Your hands-on take on the K-7

[xdivider]

ah, yes, in general hdr is horrible with anything above the horizon, particular if there is strong definition.. you should see what it does to thin lines.. which is why i have given up using it for the most part.

the natural hdr looks good though.

anyways, thanks for posting up these pictures, i was interested in this function. if you do get good lighting, i.e. more dramatic, try it again please and post the results!!

Well I usu do RAW+multi exposure blending for sunsets and sun rise. Standard HDR may save me a lot of work and noise issues....

 

[le petit prince]

The O-ME results in too much crop...

Ah, thanks for heads-up. Liking the 100% view so far, so won't put on the OME.

 

[fliplock]

le petit prince was talking to me abt K-7 for the past few weeks, till I got sian of hearing all about k-7 :sweat:

seriously, I WANTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT BUT NO $$$$$ BOO

sorry for the irrelevant post here, im here to irritate le petit prince ( so what ?! )

 

[kayster]

here is my preview of K7... Crop and edit..

tried some shots at Indoor at a function.. Cool.. Dun need flash using ISO800 also give nice photo...

 

[kayster]

last 2...

Overall:

Better AF; Better ISO; Body is light, Grip so so.. waiting for the Battery Grip...77 Segment Metering is FANTASTIC.... 720P HD is the wonderful...

 

[Francis Lee]

'Sharpening' setting by default is a tag too strong, I reduced it & it gives much pleasing noise level.

 

[JavaBeanz]

just collected my K7 from tk foto. compared the size with my k100ds and they are the same! amazing :bsmilie:

 

[zoom3]

Greetings All.

Here are my early days impression of the K-7. It looks, feels and is smaller than the K10D. I was a bit flustered by its "small" size when I took it out of the box, but after 2 days, I am loving it. The buttons are closer together but no issue. The new layout is great. I didn't get to play with it till today but the buttons, function etc etc are all like old friends now.

Like many has mentioned, the shutter sound is great and so is the shutter's super quick response.The K10D is just so slow in comparison.

The LCD display is wow. You know how many times a camera is sold based on what the potential customers sees on screen. Pentax/Emjay just have to ensure that retailers do present the K-7 as an alternative to the customer, and it will have a great chance of being bought.

I don't like the rubber doors for the PC/AV connections. And it is diificult getting the SD card out. I have tried 4 different cards. All have this problem.

Body a touch short for my hand, so will need to get a battery grip. But I have always used battery grips, so I guess I am a little biased

First impression of LV & Movie mode not too good. Will need to try out more over the weekend.

So what about the picture quality? From limited shooting, I have to say I am very very pleased so far.

Here is why. Two sets of photos. One taken with K10D, the other K-7. Use same DA*16-50mm. Focal length - 50mm. Both aperture priority at F5.6, ISO100, Multi segment metering. No EV compensation. RAW format. Hand held. The main object from cam - 25-30metres. Pictures only resized, No sharpening or any levels correction at all. Pretty straight out of the cams.

Note the much more accurate exposure on the K-7. The K10D is underexposing as it usually does. The K-7 consistently showed 1/100 sec shutter speed while the K10D indicated 1/125 or faster.

All my pics from the DA*16-50 has been mediocre at best and I thought "What an over rated lens"! But not anymore. Looks like it just ain't happy with the K10D.

BTW, the K10D pic is the best out of 25 I took. There were some which were alot worse. I took only 7 pics with the K-7 and there were all of similar IQ. The K-7 is consistent!

So girls and guys. If you are thinking of upgrading to the K-7(esp from K10), don't think. Just do it. Cheers.

Oh! Nearly forgot about that levelling indicator. What a cool and useful feature.

K10D with DA*16-50mm

Cropped 100%

K-7 with DA*16-50mm

Cropped 100%

 

[xdivider]

went shooting juz now and did some more image tests.

High ISO (iso 1000, weak NR)

As posted in the HDR thread.

