x on the net, my first thought was that I was slightly bummed it didn't have a rubber insert for my thumb to lay. However, after holding the K-x I realized that my thumb felt very secure and comfortable on the backside and a rubber insert is not necessary after all. Cool.
Boy that battery door really does creak a lot. Sorry creaking is a small irritant to me. Anyways, the left side of the K-x has just enough room for my left hand fingertips to try and take hold of. In portrait position (right hand up) my left forefinger lay comfortably in the entire groove horizontally giving a bit of comfy support in this position, nice!
Turning the camera on (on/off switch is identical in feel to the K7 quality wise), I pressed the flash up button on the left hand side of the camera to see how quick/loud the pop up would be. It's not like the soft almost semi-silent action of the K7, it pops up rather loud and bounces a tad in high frequency afterward saying - "I'm a flash and I'm ready to go!". The flash seems pretty short compared to the K7 so we'll see if shadowing becomes an issue later when I finally get around to actually using it.
Time to put an SD card in the camera. I have a spare 8gig Sandisk Extreme III class 6 card lying around which ought to do the trick just fine. Clearing out some old images on my lap top from it first (making sure they were deletable), I installed the SD card into the K-x. Note the SD card door is easier to open and close than the K7 and installing the SD card feels like it should- easy to do and not fiddly like the K7.
Now I turned on the K-x to find the format option for the card in the menu ( tool tap, page 4, bottom). Scrolling to the right gives you the option to format the card so I moved up to choose that option and notice text on the same page that says "All data will be deleted" no additional pop up or warning happened when I did so be warned for accidental formatting.
All that done, tis time for some testing.
Previously I had set the K-x to the center spot focusing in the menu (press ok button and choose your focusing area type, nice and quick). I wanted to see how the famed lack of AF points in the viewfinder "issue" affected me.
I might be in the minority here, but on one hand I found that the lack of AF confirmation illumination in the viewfinder was sort of refreshing. Let me explain.
The lack of the AF point illumination does not distract my eyes away from the point of focus of my eye. In other words, when the focus confirms I see the green hex-dot come up on the bottom of the viewfinder in my peripheral and the audible beep tells me (as well as my vision) the point is in focus and it does not distract me from my subject(s). It's actually a visually simpler operation in that respect, at least in good light where my eyes can perceive an in focus object. Yet there is still the other hand.
In darker light it's hard to visually see that your subject is focused which to me is when the AF confirmation point comes in most handy. I thought that people with vision issues might have more trouble than myself no matter what the conditions are because their vision isn't all that good (mine is 20/20). For me, the lack of an AF confirmation illumination point does not bother near what I thought it would. But that is just me. I rely on my vision quite a bit for focus confirmation af point or not, in any camera. More on this further down.
After changing lenses to the 35mm LTD f/2.8 Macro (set to f/2.8) I shot a couple of frames of my K7 after setting the K-x to ISO 3200 (also curious about the low light performance of the K-x) with the NR setting to OFF. Autofocus is pretty brisk much like the K7 (I suspect the AF motor/system are near identical), and was accurate on the center AF point. The K7 does seem a tad faster during AF operation (in terms of motor speed with the same lens attached) but the K-x is plenty quick it seems.
Reviewing the images on the nice sized LCD (I think 2.5" and above is large) I realized this camera is a high ISO shooter worthy of the praise it has been given. However, I'll review the images on screen later for a real visual. I've tested enough cameras in my day to get a really good feel for grain/noise while reviewing just the LCD itself. No need to turn NR on for Jpegs at this point (which is what I am currently shooting with, no raw, yet).
25 Exposures Later
Shooting various lighting situations in the house, dark to bright and mixtures of both the K-x's personality starts to come through. I realize the following:
Will focus without aid in pretty dim lighting circumstances, and when it cannot, the flash focus assist works briskly with a one, one-two quick pulse. I rather liked the flash assist because it's faster than most cameras I've used before. I'll actually consider using it on a daily basis when needed unlike most cameras with flash assist AF.
