Customer Reviews

Pentax K-x 12.4MP Digital SLR with 2.7 inch LCD and 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL Lens (Red)

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As soon as I saw this red camera, I absolutely had to have it. I did tremendous amounts of research to figure out if it was actually worth upgrading from my D40, then ordered it the day it became available on Amazon. While a few things might have been nicer on the Nikon, this camera is a wonderful upgrade. If the color isn't enough (this is for the red model if reviews become merged later on), it has some very nice specs to it. Ability to use essentially any Pentax lens ever made (and auto-focus), ISO 6400, 1/6000 shutter, many built-in imaging features(HDR, filters, color tweaks). This thing is truly a beast!

Body; When I first pulled it from the box, I was a little discouraged. While it is a well made camera, it does have a much lighter and cheaper feel than the Nikon had. The over-all fit and finish is fine, but the plastics don't feel as high quality. Perhaps it's because they're smooth, but it's also just my opinion. A slight concern, too, is that the red appears to be "painted", seeing as the inside of the doors are white. Overtime there's a chance the color could rub off, but I'm hoping this does not happen. Materials aside, the camera does have a nice feel. I have large hands with very long, slim fingers and the grip fits my hands great. The primary controls are within easy reach, with only a couple odd deviations(such as the flash and green soft-button).

The LCD on the back is average. It's your typical resolution, but works fine for previewing. Now the viewfinder I find to be more difficult to use than the Nikon. The focal point does not illuminate, making it both difficult to find and difficult to tell what's being focused. Also I can't seem to see all the specs in the viewfinder. I do wear glasses so I can't press my eye right against the eyepiece, but this wasn't a problem with the Nikon. While this certainly isn't a deal killer, it would be something to keep in mind.

Shooting performance is great. This camera is very fast. Start up time is essentially instant, focusing is lightning fast and it can take nearly 6FPS at it's peak. I have found low-light focusing to be a little worse than the Nikon, but that's also because the Pentax lacks an AF assist light. While it can use the flash, it still isn't quite as accurate as the Nikon and it's little light.

Image quality is very nice. Noise is well controlled under most all ISO settings. ISO6400 is very usable in average lighting conditions. But as light decreases, noise becomes more apparent. Many images from this camera do seem a bit more noisy than other cameras at similar ISO settings, but it still can produce comparable prints. Colors tend to be on the flat side using default settings, but with insane amounts of tweaks, this can be changed to whatever you please. White balance is managed very nicely too, with much better auto WB under incandescent lighting than the Nikon (though manual setting is still the best). The stabilizer works well. It's not as apparent when taking casual shots, but when using liveview, it is very easy to watch (and hear!) it working. While still on image quality, the movie mode actually astonished me. The quality is very sharp. While this is not a movie camera, the videos produced are supurb. Just realize AF is disabled and the stabilizer does interfere with the audio.

Honest, I suppose my only real complaint about this camera are the batteries. Why Pentax decided to go with AA's rather than a lithium pack is beyond me... Aside from being a bit clunky (4 batteries over a single pack) the system is rather buggy. I have been told the "batteries are depleted" but then restart the camera and continue to shoot for hours. Even after upgrading to firmware 1.1, the battery meter tends to jump around. If Pentax had gone with a lithium pack, this camera would be perfect 5 stars.

So to sum up, if you want a camera somewhere between the Nikon D90 and D5000 that strays away from the "normal" brands, this is a camera to consider.

--Update--

After having the camera for almost a month, I figured I'd post a little update. I still love the camera. I've had no problems to speak of. Pictures are looking very nice; people are always complimenting me on the camera and the photos it takes :)

I guess my only real complaints would still be the batteries and the white balance. The battery meter, as mentioned above, is very off. But all in all it works well enough to guess how much juice is remaining. As for the white balance, I've noticed it tends to be a bit more off than the Nikon was. I have a couple flashes, and it seems to be more-so with the Pentax 360FGZ so I'm not even sure if I should blame the camera or not...

These things aside, I'm really loving this camera. I'm a very difficult person to please but I'm exceptionally happy with my purchase.

While attempting to find a good ,mid range ,entry level DSLR, I stumbled across the pentax K-x. I mean, how could I miss that flashy red color. And after extensive research it wasnt just the red color that attracted me to this camera.

First off ,after testing many of the canons and nikons around the k-x's class. ( i.e. canon xsi, t1i, nikon D3000, D5000) I found the pentax much eaiser to pick up and get started. Being a previous canon user myself, the T1i seemed far to intimidating. Right out of the box with the K-x I was able to figure out how to adjust settings and within 15 minutes had some half decent shots.

