Pentax K-7 Digital SLR - Test Shots - Detail and Lens Performance

A range of general test shots are shown over the next two pages. In some cases, the full size image has been reduced for bandwidth purposes, and a crop taken from the original full resolution image has been placed below it to show the overall image quality. Some other pictures may be clicked to view the original full-size image.

----

My car's off the road at the moment, so no Sidmouth shot this week, but here's another scene to test the detail level.

----

Yup, that's some fine detail right there.

----

This was shot with the D-Range feature switched off.

----

This is the same shot with D-Range on.

----

This is the same shot using the K-7's built-in HDR capture mode. Perhaps you're starting to see why I like this camera so much.

----

Shooting into bright sunlight can be a problem...

----

...but with the K-7's huge dynamic range you can always pull the shadow details out in Raw mode.

----

	$1100	Buy now

Comments

Please wait while we process your request

Please wait while we retrieve the user's information

Bio

Your bio is currently empty. Now is a great time to fill in your profile.

This profile is private.

This profile is only shared with friends.

This profile is under review.

We were unable to request friendship with this user.

We were unable to request friendship with this user. Are you logged in?

Your friendship request has been sent to this user.

We were unable to terminate friendship with this user.

We were unable to terminate friendship with this user. Are you logged in?

You are no longer friends with this user.

We were unable to ignore this user.

We were unable to ignore this user. Are you logged in?

This user is now ignored.

We were unable to stop ignoring this user.

We were unable to stop ignoring this user. Are you logged in?

This user is no longer ignored.

pluck_user_mp-abuse_too_long_err

14 comments

Sort:

Name withheld

Martin Daler

9:42 PM on 3 September, 2009

This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore Martin Daler. Show Details Hide Details

I don't like to point out typos, but I think the features table really is from the K20D.

Score:

amin

11:24 AM on 4 September, 2009

This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore amin. Show Details Hide Details

Hi Cliff

To say I was eagerly awaiting your review on the K7 would be an understatement :). I have been waiting for it since it came out as I feel that the K20 (which was my first DSLR also thanks to your great review on it) is not not giving me what I need from it now. I could do with a faster AF and what I discovered is that when I use it with the DA* lenses the AF is slower even compared to the screw mount focusing lenses. Noise performance is another aspect I really would love it to be better. In fact the noise issue is so important for some art work I like doing in the studio that I was even considering the 5DMK2, and was so close to ordering one a couple of days ago after deliberating so long but suddenly saw the 7D announcement and that made me rethink, at least until I see some reviews of the 7D, hopefully pretty soon from you again :).

And now you just hit me with such a brilliant review of the K-T :), and am so tempted. It would make things much easier for me as I have a good collection of lenses for it already, including all the DA* collection.

Now I am back to the drawing board. K-7, 5DMK2 with that added benefit of FF but having to fork out an extra £2K to get lenses that I would like to have for my setup or the 7D with that fantastic array of features that they announced. My initial hesitation going for the FF was that I also love wildlife and would be struggling to get anything decent in range for my budget for the FF. And I am used to the lovely DA*300mm and I use it occasionally with the Pentax 1.7X adapter giving me 510mm range without much loss of IQ.

Ahh, decisions decisions :)

Thanks

Amin

Odyn

11:41 AM on 4 September, 2009

This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore Odyn. Show Details Hide Details

Might be worth saying K-7 usually comes with weather resistant kit lense (18-55 WR) and not the older 18-55 II. WR version of 50-200 kit lense is also available.

Chris 14

3:41 PM on 4 September, 2009

This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore Chris 14. Show Details Hide Details

Woah, is it just me or is that one ugly-looking camera! I know, who cares, but, you know... ;-)

I couldn't help noticing that many of the sample shots are dark and and bit fuzzy?

The HDR mode looks handy but it seems their engineers have had too much time on their hands if there are options to be able to tweak the position and rotation of the sensor. Why not just go the whole hog and make it take its own pictures!

Noodles

4:22 PM on 4 September, 2009

This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore Noodles. Show Details Hide Details

Nice camera, but shame Pentax decided to double the price of all it's decent lenses a few months ago. For example The 12-24mm used to be around £400, now it's £1000! The 16-50mm DA*, the ideal standard zoom for this camera, went from £500 to £850! Value for money was pretty much Pentax's strong point against Canikon, but now even they have become even more reasonable then Pentax!

The reports that Pentax needs a partner to ensure survival are also sure to put people off stumping up the large amount of cash for a K-7, when the manufacturer's future is very much in doubt.

Oh yes, just noticed the black painted hotshoe. What a stupid idea, just mounting a flash a couple of times will start to strip the paint straight off that.. Every other company has abandonded it, but somehow Pentax sticks with it..

graham10

4:23 PM on 4 September, 2009

This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore graham10. Show Details Hide Details

Hi Cliff,

"every feature that anyone could conceivably need, and then some"......except for an articulated screen, that is. By now I might have bought a Nikon D90 if its screen tilted or twisted and I probably won't put this Pentax on my wish list for similar reasons. It seems such a simple feature to add to an SLR and I don't understand why manufacturers are seemingly set against it on upmarket cameras. I have an old Olympus 8080 and use it with the screen tilted upwards when shooting candid shots and for low level work. I've been waiting for a prosumer DSLR with everything the K7 has plus an articulated screen to tempt me into upgrading, but it looks like I'll have to wait a while longer yet.

I'd be very interested in your observations.

Graham, Belper, Derebyshire, UK.

MrGodfrey

4:38 PM on 4 September, 2009

This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore MrGodfrey. Show Details Hide Details

Chris - It's just you :P It looks like a digital SLR camera, no more ugly than the Nikons, Sonys etc. I'd hope they prioritise handling over looks.

I actually like the idea of being able to move the sensor - but it occurs to me that it had better have some kind of warning to remind you when you've moved the sensor, otherwise you could presumably end up inadvertently taking shots partially out of focus or with odd perspective.

Anyway this looks to be a fantastic camera; I won't be buying one yet as the K20d serves me fine (plus I can't afford it!) but it's encouraging to see Pentax really leading the way again rather than relying on value as the main selling point.

6:14 PM on 4 September, 2009

@ Chris, are you sure there is nothing wrong with your monitor? I don't see any fuzzy pics nor dark. I would check the monitor if I were you, just a thought.

pentaxian450

11:26 AM on 5 September, 2009

This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore pentaxian450. Show Details Hide Details

Graham-To me, a mobile screen "à la Nikon5000" is just another thing that could get snagged somewhere and broken off. I agree it might be handy in some situations, but the risk of seeing it broken off is too high for me.

Rizwancd0

5:51 AM on 6 September, 2009

This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore Rizwancd0. Show Details Hide Details

I've read comments over the web that Pentax has had some serious QC issues with this camera. For example, a mysterious vertical line appearing in the images due to sensor issues. Or trouble focusing using certain lenses.

Have you encountered any problems like that?

Please wait while we file your abuse report.

We're sorry. We were unable to report abuse at this time.

We limit the number of reactions an individual user can submit over a given period for quality reasons. You have currently reached that limit. Please try resubmitting your abuse report again later.

Comment is too long. Enter 500 characters or less.