D
DRabbit
Guest
It's sort of fun for me that yesterday was the first day I had the K-5 out and about, and it was pouring rain. This was my #1 intended purpose for this camera, as I love to shoot in adverse weather. Of course, I don't have a weather-sealed lens yet (just the FA 43), but I'd typically have no weather-sealing at all and be out there, so I call it a step in the right direction 
First... Friday night I did a test shot of my cat (of course) and it came out great. I posted it in another thread so I'll spare you here... but it was at ISO 1600 and I was stunned at the quality. It was indoors under tungsten light and the focus was spot-on... HOWEVER, that was before I updated the firmware to 1.0.3... and interestingly enough, after doing the update, I've had to do a fine adjustment of +10 to get it back to where it should be. Someone else told me they had a similar experience, so I wasn't surprised.
In one day of shooting, this camera has amazed me. It is the complete opposite of the experience I had when I bought the GH2 (which I've already sold). I struggled to be happy with my GH2 images, but am simply blown away by the file quality of the K-5 images... and do not feel the same "battle" in the slightest. Of course, that's ME... I know others will have different experiences with the GH2; I personally just had a really hard time loving it for a number of reasons... but mostly because of the noise in the blue channel at base ISO, and lack of "pop" in the files (harder to quantify and maybe more personal?...)
Back to the K-5... The amazing dynamic range was immediately obvious to me and the sharpness with the 43mm lens boggles the mind. I am not typically a pixel-peeper in general, but even in ACR at the "fit to window" size these things jumped right out at me. Based on one day with the FA 43, all I can say is I can't wait to get the FA 31 next month!
I love all the buttons and dials on the K-5... all the tactile controls are right up my ally. The placement of the ISO button is PERFECT and use of the camera is very intuitive. Build quality is outstanding... solid but not heavy at all (which is a big thing to me). It's bigger than I expected (or remembered from handling it a few months back in a local store), but not too big for me. I will say I'm glad I decided against the 16-50mm lens. I think the bulk of it would have turned me off.
As a comparison... one of my favorite shooting kits for a while has been the M8 + Voigtlander 50mm f/1.5 Nokton. That combo weighs in at 1.76 pounds. The K-5 + FA 43mm f/1.9 (with an almost identical FOV) comes in at only a teeny-tiny bit heavier: 1.8 pounds.
The absolute only complaint I have up to this point is that I wish Pentax made more of their great primes with weather-sealing!
Now some photos...
This one was my favorite of the day, and part of the picture-a-day series. I shot it at ISO 1600 because I wanted a large depth of field (shot at f/11)...
I had to walk out onto a slim dock to get this shot. Along the walk there were these smaller, very narrow walkways and one was going to get me even closer to the steps, but the whole thing started to wobble back and forth and I didn't want to take a dip with my brand new camera on a rainy day! LOL! I slowly back out and remained on the wider, steadier dock...
This one is a bit of a "typical" shot for me... seascape stuff is one of my favorite subjects to shoots... especially in gloomy weather. My family all think I'm nuts and sit in the car watching me snap away in the rain.
The last one I shot before getting back in the car to head home...
So overall, I'm very pleased and am really looking forward to enjoying this camera. Being an M8 and m4/3 (EP1, then EP2) shooter for quite a while, this is the first dSLR in a long time to really get me excited. I liked the Kx... but really only used it for my daughter's theater shows (mostly). That isn't going to be the case at all with the K5... I have a feeling I'll be using it a lot!
Thanks for listening and looking
First... Friday night I did a test shot of my cat (of course) and it came out great. I posted it in another thread so I'll spare you here... but it was at ISO 1600 and I was stunned at the quality. It was indoors under tungsten light and the focus was spot-on... HOWEVER, that was before I updated the firmware to 1.0.3... and interestingly enough, after doing the update, I've had to do a fine adjustment of +10 to get it back to where it should be. Someone else told me they had a similar experience, so I wasn't surprised.
In one day of shooting, this camera has amazed me. It is the complete opposite of the experience I had when I bought the GH2 (which I've already sold). I struggled to be happy with my GH2 images, but am simply blown away by the file quality of the K-5 images... and do not feel the same "battle" in the slightest. Of course, that's ME... I know others will have different experiences with the GH2; I personally just had a really hard time loving it for a number of reasons... but mostly because of the noise in the blue channel at base ISO, and lack of "pop" in the files (harder to quantify and maybe more personal?...)
Back to the K-5... The amazing dynamic range was immediately obvious to me and the sharpness with the 43mm lens boggles the mind. I am not typically a pixel-peeper in general, but even in ACR at the "fit to window" size these things jumped right out at me. Based on one day with the FA 43, all I can say is I can't wait to get the FA 31 next month!
I love all the buttons and dials on the K-5... all the tactile controls are right up my ally. The placement of the ISO button is PERFECT and use of the camera is very intuitive. Build quality is outstanding... solid but not heavy at all (which is a big thing to me). It's bigger than I expected (or remembered from handling it a few months back in a local store), but not too big for me. I will say I'm glad I decided against the 16-50mm lens. I think the bulk of it would have turned me off.
As a comparison... one of my favorite shooting kits for a while has been the M8 + Voigtlander 50mm f/1.5 Nokton. That combo weighs in at 1.76 pounds. The K-5 + FA 43mm f/1.9 (with an almost identical FOV) comes in at only a teeny-tiny bit heavier: 1.8 pounds.
The absolute only complaint I have up to this point is that I wish Pentax made more of their great primes with weather-sealing!
Now some photos...
This one was my favorite of the day, and part of the picture-a-day series. I shot it at ISO 1600 because I wanted a large depth of field (shot at f/11)...
I had to walk out onto a slim dock to get this shot. Along the walk there were these smaller, very narrow walkways and one was going to get me even closer to the steps, but the whole thing started to wobble back and forth and I didn't want to take a dip with my brand new camera on a rainy day! LOL! I slowly back out and remained on the wider, steadier dock...
This one is a bit of a "typical" shot for me... seascape stuff is one of my favorite subjects to shoots... especially in gloomy weather. My family all think I'm nuts and sit in the car watching me snap away in the rain.
The last one I shot before getting back in the car to head home...
So overall, I'm very pleased and am really looking forward to enjoying this camera. Being an M8 and m4/3 (EP1, then EP2) shooter for quite a while, this is the first dSLR in a long time to really get me excited. I liked the Kx... but really only used it for my daughter's theater shows (mostly). That isn't going to be the case at all with the K5... I have a feeling I'll be using it a lot!
Thanks for listening and looking