However the only thing that did not seem to make sense to me was the placement of the delete button ( all the way over in left field). My hand has to shift to hit it. Which i suppose is not a bad thing, considering there is something heartless about a delete button on a camera. ( I love film and am stuck in my ways)

The feel of this in my hands is almost as good as my 35mm metal body film camera (gasp!)it doesnt feel like a cheap toy. Its solid, as one reviewer had also pointed out.

The cross processing feature sold me. I do a lot of cross processing with film , which quickly gets pricey. Although its not film , it pleases me ( and my wallet) that I can now get close results digitally. the digital filters are fun to play around with as well, most notablly: Toy camera , which imatates the 'old school' holgas/diana's that hipsters die for now a days.

live view seems a bit noisy to me. I can hear the camera 'think' ( click )when I change settings such as the iso. But , then again , this is the first DSLR that I have owned ...so it could be minor issue.

Video quality is superb.

and above all the price is right. ( much cheaper than the nikon's and canon's you'll come across in its range)

I urge those looking at buying a new dslr to look into the pentax K-X . you wont be dissapointed. PLUS who else has got a RED! camera.

win win.

I recently upgraded from my beloved Olympus e-510 DSLR with the 14-42mm and 40-150mm kits lenses in order to get a DSLR with better low-light performance and HD video capabilities. I loved my Olympus, but image quality took a nose-dive at ISO 800, and I liked the idea of having an HD camcorder built into my camera to capture high quality family photos and home videos in one device. I eventually settled on the Pentax K-x after first buying, and then returning, a Canon T2i.

I know that the T2i costs almost twice as much as the K-x, and they're not direct competitors, but I think my experience illustrates what a great camera and bargain the K-x is and how, for me at least, it was a giant killer.

I initially pre-ordered a T2i for the $900 MSRP after reading the glowing reviews in the press about the 18MP sensor, the high-ISO performance and the killer 1080p video. When I received the T2i, I was surprised by how cheap and plasticky it felt. It's not that the T2i was likely to fall apart, but my Olympus felt and looked like a higher quality camera, even though it was about $200 less than the T2i when I bought it. I realize that the T2i is a Rebel, but for almost $1000, I expected something more solid.

Even worse was the Canon 18-55mm kit lens, which felt like a toy compared to my Olympus kit lenses. It looked cheap, and the zoom action felt very cheap, and you could hear plastic-on-plastic as you zoomed in and out. There was no lens hood included, and the optional lens hood was only about an inch deep and looked ridiculous. The front element rotated when auto-focusing, which makes using some filters problematic, and you had to switch off AF to manually make focus adjustments. My Olympus lenses did not rotate the front element, and allowed full time focus override without turning off AF. And build-wise, they looked and felt like a higher end lens. But worst of all, Canon kits lens's optical performance was lacking, rendering the 18MP sensor moot.

I could live with the cheap feel of the T2i body and the ugly jelly-bean design, but I came to realize that in order to get a lens that would match the performance of the body, I would need to shell out another $500 or more, and as a hobbyist I just didn't have the budget.

The real deal-breaker with the T2i though, was the use of Quicktime format for the HD video. Quicktime is a proprietary Apple video format, and while I must assume it works well on a new Mac, the QT videos often gave PCs problems. I'd read about this from other users, but I figured that with my high-end PCs and my computer knowledge, I would be okay. But both my new Sony Vaio laptop with Windows 7, ATI 4650 graphics and 4GB of RAM and my desktop computer with Windows XP, dual-core processor, 4GB of RAM, Raptor 10K HDD and nVidia 8800GT graphics would stutter on playback of the 1080p files. And finding affordable programs to edit Quicktime HD video files is another headache. I wasn't about to buy a new Mac just to be able to work with the video from my new camera.

So back went the T2i, and my quest for a new camera continued. I was just about to pull the trigger on a Nikon D5000, when I came across the Pentax K-x.

The first thing that grabbed my attention was the styling. I thought the red was killer, but I wasn't that brave. And the camera looked dead-sexy in navy blue, but when I saw the white version, I was in love. One thing I liked about my Olympus was that it was something DIFFERENT than all the Nikons and Canon Rebels you see every other parent carrying to school or sports functions. I would often get questions about it from people who didn't realize that Olympus even MADE DSLRs. With this Pentax, I would again have something out of the ordinary.

Then I started reading reviews of the K-x. One of the great things about the T2i is the high ISO image quality, and according to the reviews and the sample images I was looking at, the K-x was right there with it.