From RAW

Standard NR (very flat but highlights and shadows present)

Post processed HDR shot for contrast etc

Some HDR artifacts were revealed in the top right corner when I tried to push the image. Still usable after some cloning unlike the halos in strong HDR.

 

[le petit prince]

Don't know how to do test shots, and don't really care to

Anyway, my 1st outing with the K-7 to, erm, 'test' it.. don't kill me, but I don't see that much difference, image quality-wise, to my K100Ds. BUT, I don't pixel-peep, I don't look for noise that much, and well.. I don't have good eyes, heh.

But the K-7's ease of use -- shutter, handling, adjustments on the fly, 'feel' -- utterly crushes the K100Ds.

You can view selected shots below:
http://lepetitphotographe.smugmug.com/gallery/8786053_H2YQz#581673943_Qngxd

Note I did pp for them; have to, as I shot RAW, and also pp to my taste.

Shot with 50-200, 21 and 70. (EXIF data can be seen by mousing over each pix and clicking on 'i'.)

 

[dnaxe]

Anyway, my 1st outing with the K-7 to, erm, 'test' it.. don't kill me, but I don't see that much difference, image quality-wise, to my K100Ds. BUT, I don't pixel-peep, I don't look for noise that much, and well.. I don't have good eyes, heh.

You're right, it's more usability improvements, and also more latitude to crop. I think generally true for most DSLR upgrades from here on out.

Against the K100Ds I think you might also gain one more stop of usable ISO.

 

[pinholecam]

So what do the MF experts think of the the K7. I find that the nice 100% and super bright pentaprism viewfinder seems to make it easier to MF. I'm not too used to the position of the green button for stop down metering though, as I'm very used to using the AE-L button on the K100D which is more accessible as its nearer the corner of the e-dial. For the new green button i have to reach in with my thumb, but my face is already 'on the camera' since I viewing thru the viewfinder.

They should have allowed a custom function to 'allow stop down meter upon shutter btn 1/2 press'

 

[darrrrrrrrrr]

Don't know how to do test shots, and don't really care to

Anyway, my 1st outing with the K-7 to, erm, 'test' it.. don't kill me, but I don't see that much difference, image quality-wise, to my K100Ds. BUT, I don't pixel-peep, I don't look for noise that much, and well.. I don't have good eyes, heh.

But the K-7's ease of use -- shutter, handling, adjustments on the fly, 'feel' -- utterly crushes the K100Ds.

You can view selected shots below:
http://lepetitphotographe.smugmug.com/gallery/8786053_H2YQz#581673943_Qngxd

Note I did pp for them; have to, as I shot RAW, and also pp to my taste.

Shot with 50-200, 21 and 70. (EXIF data can be seen by mousing over each pix and clicking on 'i'.)

i thought it was the buffer improvement (3 RAWs, super slow card-writing) that was the most significant for me.

 

[mauler]

I haven't used my K-7 much but I love the physical aspects (mostly).

It's a flyweight, the K-7 with the 16-50, compared to my D700 with 24-70. It's downright featherweight compared to my D3 with the same lens.

I love the quiet shutter. Muted.

The viewfinder takes some getting used to. I am spoiled by the Nikons' comparatively very large and bright viewfinders. My eyes are getting dimmer so there's a downer coming from FX.

The live view button is very thoughtfully placed and fast to access, compared to Nikon's idea.

Flush speeds with are fast except when the distortion controls are turned on. I guess the camera needs time to work the algorithms.

Comparing again, I prefer Nikon's focus point selector to the K-7's. With that, I don't have to press a button to activate focus point selection and just roll my thumb on the wheel. That said, Pentax did pack multiple functions into the buttons so it's a bearable trade-off.

Haven't done much shooting but I like what I've seen so far.

Did I mention it's small and light?

 

[le petit prince]

You're right, it's more usability improvements, and also more latitude to crop. I think generally true for most DSLR upgrades from here on out.

Against the K100Ds I think you might also gain one more stop of usable ISO.

Yup. Haven't done any serious low-light shooting yet, but I believe K-7 should show lots improvement in noise control.