The K-x images look dynamite at ISO 3200 and very fair at ISO 6400. "This camera has the A700 beat I'm afraid" was my first thought but I realized to be fair I must review the images on screen later for a real comparison. What's important here is that my first impression was that it was a better camera for low light shooting.
Auto White Balance- same as the K7. Works excellent in different lighting circumstances indoors and rarely have I used the K7 out of AWB indoors, the colors are usually spot on. Same goes for the K-x too. Pentax have really figured this one out, bravo for them (and for me!).
K-x feels brisk in all operations from start up, to autofocus, to reviewing images. It's an eager little guy and it feels modern and certainly up for challenging fast acting tasks. I wonder now what long term use will yield in terms of weaknesses (more on that later).
Images look great. Less the loss of Dynamic Range at higher ISO's the K-x has nice grain structure and excellent color (I set the K-x to natural, adobe RGB, and all settings to standard less +1 for sharpness. I'm going to like the K-x I think. This is a spunky little DSLR with excellent Image quality. It is growing on me fast. Here is one sample out of camera at a higher ISO in low light, nice grain and shadows!
Further Informal Testing- Outdoors and Firmware Upgrading
Sun is about an hour from setting or just under, long shadows and lower light. Time to go outside and shoot a few. I shot about 19 more frames (just feeling the K-x out) when my pre-charged Eneloops showed low charge left in the camera. I thought "wow that was fast"... then remembered reading something about the K-x and a firmware upgrade fixing readings on rechargable batteries. Silly me, I didn't update the firmware before I started testing! Heck, I didn't even check it.
So I'm going to hold the article here for a bit while my eneloops charge and I download the latest firmware onto my laptop.
I decided instead to install the fresh set of Lithium Energizers that came with the Kx and finish up the firmware installation while the eneloops charge. Now that my K-x is upgraded to version 1.01 of the firmware, I decided to start shooting again. However, the sun has gone down all the way now so I'll have to resume shooting tomorrow morning.
For now I take some more high ISO shots around the house. After taking a few more frames I noticed the following; The K-x is a pretty quiet DSLR with a nice sounding mirror/shutter cycle, it has a crisp and quick sound. It's nowhere near as quiet as the K7 is but it's not a loud clunky DSLR either. Has a rather nice tone to it I'm noting.
I switched to live view and back and the orange low battery warning is showing with the brand new Lithium Energizer batteries. Odd. Turning the camera off then on again gives me a full green battery symbol. Hmm I will keep an eye on this.
I have the K-x set to phase detect AF during Live View which turns out to be a rather fast cycle. After the mirror drops down the K-x auto focuses and the mirror is returned. Contrast AF during live view is painfully slow but it works. This is not my AF mode of choice during live view however.
I set the AF to be engaged with a half press of the shutter release button, as well as the exposure to lock at the same time (my preferred method). During handing and more exposures and testing I notice the creaking battery door again, hmm. I don't like that at all.
That aside, I notice that the K-x tends to have less reliable metering than the K7 does. It routinely under exposes about .7ev, obviously Pentax set the K-x this way for more beginner shooters so the highlights are protected. I think this is safest but I think the K-x is a bit too far of a swing to underexposure. For high ISO shooting I'm already thinking to set it to +.7 EV higher.
Since the house is nice and dark now I'm noticing the lack of illuminated AF points more and more. For low light focusing this is overcome by using the pop up flash as an AF assist lamp, it's the only way practically to give your eyes more light to the subject without setting the K-x to live view for focusing (where it then is not an issue at all).
However, the AF assist lamp doesn't always come on to assist the AF so the lack of an illuminated AF point is indeed an issue for lower light photography when you cannot see the focusing screen line indicators for approximation to the AF point you've selected. Oh well, time to work around it.
- Login or register to post comments
- Email this page
- Printer-friendly version
I like your new approach: Day in the life of a new camera
... I tend to think all things impact the appreciation of a new tool/product - vendor service, squeaky battery doors, the informal results, the ergonomics, the performance ... All of those things help me get a real sense of the camera, so I appreciate it your approach.
Thanks Mr. Shaw!
We'll see how it works out. Could be quite lengthy.
