Pentax is a name that will arm-twist addicted memories for the abounding photographers whose aboriginal SLR acquaintance was with a Spotmatic, KM, K1000 or ME Super. Although the company's bazaar position isn't as able-bodied accepted as it was during its advantageous canicule in the analog era, it continues to allure a adherent afterward of enthusiasts. And that afterward isn't aloof based on homesickness - Pentax is abandoned in accepting developed a absolute ambit of prime lenses for the APS-C architecture that dominates avant-garde DSLR photography, while best of its competitors apply on alms a alternative of zooms.
Pentax's cameras accept additionally catered able-bodied for this bazaar in the appearance of the competitively-priced K20D, a actual likeable, solid advancement to the K10D. Both cameras offered able-bodied semi-pro body affection and a adequately avant-garde amount of ecology sealing, accumulated with a acceptable akin of customizability and able-bodied worked-out handling. But it's now been over two-and-a-half years back the K10D appeared and, as it tends to, the bazaar has confused on. The K20D's alive appearance arrangement was not absolutely chic leading, and the camera was starting to attending a little long-in-the-tooth back compared to the video-shooting Canons and Nikons that accept started to appear, with their VGA screens and able interfaces.
So actuality we accept the K-7, Pentax's latest enthusiast/semi-pro akin DSLR. And a handsome animal it is, too - gone is the K20D's hardly butterball utilitarianism, to be replaced by a sleek, pared-down elegance. But it's not aloof on the alfresco that things accept changed: although the megapixel calculation charcoal the same, aloof about aggregate that affairs has been replaced, revised or spruced-up.
The headline changes:
- 720p/1080i HD video recording
- Smaller magnesium/steel alloy body
- Revised viewfinder (less magnified but with greater coverage)
- Updated sensor with four-channel readout
- 3.0" VGA (920,000 dot) LCD
- New shutter mechanism with 1/8000th shutter speed
- Faster continuous shooting (up to 5.2 fps)
- 77 segment exposure metering sensor
- Revised autofocus algorithms
- AF illumination lamp
- New dust removal system
- HDMI output
And that's just the big stuff. The implications of some of these changes are almost as significant as their obvious effects - as well as allowing faster frame rates and video, the reworked, four-channel sensor promises to generate less noise than the version used in the K20D. There are also lots of more subtle additions that show just how fundamental a change this camera is from its predecessor.
- New dedicated ISO button
- Distortion and chromatic aberration correction for DA and DFA lenses (also available in RAW conversion using supplied software)
- Adjustable dynamic range highlight and shadow correction
- Three-shot in-camera HDR capture
- Electronic level indicator
- Composition adjustment (Uses the SR system to reposition the sensor to fine-tune composition)
Weather sealed lenses
To allow the K-7 to make the most of its weather sealing, while still allowing it to be sold as part of relatively inexpensive kits, two weather-resistant kit lenses have also been introduced. The optics are based on the existing DA lenses but with what the company describes as 'simplified weather-resistant construction' that offers greater protection against moisture and dust ingress than the older designs.
