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32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
its awesome, December 2, 2009
This review is from: Pentax K-x 12.4 MP Digital SLR with 2.7-inch LCD and 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL Lens (White) (Electronics)
levels of details, image quality, noise, features - I love everything about this little gem. Video is good too and my only complaint is that it needed a lithium-ion rechargeable battery to support more battery life when using movie\live mode. Its enough when using 4 AA lithium batteries - it lasts for at least a 1000s shots plus some occasional live mode and movie usage. Ive read about Sanyo eneloop rechargeables (these should last longer) but havent tried them yet. But with regular rechargeables it doesnt last that long enough.
I love the low noise and amount of details I can get shooting up to 1600 ISO - night shots (no flash), aquarium or theater images now look beautiful and I dont have to use a flash. All shot with 1600 ISO gives me enough shutter speed to get great sharp and detailed images.
UPDATE: 12/15/2009
Pentax released a firmware update for k-x dSLR that fixes battery problem.
[...]
I have installed the firmware and it looks like it does fixes the problem. Now it doesnt give me half-battery orange indicator when I use my lithiums (its still green).
I havent tried it with rechargeables because I dont have any yet (still using my lithiums).
UPDATE: 04/01/2010
I bought Sanyo Eneloop Rechargeable Batteries - those working out pretty well in holding the charge.
Since December I think I only recharged them two or three times and the indicator got into red just yesterday.
For more images taken with k-x visit my flickr stream
[...]
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35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great little DSLR Penatx got it right with this one!, January 15, 2010
This review is from: Pentax K-x 12.4 MP Digital SLR with 2.7-inch LCD and 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL Lens (White) (Electronics)
I am an advanced amateur and have been shooting with an SLR since the early 70's.
I bought my first digital in 1999, a Nikon 900s, and fell in love with the technology.
I've owned many many DSLR's since Canon introduced the first affordable (it was $3k)EOS D30 many years back.
I've since owned or shot with Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Fuji, Panasonic and others I can't remember.
I have always wanted a small DSLR that could replace my Canon mid range models. Most recently the 40D.
The Rebel series was never comfortable for my large hands.
I bought this Pentax K-x on a whim as it was really inexpensive, offered a lot of features and promised very good high ISO results.
It has met or exceeded all my expectations!
I haven't been this impressed with a new camera since my 1st DSLR, that $3000 Canon D30!
It is small but comfortable to use, even in my big hands, and the pictures at ISO 1600 look like ISO 400 on other brands,
Even ISO 3200 is very usable!
The kit lens is very sharp!
As an added bonus you can use most any Pentax lens ever made which opens up a huge opportunity to try some Legacy lenses.
I have sold my Canon gear and this little Pentax does everything better and in a much more compact form.
It even shoots decent HD video.
I even was able to get a smaller camera bag.
Very Highly recommended!!
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing entry-level DSLR for such a low price, February 22, 2010
This review is from: Pentax K-x 12.4 MP Digital SLR with 2.7-inch LCD and 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL Lens (White) (Electronics)
I have experience using film SLRs as well as a Nikon DSLR, and I've owned a few Canon compact cameras. After quite a bit of online research, I chose this camera to be my first DSLR, and I am very, very pleased with my decision.
The K-x is small for a DSLR, and I've gotten a few surprised comments from people seeing me pull such a fancy camera out of a small messenger bag. Even so, it has a sturdy feel to it and doesn't feel too tiny in my relatively large hands. I also like the black and white body and have gotten compliments about that as well.
The camera has an AUTO PICT mode for newcomers that takes control of the focus, shutter speed, aperture, and ISO; all you need to do is aim at your subject and press the shutter button. There are also a wide variety of scene modes (macro, portrait, landscape, candlelight, kids, etc.) that are tailored for specific situations. But for people who like to take creative control, there are the typical priority modes (aperture, shutter, and ISO) as well as manual mode. The buttons are few enough that you can easily memorize how to manipulate the camera without having to dig through menus for the important functions. There's even a green button that can act as a shortcut to certain features; I like to use it for enabling cross-processing.
Speaking of which, the K-x features some digital filters (toy camera, high contrast, retro, etc.) that seem superficial but can be very interesting to use. However, my favorite mode by far is cross-processing, which causes the colors, contrast, and saturation of pictures to be randomly distorted, creating some pretty spectacular results from seemingly unspectacular subjects. Enabling this mode adds some unpredictability and fun to digital photography normally exclusive to film cameras (lomography, anyone?) or Photoshop.
Of course, the K-x also packs a lot of serious features comparable with more expensive DSLRs on the market, such as a 12 meagpixel resolution, built-in image stabilization, 4.7 photos per second shooting speed, and a broad ISO range up to 12800. It boasts compatibility with any Pentax lens, which will be useful later on when I get tired of the kit lens. I also deeply appreciate the use of AA batteries, which are cheap to buy, easy to find, and can also be rechargeable. The built-in microphone and ability to record in sharp, 720p 24fps video is also great for spontaneous moments when you need to shoot video and don't have a camcorder handy.
After using the camera for about a month, I've encountered a few setbacks. The camera has difficulty automatically focusing in certain low-light situations, requiring manual focus. Then there is the lack of manual focus assistance in the viewfinder. If you are focusing manually, you have to rely on focusing by sight, which can be difficult. This is compounded by the fact that the resolution of the screen is not extremely sharp, enough so that when you review a picture the subject may not seem blurry unless you zoom in to check. The viewfinder also does not indicate which autofocus point is chosen, making its use a bit of a gamble. Also, there's the faint clicking noise that the image stabilization makes during movie mode, and there is no jack for an external microphone. Recording movies also eats batteries, eats memory card space, and causes the camera to heat up quickly, but these problems are present in all current DSLRs anyway, so don't buy a DSLR solely for its video capabilities. These are all the small problems I've encountered, but they hardly pose major setbacks and can be easily worked around.
Overall, this camera is highly configurable and packs an enormous amount of features for such an inexpensive camera. If you have never owned a DSLR before or are searching for a powerful budget camera, I highly recommend the Pentax K-x.
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