Customer Reviews

Pentax K-7 14.6 MP Digital SLR with Shake Reduction and 720p HD Video with DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL Weather Resistant Lens

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Pentax K-7 is the best all around digital SLR I have ever owned or used. As a constant companion this system cannot be beaten. With the DA pancake lenses attached, the K-7 is small and unobtrusive. Yet it is a powerful photographic tool. Every feature needed by an experienced photographer is found on this body. Plus a few extra. Also, it has fully auto modes so you can easily hand it to a less experienced user and simply say "point and shoot". For years, to have a rugged weather proof camera meant hauling around an enormous body. The K-7 is built like a tank yet is small and light. I have carried it for at least 100 miles of hiking (not all in one day) and it is a joy. Easily hangs behind my arm while walking on the street so it is always ready.

Performance is fast and reliable in all conditions indoors and out. Note: startup time can be greatly improved to near instant by turning off the shake reduction feature when not needed.

As an added bonus, the "kit" lens included with this body is exceptional. I think Canon and Nikon take pride in providing the most ridiculously crappy lenses in their "kits". So much plastic you can't even use them as paper weights. But this Pentax 18-55 is amazing! Weather sealing, smooth manual focus action, and astonishingly high quality optics.

As a compact, all purpose system for travel and constant carry, the K-7 plus a couple tiny DA lenses is a pleasure. You can argue over image quality all day. But the reality is that you have to have the camera with you to get the image. And this system is small enough and tough enough that it will always be ready when needed.

I will leave all the technical reviews for other people. I went to a lot of camera stores before making my choice. Every single store recommended the Canon or the Nikon over the Pentax. But I had read a lot of great reviews on the net and the selection of lenses for the Pentax covered all my needs. The big deciding factors for me were:

1- Build construction which is far superior to the Nikon or Canon
2- Size. Smaller than the other two and much nicer to hold and feels better in the hand.
3- Weather proofing. I had to take some pictures on the beach the other day with a friend who has a Canon. It started to rain and my friend had to scurry for cover. I was able to finish the shots and not worry about the camera getting a little wet.
4- Lenses. I really like the selection of Pentax lenses. They seem better value for money and the DA* series is great. When you boil down the selection of what you really need or can use on your camera the Nikon or Canon selection is not as huge as it looks unless you are a sports photographer and need a super long lens. Plus you can use older lenses and I have bought a couple of older second hand lenses like a super wide angle that I do not use often, but enjoy to have.
5- Value for money. Pentax gives you a much better camera at this price level than Canon or Nikon.

Image quality from what I have seen to very close between all the better cameras. With any of these cameras you have to read the manual and practice using the camera to make the most of it. With a little practice now I am finding the layout of the controls on the Pentax brilliant and can quickly and easily make any of the adjustments I need. There are so many great and clever features that I really enjoy. The shops also made a big deal about the mode dial on the Canon and Nikon. This is great for beginners and the Pentax is more a Prosumer camera. But the Pentax has these same setting in the menu if you want them and we sometimes use them for general shooting.

I love this camera. It does not look like a big hunk of plastic sitting there and has a quality feel to it. It is very easy to learn to use and the resulting photos are fantastic even with the kit lens. My best recommendation is to go to a shop and hold the Pentax side by side with the Canon and Nikon and you will see the differences I have noted above. It really swings the decision to the Pentax.

I have only had a point-and-shoot camera in the past. I had been wanting a DSLR for a while now, and planned on purchasing one with my tax refund this year. I was debating between a K-7 and a K-x. After doing A LOT of research I pretty much came to the realization that in the digital SLR photography world there are two big players, Canon and Nikon. After discussing my choices with my friends, one mentioned that his roommate had a K20 and loved it! I started to research Pentax, and discovered the incredible value to cost that you get from Pentax! I was sold on the K-x, then I started thinking I would like to have the benefits of amazing features and the weather seals. I live in Colorado and who knows when the weather will change. Also the stainless steel chassis and magnesium alloy body were a big sell. This K7 feels like you could use it as a hammer!! It doesn't feel like a feather-light toy, as some competitors do. (Same with the 2 WR lenses) Plus the feature list of the K-7 is amazing.

I received it earlier than the promised date. It was packed fairly well and the package came in good condition. I took it out and set it to P and shot auto for the first day with the 18-55mm WR lens. I took some awesome shots on a "nature walk" through my neighborhood. I have moved onto the manual mode and have started to get into all the features to this camera. (There are so many!!) Having it for 4 days now, I have shot almost 1400 shots. Both indoor and outdoor. I have taken 30 second time delayed night shots, cloudy, full sun, indoor no flash, with flash. The high ISO noise that I have read people complaining about on forums is minimal if you have the settings right! I already have a "highlight reel" folder with my best shots.

I decided to go with Pentax because they are headquartered in Colo. Also I like the fact that I can go buy used lenses and use them in manual focus. A beginner can use this camera and get good results. Yet there is plenty of room to grow into the advanced features and functions!