Gonna be nice to see what Sony comes out with next in DSLR's that are more up to date and modern. Some of the new tools and features are really sparking creative ideas in me. Its fun to try them out and report how they work, etc.
Carl
Pentax and legacy lenses
Thanks for the tests, looking forward to updates on the new "k-x blog". BTW every review you write tries something a little different, so I have no clue what your "regular" review style is! :^)
When I first sought a dSLR in '08 I tried to have a salesperson show me how to run the K100 with my 40mm Pentax-M lens; he failed to impress me with the ease of doing this (more than one interpretation allowed). You make it sound pretty easy, just attach and go in A or M mode with an older lens? I guess if you have an A lens it can take over the aperture too, have you one of those to test with? I'm also wondering how you like the thumb wheel instead of a finger wheel - makes more sense to me. And oh yes, the mirror-thunk volume compared to Sony too - or was that in your K7 notes?
My pentax moment has passed, since I sold that 40mm pancake to KEH for Alpha gear. I'm really happy still with my A200, but the post-2008 Alphas haven't been inspiring; I am going to sell off some lenses to get another 2008 body, just in case. (Much to my horror, the 230 fits my hand better than the 500; I need a 6th finger to access the 5-series control dial.) If I had worse lenses the k-x would be sitting here now (dell has/had the 18-55/55-300 kit for really cheap), but I'll hold off a generation before despair overtakes me.
Thanks again, keep having fun!
Glad to help It is sort of a
Glad to help
It is sort of a blog, I guess :). Hehe.
Pentax-M and Pentax-A are a bit different. The M doesn't have an automatic aperture setting, so you have to set whatever aperture you'd like on the aperture control ring. The A does have an automatic aperture and works in any mode like normal, sans autofocus of course.
The mount is the same and the lenses attach like normal, not difficult to use at all.
Mirror thunk notes, yeah I mentioned the K7. I've been writing a more formal review on that camera here behind the scenes for quite some time, hopefully one day it will come to life... so that's where that comment comes from.
The K-x reminds me of the A200. Biggest difference is the lack of visual AF confirmation on the AF points. That negative for the K-x will be legendary most likely, but otherwise it's a great camera. I'd say it performs about a stop better than the A200 in high ISO, and has all those custom features and filters, video, live view, etc.
I think the A200 with a similar feature set nowadays would sell GREAT. Just improve upon the shell and put in a few features that were removed from the A100, basically. However, the A200 will always have a soft spot in my heart, I really liked that camera. It was a great price, great performer, comfortable, good specs (not great), fast and accurate AF, ... one I do miss quite a bit. Can't even imagine how it would have sold at the time if it had some of the features the A100 had that were "removed". As is, it sold quite well for Sony.
I do however like to use live view quite a bit, I find it a great tool for landscape photography and will never live without it again. Ever.
Carl
AF lights
Considering the annoying (to me) AF glow on the A5-series, and that I generally lock my AF to center for 80% of my shooting.. I need no steenkeeng lights. And the battery issue seems to be solved (though I wish someone made a Li-ion battery the shape of four AAs). Glad you compare it here to the A200, though it seems closer to 2 stops better in iso compared to my copy (my iso800 gets pretty splotchy, chroma-wise; I have to NeatImage it up).
My nephew bought a k-x and really likes it, but a) he's never had a dSLR or anything close and b) he's east of Spokane, so I can't handle it! Thanks again for the virtual tour.
AF illumination
Its not an issue for me either when there is ample lighting to see the guides on the focusing screen, however when it dims for really low light through the viewfinder it becomes a bit of a guessing game. Live view is a work around for that as all 11 points become visible on the screen but you are using mirror flip down and back up phase detect at that point (which does work remarkably quick for this type of system actually).
Camera's growing on me, I can see why it is so popular.
Carl
Features of the A100
The features that were removed from the didn;t cost it any lost sales teh biggest complaint when compared to other models were lack of live view and that it was larger than the competitive product. There may have been a small percantage of second body owners who would have picked it up. The only time in the 80 to 100 hours a week I worked that anything missing was brought up was at Photo Plus and PMA. Not one sales person even had a second thought about it. The only reason they had for not selling one was size. The same can not be said about the A100 or the 700 for that matter.