So what do the MF experts think of the the K7. I find that the nice 100% and super bright pentaprism viewfinder seems to make it easier to MF. I'm not too used to the position of the green button for stop down metering though, as I'm very used to using the AE-L button on the K100D which is more accessible as its nearer the corner of the e-dial. For the new green button i have to reach in with my thumb, but my face is already 'on the camera' since I viewing thru the viewfinder.

They should have allowed a custom function to 'allow stop down meter upon shutter btn 1/2 press'

Have tried out with my M50 f1.7, and it's a pleasure to MF. I agree about the somewhat awkward position of the green button, especially since I am left-eye dominant and my face blocks much of the right side of the camera back.

I haven't used my K-7 much but I love the physical aspects (mostly).

It's a flyweight, the K-7 with the 16-50, compared to my D700 with 24-70. It's downright featherweight compared to my D3 with the same lens.

The viewfinder takes some getting used to. I am spoiled by the Nikons' comparatively very large and bright viewfinders. My eyes are getting dimmer so there's a downer coming from FX.

You have both the D700 and D3???

Have tried the D700 hands-on, and the VF is tops for sure.. very very very big and bright. Still love the K-7's VF.. coming from K100Ds means I start from a relatively low base and expectations. :bsmilie:

But that's exactly the trade-off for FF vs cropped frame in terms of size/weight and VF quality.

 

[mauler]

You have both the D700 and D3???

Yes.

Need to sell one. Don't know which. :bsmilie:

 

[Lance B]

Just picked mine up this morning and posted my thoughts in another thread. I didn't see this thread, so I will post my thoughts here.

I did previously have a play with one at Sydney's PMA, so I am no stranger to the feel and handling of the K7, but the response of the AF and shutter is better than I remember at the show, probably due to the fact I was indoors but also I was more enamoured with the build quality, overall feel, and getting used to the different button layout etc.

The AF is quite a bit faster and very noticeable, although having said that this is on a bright sunny day. I will need to do further testing later after the battery charges up and when it gets darker.

The build quality is beautiful and feels very solid and dense in the hands. As other's have commented, the new control layout will need some getting used to, but the buttons are all nicely laid out and easy to use.

The selector "wheel" of previous Pentax DSLR's has been replaced with for buttons at north, south, east and west, which is much easier to use due to it being bigger than the previous "wheel" set up.

The VF is very nice! Big clear and easy to use.

Haven't been home to process any photos as I do have other issues to contend with at the moment, so the ubiquitous "first photos" post will have to wait.

That's all for now

 

[xdivider]

I haven't used my K-7 much but I love the physical aspects (mostly).

It's a flyweight, the K-7 with the 16-50, compared to my D700 with 24-70. It's downright featherweight compared to my D3 with the same lens.

I love the quiet shutter. Muted.

The viewfinder takes some getting used to. I am spoiled by the Nikons' comparatively very large and bright viewfinders. My eyes are getting dimmer so there's a downer coming from FX.

The live view button is very thoughtfully placed and fast to access, compared to Nikon's idea.

Flush speeds with are fast except when the distortion controls are turned on. I guess the camera needs time to work the algorithms.

Comparing again, I prefer Nikon's focus point selector to the K-7's. With that, I don't have to press a button to activate focus point selection and just roll my thumb on the wheel. That said, Pentax did pack multiple functions into the buttons so it's a bearable trade-off.

Haven't done much shooting but I like what I've seen so far.

Did I mention it's small and light?

Viewfinder is good but liveview is not as hi-res as the G1 and the E510 when it comes to 4x or more zoom. The G1 is still unmatched here but kinda expected, considering it is a cam making its living off the evf.....

 

[dnaxe]

Yes.

Need to sell one. Don't know which. :bsmilie:

Well, unless cash is an issue, sell the D700.

 

[mauler]

Well, unless cash is an issue, sell the D700.

Will probably sell the D3 since I hardly use it these days. The built-in flash of the D700 is useful and it's less bulky and heavy than the D3.

Need more mastication...