Great camera, big improvement in low-light AF from previous Pentax DSLR's. One thing you must know is Pentax is one of the very few companies who make in-body stabilized DSLR's and used the same mount since film, allowing all current 3rd party lenses and manual lenses from 30 years ago to work on this body and still maintain optical stabilization. Huge advantage for Pentax over it's competitors, but sadly the world is brainwashed by what they see in Best Buy and the advertisements.

Pentax builds cameras for photographers and hobbyists at the best of their ability. Pentax does not create 3 DSLRs in the same class, pricing them one over another after stripping features. Pentax are a loyal company to their loyal consumers; you will never see them screw their consumers over by producing a bunch of half-baked bodies and advertise them as everything. They make one DSLR for entry-level and one DSLR for semi-pro and putting all they have to offer for a more than reasonable price.

Aside from the quality of Pentax's craftsmanship throughout the years, the superb build quality of the K-7 is not to be forgotten, that over 50 years of producing some of the finest film SLR's and DSLR's, all of that innovation and time spent have been put into creating this masterpiece. 77 weather-seals making it resistant to dust, rain, and cold temperatures, this is truly the most powerful Pentax ever built to date.

Sometimes the best just don't get talked about, in fact most of the best things in life don't get talked about. Most people can't think for themselves. Out of all the people in the world, only a very select few who knows what's best for themselves. People don't come to realize the best things in life until it's too late. I'm glad to be part of the few who figured it out for myself. I do things in life that's best for me, not what others think is best for me. I go Pentax when others say otherwise, because when I held a Pentax in my hands for the very first time, I knew that was it.

After years of keen 35mm SLR photography I had retired my old Pentax kit and settled for compact digital photography, waiting for the "right" DSLR camera to come along. After seeing reviews of the K7 it seemed the ideal camera with the right spec and that would allow me to use my older Pentax glass so I took the plunge and ordered one along with the DA 18-55 lens.
First impressions were good, nice and neat in the hand (other DSLRs will feel bulky), feels expensive, buttons well laid out and menus clear and a nice shutter sound. Its first assignment was on the continental divide in CO in mid Feb and it performed flawlessly in snow and temperatures significantly lower that the camera's quoted -15C. The 5.2 fps worked really well for action sequences and the images came out crisp and clear. Since then it has been used for more ordinary photography and has continued to impress; my wife is an artist and she has been using it for her work and loves it.
So, in short, it has been an excellent purchase that I am very happy with indeed. The camera compares very favourably in operation and performance to Canon and Nikon cameras that I have encountered, is better looking and has less "pose factor" than those brands (which I like).
Image quality is excellent with clear vibrant colours, operation smooth and easy to use with an excellent array of useful modes and features, weatherproofing effective. The low ISO performance which seems to be a criticism in reviews has not been an issue for me at all as I don't do that much of it, but results have been good for me even in low light. The kit lens is an ideal out and about lens and weatherproof, but don't expect it to be amazing optically as it is pretty cheap but it gets decent results and there is a huge choice in new and old Pentax lenses for all requirements. Video performance is also good and it's a welcome feature - I use it more that I thought I would.
All in all, delighted and fully recommend.

I bought this camera about 4 wks ago. I spent several months researching before buying. I also looked at the Nikon D90 and Olympus E-30. I decided on the Pentax K7 largely due better build quality, selection of good & reasonably priced prime lens (some of which I hope to pick up in 2010), and attractive pricing. I do a lot of backpacking; so the weather resistent build quality and ability to match small & good primes is a great combination. The 18-55 came with the kit, and I picked up the 50-200 WR zoom too. I have been very happy with the shots I've taken over the last few weeks. The jpegs are sharp with very good color. The video performace of the camera is very good too.

Update 10/18/11: after owning this camera for a couple of years I can confirm this was a great purchase. Since buying the K7 2 yrs ago, I've bought the Pentax 40 and 21mm prime lens. These lens with the K7 make the perfect travel kit. The quality of the images produced by these lens is superb. Lastly, this camera has a lot of capabilities. I was able to take pictures from day 1 due the green mode etc. That said, throughout the months I've had this camera I keep learning new things which have made me a better photographer. Put different, with this camera I've grown from novice to an advanced intermediate photographer. Thanks Pentax!

After much research, mostly tending towards nikons and canons, I came across this one. Caught my attention immediately with the metal body, 100% view finder, weather seal, compact size, in body shake reduction (which works nicely). An insignificant detail I like is the omission of scene modes from the settings dial. Already a little biased towards Pentax having used a spotmatic for many years, this is the camera I ended up with. My first D-SLR. Have to say, I'm not disappointed. Its fast, responsive and fairly easy to use. Feels great in the hand though the N90 might be a shade more comfortable. K7 captures high quality images, good colors, sharpness etc. Would expect that from any high end camera. Continuous shooting hangs after 4-5 shots for memory transfer, maybe I need to use a faster card (using 4gb, class 4).

K7 gets criticism for noisy high ISO output, but this doesn't really bother me - if I'm taking pictures at a party or indoor (not professionally), 14 mp of noisy image is enough to down sample for flickr/facebook etc. or regular size prints. Besides, the noise at 3400 ISO is not objectionable. Anyone recall 400 speed film!