By the was Sony Style stores seem to have a few A700's around. The one in Columbus still has them the price was 899 body 999 18-55. If you want a K7 Wal-Mart has the body only for $899
Updated the Review
Again.. think I'm digging this type of review format, don't know if anybody is following the article or not but it's quite pleasing from my end knowing I can update it as often as I like, section by section, test by test, completely spontaneously.
I added a few images from the beach some photographers here on AMW might even like to view.
Carl
you read my mind (how awful for you)
My next question was about the k-x' ability to do 'tweener ISO shooting; since you used iso500 you answered my question before I posed it. The little camera that could, and almost fully adjustable too - hope Sony stops obsessing about micro4:3 and pays close attention to little ol' Pentax :^)
Amen to that!
And I hope it is soon.
Carl, thanks for doing this type of review. I check it every day to see what you have added. I kinda wished you would have done the K-7 review the same way. I, for one, am looking forward to that one.
The auto color by itself is almost a reason to buy one. I wish I could keep my a700 and buy a K-7 too but right now I can only afford one. I am waiting to see what the new models offer from both companies before I make up my mind. I am hoping Sony gets in gear with the 7xx, otherwise I will be a new Pentaxian. From what I am reading on the Pentax forum site, there will be a new one of those this fall. This is just rumours for now but they seem to be pretty sure of it. If they combine some of both camera's features and add some new ones, it will be an awesome camera. I am just waiting and watching for now and using my 700.
Your wish was my command
........ and thanks btw for the link elsewhere. I went through both reviews and fixed the comma's, it's a very bad habit of mine. Hopefully I won't overreact with run-on sentences in the reviews from now ;).
Well I didn't notice the commas
I probably do the same thing. You're welcome. I thought some of those readers would like to read the reviews. Sounded like they are favorable so far. I didn't realize you had another thread on there. I missed it somehow. I do that on that site for some reason. I'm not sure what it is about the layout but I have went back to find a thread and I overlook it. It's just me I guess. Anyway, sorry about the comma thing.Maybe he will come back since you fixed it :)
He was absolutely right
about my punctuation errors. I am way too comma happy and it's a problem I've always had. I'm actually glad he pointed it out. I won't be looking at all my other reviews because if I do I'll start crying in agony.
:)
punctuation.. and baby steps
My bad habit is two dots instead of three for an ellipsis.. I feel the point is made with two so I'm economical, but my wife says that's just wrong.. so don't tell her I'm here! :^)
I've made progress with lens sales at dyxum, and now have the cash for .. something. Since nothing new since 2008 appeals to me in the Sony line, and Pentax intrigues, I'm plunking down $230 on a refurb K100d, their 1st cam with SSS -er SR. I nearly bought this long ago until learning about DRO, orientation sensors & other pioneering Sony stuff. It's sorta like the KM5D for pixels and features, but fewer innovations & a Pentax interface that is reasonably similar to the k-x (see how that works, Toru? Add features, move a button or two, but don't make me re-train from scratch every 2 years). In size it's very similar to my A200, so that won't take any time to adapt to. I'll give it a go with eneloops and my auto-Chinon 28mm f/2.8 - as a '70s SLR veteran I'm looking forward (and backward) to using an aperture ring again (hello again Toru - innovate me an aperture/function ring a la Canon S90 OK?). I will test my tolerance of Pentax interface (thumb wheel in particular), my tolerance for using Four Batteries in a camera?!?!? .. and IQ of a 6mpxl sensor. At least that's a Sony part, so I haven't really betrayed anyone.. yet.
If I love this camera, it's goodbye A200 and hello new-model Pentax (either k-x or the next one if they hybridize k7 and kx). If I merely like it, I'll buy it a vacation zoom and wait for announcements. If no sparks fly.. well I can get most of my $230 back later.
Hi Jim..
I like two dots two.. ;)
I've owned the K100D Super, the difference between it and the K-x is pretty substantial IQ wise I think. Not a bad camera at all though, there are a lot of similarities.