And the K-x also did HD video. There were some limitations, such as 720p and lack of full control over exposure while shooting video, but I didn't really mind since the samples I downloaded looked great, even on my 110" 1080P home theater projector. And 720p files take less space than 1080p and require less processing power to playback and edit. And best of all, the K-x uses Motion JPEG video format, which plays back great on PCs and is compatible with almost any Windows video editing program. The MJPEG format does use more disk space than the equivalent QT file, but hard drives and SD cards are cheap these days, so it's not a big deal.

Another great thing about the K-x is that it has sensor-based image stabilization in the body, so any lens you stick on the camera is stabilized. My Olympus used a similar system, and I was very happy with it. The big advantage is that you can be non-stabilized lenses so they'll be smaller, lighter, and less expensive.

I ended up buying the K-x in white with the 18-55mm lens. The K-x looks and feels like a higher quality camera than the T2i, and matches my Olympus in this department. The kit lens is also a very worthy piece of hardware.

With the money I saved on the Pentax, I was able to buy the legendary Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 lens, a Pentax 55-300mm zoom lens, and a Sigma speedlight. The flash was new, but I got great deals on the slighty-used lenses on eBay and Craigslist.

I've been using the Pentax for a couple months now, and have taken hundreds of pictures. I am absolutely thrilled with the camera and couldn't be happier with the photos and videos I'm getting. The T2i did have just slightly more detail, but other than that I would say the K-x has equal image quality. And the 12MP RAW image files of the K-x are faster to work with than the 18MP files of the T2i and take up much less space on SD cards, so you don't have to worry about filling up nearly as fast.

That's not too much negative I can say about the camera. I would like it to have a mini-HDMI port and a standard mini-USB port, and continuous auto-focus would be nice in video mode, but no other DSLR has that yet. Stereo mics would also be nice.

I suspect that the image stabilization system may not be as good as the one in my Olympus, but I can't say for sure since my 300mm is longer than the telephoto I had with the Olympus and will therefore be more prone to shake.

I get compliments on the Pentax everywhere I go, and it's been a joy to use and own. I could not be happier with my purchase.

In the future I'll probably add a Sigma 30mm F1.4 prime and a Sigma 10-20mm ultra-wide zoom to my lens kit.

Just for the record, I'm not trying to bash on the T2i. It is an amazing camera that is currently without peer in its price range. But if you're like me and you only have about $1000 to spend, I think you will get much more value by going with a less-expensive but almost-as-capable camera like the K-x, and using the extra money on high quality lenses. My F2.8 constant-aperture lens has been a revolution for me, and I recommend every budding photographer make room in their budget for something similar.

Ok, so this is the first time I have reviewed any camera let alone a DSLR. I find the Pentax KX to be an awesome camera to which it fits all the needs I bought it for. My sons are involved in sports so one of the major reasons I purchased this camera was because of the high ISO rate. I was tired of missing all those great shots of line drives up the middle and photo finish swim meets. I like the 4.7 pics per second feature and actually what I discovered was that it can take pictures faster in better lighting. I can just hold the button down and I can take a snapshot of the baseball in mid air flight and just about every step my son would take running to first base without any blur whatsoever.

Another great thing about this camera are the turn dial settings. The Night time setting is incredible in which when you take a picture of someone at night in normal pictures taken with other cameras that I've owned, the faces would be whited out practically and the background would be very dark. With the KX those same type of pictures are near perfect. Faces are clear and properly color balanced and the scenery behind the subject comes in clearly. Background night landscapes and focus point faces are all brilliantly displayed.

The most powerful thing I noticed was the macro for super close shots. The first day I got the camera I toyed with this setting and took a close up picture of the back of my hand and wedding band. The picture was so clear and close up, I could see every skin pore and every scratch on my wedding band and looked almost foreign due to the intensity of the close proximity to my hand.

I did a lot of research before I purchased this camera. The Nikon had some nice features and so did the Canon and Lumix but when I compared features that I was interested in for the dollar amount the Pentax KX was the best solution. *Tip* If you are looking for a new camera, look for what you will be doing the most of, ie. action shots, night shots, close ups, daytime or whatever it may be and focus your research that way. I focused on those first then worked my way out from there.

I just got mine this week and have not yet had time to learn how to use all the features but can make some comments immediately on preliminary inspection:

1. I like the build quality better than comparable Canon or Nikon models. The Pentax seems to have a metal body and has a solid feel while others feel more like plastic.

2. The Pentax feels better in my hand and is better adapted to one handed shooting because in front the grip widens just above your ring finger to keep the camera from moving downward and in back there is a gentle ridge on the right hand edge of the camera to rest against your thumb and keep the camera from rotating out of your hand. These features demonstrate carefuk ergonomic design and just plain make the camera easier to hold one handed. I recall nothing similar on other cameras I've tried or own.