One disappointment is a limited selection of pentax lenses, e.g. I'd like an equivalent of canon's 24-70mm 2.8 L. Would be nice to have an option for the $99 50mm 1.8 prime (nikon?) vs. the $350 1.4 aperture. Happy with the 18-55 and 50-200 weather seal ones for now.
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Update (1/2)- discovered a bad pixel on the sensor after downloading images to computer. Little disappointed. Decided to return the camera instead of dealing with customer service. Amazon was great about this... Not to say good or bad about pentax customer service, just didn't want to deal with them a week after purchasing a product... All the same, excellent camera... miss it already. Will probably wait for the next generation.

I ordered this when it was sold through Amazon at the end of '09. I had originally been looking solely at Nikons, then spread my research to Canon. One day I stumbled upon an ad for the Pentax K7. I was familiar with the Pentax name, but knew nothing of their DSLRs. Curious, I did my research. Lots and lots of research. It was overwhelming to sift through the many cameras out there and all of the tech. specs., which, at this point, I am not all familiar with. I read many reviews and decided to order the K7 as a first DSLR for my college courses. I'm very pleased that I happened to see an ad for it and went for the camera.

It's been a great camera to learn on and get reaquainted with manual photography with (I had only used an old SLR prior to this. So far, the image quality seems great (if the camera is set correctly (ISO)). I've had quite a few learning experiences with this camera. Now that I know more of what I'm doing, my photos are certainly turning out better and they print very well.

I really enjoy the electronic level function and the many ways you can customize the settings on the camera. I read some reviews about the menu settings being a bit archaic, but I think they suit the camera quite well. Not having to scroll down through one or two large menus is really nice.

One of the selling points on this camera for me was the weatherized body. I've put it to the test, and it certainly has not let me down yet. I've had this little bugger out in the snow, pretty much since I de-boxed it. It's gone on quite a few adventures, accompanying me across wind-whipped lakes on the ice and even down a hill whilt tubing. I may have also accidentally dropped my camera bag with the camera in it. No damage! (I have the Medium Size Ape Case Pro by Norazza, a great bag to go along with the camera and a lens or two).

If I had to be incredibly picky about something, it would have to be the lens cap that came with the lens. Try as I might, I can never seem to get it to actually lock on. Sometimes it seems as if it is on, but then it will slip off. It kind of makes me think it could scratch the lens, pretty much defeating the purpose of a cap. Pretty insignificant, but hey, that just goes to show what a great DSLR this is. I may end up tossing the cap all together and going for filter instead, but I'm not sure yet.

All in all, I've really been pleased with my K7's performance. I'm excited to go through photography classes with it, even if I am the only one with a Pentax. As they say, be different! Give Pentax a try, you will be pleased with the quality you get for the money you put into it.

I will make this short, this camera is great! I've been researching for a DSLR for several years. I just didn't want to take the plunge because of cost and how confusing they seemed to be. Well I finally decided on the Pentex K-7 after much research. I always leaned towards Cannon or Nikkon but the Pentax just seemed to be a real camera and not all hype. I also really liked the weather resistant rating on this camera. My first impressions is that this camera is great, has a lot of features and I love the quality of pics and the quality of the feel of the camera base.

I've only had it for about 2 weeks, and I bought the Magic Lantern book with it which I also recommend if your new to DSLRs. I have taken about 500 pics so far and I'm very very impressed witht the prints and the speed of the camera. I took it on a recent hiking trip in Sedona, Az and got hit hard by wind/sand ontop of a ridge and was happy to have such a weather resistant camera. I took a total of 200 photos and all the pics came crisp and clean. The only problem was that I bought a cheap 55mm UV filter which I don't recommend. I got a few pics of flare towards the west photos during sunset. So I just ordered a B+W high quality filter which I should get in the mail soon. Don't waste your money on a cheap filter!

I also like the software that came with the K-7. It's not as good as photoshop, but it's easy to use and you can make good touch ups when it comes to WB and Ev really quick.

All in all, I'm a new DSLR user and I'm still learning how to master the camera and digital photography in general. But the K-7 is easy to use and is a joy to work with. I love the quality of the camera and from what I can see the camera takes amazing photos as well. I also ordered a tripod which I haven't had a chance to use yet but will shortly and will update my review on night shots.

If your thinking about a DSLR and want a good camera that wont break the bank but will hold up against the most popular models then buy this camera!

i'll keep it short and simple; i <3 my new camera. i'm upgrading from a pentax k100D, so this is quite a step up. i love the metal body, the weather sealing is a plus, and the kit lens is better than i expected. (i'm less than thrilled with my old kit lens, the 18-55 AL lens that came with the k100d.) the camera is super sharp with my 50mm 1.4 lens. issues with high iso noise can be worked around by changing some of the custom settings on the menu. the 5.2 fps continuous mode is a huge step up from barely 3 fps on my k100d. the auto focus is also much better. only time it hunts is if its pointed at something smooth and solid colored. if you're thinking about buying it, go ahead. you'll be happy you did.