The newer sensor and processing of the K-x is noticeable. I know it's more though...
K-x Review
What a brilliant review!. Having just sold my Nikon D3000 I have been reading every report on the K-x I can find. The more I read, the more I think this is going to be keeper. Nikon was OK but I think to a certain extent we are paying for the name, as for the same outlay the Pentax appears to be a much better camera all round. I mainly take images of RC Model Aircraft which are fast and small!.
So far, the 55-300 Pentax lens looks to be ideal for the job. The Nikon 70-300VR, does not get as good reports, and the price.............mad at nearly £400.00. Anyway, I have really enjoyed reading this ongoing report and love the way images are included along the way....can't wait for the next instalment. Good job. Simon.
Carl I agree w/you
The k100d won't have much in the way of 'modern' features - I grabbed it because (a) its interface is similar enough to the new ones, and (b) it was a $230 slr FCOL!!* So if its interface fits me better than the 2009/10 Alpha models I've tried at ritz, that'll provide direction for my next steps. For many things the K100d limitations will not serve me, but if I end up keeping it, I can make it a RAW-only lo-light beast, or just the astro-camera.. which is why I have a Chinon body and 28mm lens in the garage now, in fact, though it hasn't been touched in a few years. The k100d can be my retro-cam, using bargain PK-A and -M lenses, and the next P-tax (or Sony, I still hold out hope like you) will be the photo tool.
* is For Cryin' Out Loud an 'approved' computer acronym? It should be FCOL! :^)
I think you could patent it Jim
Why not? Don't celebs patent words in our dictionary like they are theirs? :)
Cool on the K100d, does sound like a great deal. Let me know what you think of it.
C
k100d
I haven't heard anything to positivive about it in the field. I would think you could grab a used K10 or 20 for not much more.
Very Nice Carl
Very nice review Carl I have found the K-x to preform as well as a 1,500 camera.. I am amazed at what Pentax has done..
I do have some old M42 glass and sent the camera in to ahave the focus screen replaced with the split screen such as the K1000 has and for manual ficus this really works well, though a bit pricey (half as much as the camera) I have found it to be worth it, as I will be keeping both the K20D and the K-x.
See YA
Kevin
Really enjoyable read
Terrific article Carl! At the risk of sounding too gushing I personally feel reviews (blog?) like this are really on another level when compared to your average 'mainstream' type.
It definitely gave me a good feeling of what it would be like to ACTUALLY use the camera as opposed to seeing page after page of pixel comparisons, which does have it place too of course but I prefer the deeper insights from someone such as yourself :) I imagined myself in all those locations and I could visualize taking those shots...
I wont go on much further except to say that this article is what basically made me buy this camera. It's my first DSLR and I'm super excited! It was also a solid price at $450 (Canadian) new on ebay so pretty hard to go wrong I think.
Thanks again Carl,
- Adam
Gee thanks Adam :)
Maybe Ill actually get around to finishing the article too ;). Now that the new fw update came in on the K7, I have something new to write on as well which may delay it further.
That aside, I don't think you can go wrong with the K-x. Stay out of the forum chatter and just shoot with the camera and you'll be pleasantly surprised. I like the results of this camera up to ISO 6,400 out of camera which means you can almost shoot in the dark. It's small, quick to focus (you'll get used to the AF points not showing in the viewfinder, trust me), some of the best image quality I've seen out of any camera to date, prints look FANTASTIC out of it, and you'll always have battery power available to you in several forms.
I can't even imagine how many Pentax would have sold had they included illuminated AF points as well. Yet, either way, its a solid DSLR. I may have it converted to INFRARED because of its excellent high ISO and live view capabilities as well. We'll see.
Carl
My daughter is buying one
I turned her on to Pentax and she was going to buy a Nikon but liked the Pentax better. I think she will like it and maybe Dad can try it out:)
Carl, I am still watching these two reviews and am glad to hear you are going to add to the K-7. I'll be looking for it. I'm not ready to buy one yet moneywise. I am waiting to see what comes out this year too. By then, I may be ready. I need a backup and thought about the K-7. Then I can decide which way I want to go. Pentax or Sony.