3. It's red. It's my xmas present to myself and I find this appropriately festive. Further, it should make it easier to find in the clutter. The paint job is not glossy and has a good coefficient of friction, enhancing the ability to hold the camera securely.

4. The shutter release button auto-focuses before the shot with very little pressure and little or no perceptible motion. Final shutter release is accompanied by perceptible tactile feedback. Cameras from other makers take quite a bit more pressure to autofocus which may result in occasional accidental shutter release.

5. The full auto mode is adequate for producing decent pictures in a variety of situations. One doesn't need to learn all the specialized tricks and features right away.

6. The camera insists on asking me what language I speak every time it is turned on. I realize one camera might have several users but I find this inconvenient. Maybe there is something somewhere in the settings which will suppress it.

7. The Canon software I am used to using to download and organize photos doesn't seem to work with this Pentax. That's bad software design and I suspect the blame lies at Canon's door. Generic MS Windows software works OK for transferring files.

As I write there are no other reviews of this red KX; I suggest reading reviews of the black model for further info.

Quick note for those considering the red model : the body color is not a deep-rich (marlboro) red or even a brighter-but-stll-rich coca cola red. It is a bright, not fully-saturated red with a slight pinkish tone which becomes more apparent when seen in daylight. It's not bad but maybe the white or orange are cooler : ) The back and side views on the official Pentax site are the most honest - - the other views have been tweaked.

As you may or may not surmise, the red model's color is my only mini-gripe with my purchase of this amazing camera : read on for details...

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( Early 2010 ) I am a graphic design professional with some prior experience with DSLRs - by no means a master photographer but knowledgeable enough to be able to use my own photography in certain professional settings. Money is tight and so I researched hard to find the best possible deal out there for a strong yet economical DSLR. I feel I have made the right choice. I was able to get going with using this camera within an hour of unpacking the box, which made opening up the manual an exercise in will-power, if ultimately rewarding.

I was also elated to confirm it works perfectly with the 2 lenses I inherited from my family which had been sitting unused since the early 80s ( 1 was Pentax and the other a macro Toyo lens - used with my father's old analog Pentax SLR).

Everything they say about the high-iso is true : thing sees in the dark, period. Overall I have fallen in love with the camera's ease of use : the intuitively laid out controls, and logically laid-out menus make adjustments to even 'deeper' setting quick and pain-free, resulting in great pictures with marvelous depth of field, color and detail. Even the idiot setting is usable if you're under time pressure or you need a 'fail-safe'.

>> The only issue, as noted elsewhere, is you must absolutely check which firmware the camera has installed. Do this the minute you get it ( you can do this by switching it on with the menu button pressed. If it says 1.0 you must google Pentax k-x firmware 1.1, scan the links for the official Pentax site, download it for Windows or Mac and install by dropping the downloaded bin file in your SD / SDHC card's volume. Don't forget to format the card : I suggest doing this in the camera - it is less of a pain. Mac users : if you format the card with disc utility, you need to choose MS-DOS formatting, not OSX!!!!

Despite the last bit - or the first bit on the red color for that matter - I give it 5 stars because, for the money and the value it gets you, dealing with a negligible take-care-of-and-forget firmware snag is getting away with murder. I in fact wholeheartedly recommend this camera to anyone who just wants to document their life with some damn quality. If you have eyes and reading skills and 500 bucks you can and should use this camera.

The promise of digital photography has been fulfilled. Welcome to the future.

BUY THIS THING NOW!!!!!!

The Pentax K-x has become one of the most popular "entry-level" DSLRs for some very good reasons: it has excellent image quality and colors; it is compact without feeling like a toy; the "kit-lens" is actually quite good; and it is easy to use and understand without being restricted or "dumbed down." The fact that it comes in colors in the US, like the Red one here, only adds to the appeal (as of this review it also comes in White, Blue, Green, Orange, Purple, and basic Black). Life is short, so express yourself wherever you can - not everything needs to be monochrome. Besides, having only black cameras, as if they are like a "pro camera," doesn't change them from being small and plastic. Personally, I've found that the Red K-x puts people at ease and they actually look at the camera and smile!

Aside from the colorful shell, what does it offer? Well, the headlines are that the high-ISO images this camera produces are amazingly detailed and free from noise (and this means you can use faster shutter speeds in lower light, so your images are sharp without being washed out by a flash). Right now, the K-x has been recognized as the low-priced leader for low-light photography. The colors of the images you get are vibrant and bright (even in low light), and the exposure is quite predictable, although the LCD display on the back doesn't always show this when viewing images on it. Actually, the LCD display is mainly good for setting the options, of which this camera has a ton!

So, rather than do a "dpreview" run down of all the features, I'll just hit the highlights in two categories (pro/con):

PRO:

- Compact and solid, with a grip that is comfortable even for larger hands

- Fast. Fast to start up, fast to shoot (5 fps!), fast to focus (with the kit lens).

- Image Stabilization built into the camera, not the lens, so every lens has "shake reduction" (and it works well!)

- Can use any Pentax-mount lens from the 1950's onward, and they are now stabilized and have AF-confirmation (you manually focus and the camera beeps when you hit it!)

- Comes with the usual "scene modes" but doesn't forgo the photographer modes like Av, Tv, Sv (ISO priority) or Program mode

- Excellent metering and pretty good AF mean that what you want to capture typically looks good (and the Scene modes help out as well)

- High ISO (1600-6400) which is actually *useable* and not too noisy, with an Auto-ISO mode set from the factory!

- HD video (720p) is recorded in an easy to view and edit format

- The various "filter modes" are fun to use, and can even be applied to raw files by processing them in the camera

- The supplied lithium AAs last a really long time, and rechargeable NiMHs (like Eneloops) also last a long time and AAs can be bought anywhere

- Nice UI for the LCD screen, with clearly visible controls on the body

- Pentax makes some of the best lenses for landscapes, scenics, and portraits that are still affordable (example: the DA40mm Limited is tiny, sharp, fast, and all metal and glass for about $350 - incredible!)

- It is both fun to look at and fun to use (isn't that why you're reading the review of a red SLR?)

CON:

- Uses AA batteries, which makes it a bit heavier than other models

- Only one dial to change things like shutter speed or aperture quickly (so you can't change both at the same time so quickly)

- HD Movies are large (uncompressed) and like all DSLR HD movies, tend to be a bit jittery in fast motion (but the movies are also stabilized against handshake)

- Sound on Movies is not too good (built-in mic above the lens, so any focus noise is heard loud and clear)

- AF in Live View is sloooow (contrast-detect) and really only good for slow moving objects or bright sunlight

- Things like "face-detect" and "HDR capture" look good in the specs, but aren't so useful without patience or a tripod

I can write on & on about PENTAX. I was a Canon analog user since I was 8 years old. After a 10-year interruption with my photography, it was time to get into digital. I started with a FUJI bridge camera (S9100). Looking @ Canon dSLR models did not impress me at all until I handled a PENTAX *ist DL. To make it short, PENTAX is ART. Whether its handling, vivid colors, user-friendliness, and more importantly its pictures are closest to Film.

This brand does not advertize much. In fact, they are not good @ it. You have to discover it. Over past couple of years, I've seen how Canikons have tried to use PENTAX ideas & have sold more because of their names (Nikon D40/40x/60 size, Canon redesigning their buttons on their Rebel models).

PENTAX colored K-x's are brilliant artistic pieces besides being sharp with great high-ISO quality & vivid colors.

This is my first digital SLR. I have sparingly used my friends' Nikon and Canon cameras. When compared to those, the Pentax K-x red is very good and suits me well. The Pentax K-x is also very cheap. It looks like price has nothing to do with quality. Having used manual film SLR cameras for a long time, I am not a fan of all the bells and whistles that come with some of the latest cameras. I feel that Canon and Nikon, have way too many bells and whistles that you have to pay for. Since I never use these bells and whistles, I don't need them. So this Pentax is very ideal and provides good quality artistic photography. In my case as I am an artist, I want to take the picture. I do not want the camera to take the picture for me. All I need is a camera that will let me set the exposure and shutter speeds. I do a lot of low light photography too. Why waste more money on all the fancy pre-programmed stuff. I can get a $1K or $2K camera and set it in manual more and use it. Then I am wasting a lot of money. When I can get the same results (some times better) with a $500 camera, I would definitely go for the $500 Pentax. I just got it and haven't used it much. But so far with the few shots, I am very impressed. I have to learn more about this camera and how use it to my needs. I like the red color. It stands out!

For the price, this camera is perfect for beginners.

Pros: shutter speed, simple menu and picture modes, cool color-red, battery type AA (available everywhere, be sure to use eneloop), size (slightly smaller than other SLRs), many options in menu, video capability.

Cons: Still have to find one.

some customers mentioned that this camera is a battery guzzler but it's not that bad if you use eneloop or any other Lithium battery.