Pentax K-7 Review: 11. Menus: Digital Photography Review

Menus

For the K-7 Pentax has refreshed and tweaked the menu system from the K20D. There are still 4 tabs: Record, Playback, Set-up, Custom Setting, but instead of each tab scrolling vertically, each tab (when selected) is further separated into numbered sub-tabs. The front control wheel allows you to navigate through major tabs, while the rear control wheel rotates through numbered tabs. For selections within each tab you still use the rear multi controller.

The menus make it apparent just how feature-packed and customizable the K-7 is. The six pages of custom functions could, perhaps, have been placed in a sub-menu to make the menus appear less initially overwhelming, but that could have risked the nightmare of multi-tiered menus that some cameras fall victim to.

The camera's menus are split into four sections; Record, Playback, Setup and Custom Functions. Each of which is has its own a 'tab' at the top of the page.

Like the K2000/K-m, the K-7's menu is now separated into multiple numbered pages within each tab, rather than having multiple pages scroll vertically down. We found this made it easier to remember where we were and where options lived.

Record Menu


Option	Values / Actions	Notes
File Format	• JPEG • RAW • RAW + JPEG
JPEG Recorded Pixels	• 14M • 10M • 6M • 2M	- 4672 x 3104 pixels - 3936 x 2624 pixels - 3072 x 2048 pixels - 1728 x 1152 pixels
JPEG Quality	• • • •
ISO Auto Setting	• Low limit • Upper limit
D-Range Setting	• Highlight correction Off On • Shadow correction Low/Med/High
Lens correction	• Distortion correction Off On • Lat-Chromatic-Ad Adj Off On

Program Line	• Auto • Normal • Action • Maximize Depth-of-Field • Minimize Depth-of-Field • MTF
Instant Review	• Type Off White Balance Saturation Hue High/Low Key Adj. Contrast Sharpness • Steps	Allows various image parameters to be bracketed in various steps (depending on the parameter being adjusted)
HDR Capture	• Off • Standard • Strong	Allows a three-frame High-Dynamic-Range image to be captures and combined. This function is only available when the camera is set to JPEG shooting.
Digital Filter	• Digital Filter menu	Applies a series of image processing steps
Multi-exposure	• Start Multi-exposure • Number of shots Off 2 - 9 times • Auto EV Adjust Off On	Combines up to 9 separate exposures to create a single image. Auto EV adjust corrects the exposure back to the brightness of a single exposure.
Interval shooting	• Off/On • Interval hh/mm/ss • Number of shots 2-99 • Start trigger Now Set Time hh/mm	Allows up to 99 shots to be fired at pre-chosen intervals starting either when you press the shutter button or at a pre-determined time.
Composition Adjustment	Start adjustment	Use four-way controller to adjust the composition

Movie	• Recorded Pixels 1.6M 3:2 0.9M 16:9 0.3M 3:2 • Quality level • Sound Yes/No • Movie Aperture Control Allowed/Banned • Shake Reduction Yes/No	1.6M 3:2 = 1536x1024 at 30 fps 1.6M 3:2 = 1280x720 at 30 fps 1.6M 3:2 = 640x480 at 30 fps
Live View	• Movie Info Overlay Yes/No • Show Grid Yes/No • Histogram Yes/No • Bright/Dark Area Yes/No • Autofocus Mode Phase Detect Contrast Detect Contrast + Face Detect
Status Screen	• Status Screen Yes/No • Display Color 1 (Gray) 2 (Black) 3 (Blue) 4 (Red)
Digital Preview	• Digital Preview Off (Optical preview) On • Histogram Yes/No • Bright/Dark Area Yes/No
Instant Review	• Display Time 1 sec 3 sec 5 sec Off • Histogram Yes/No • Bright/Dark Area Yes/No
Electronic Level Disp.	• Yes/No
EV Compensation	• Yes/No

Color Space	• sRGB • Adobe RGB
RAW File Format	• PEF • DNG
RAW Button	• Cancel after 1 shot Yes/No • JPEG > JPEG RAW RAW+ • RAW > JPEG RAW RAW+ • RAW+ > JPEG RAW RAW+
Memory	• Flash Mode • Drive Mode • White Balance • Sensitivity • EV compensation • Flash Exposure Compensation • Extended Bracketing • HDR Capture • Digital Filter • Playback Display • File No.	Lets you select which settings to save when the camera is turned off.
USER	• Save • Check Saved USER settings • Reset USER settings	Saves current camera settings for instant recall via the USER position on the mode dial.
Shake reduction	• On • Off
Input Focal Length	Choose a focal length between 8 and 800mm. Default setting is 35mm.	If you use an old lens that that does not report its focal lens to the camera you can set it here. This information is used to optimize the performance of the Shake Reduction.

Playback Menu


Option	Values / Actions	Notes
Slide show	• Start • Interval 3 sec 5 sec 10 sec 30 sec • Interval Fade Wipe Zoom Off • Repeat Playback Off On
Playback display	• Bright/Dark area Off On • Quick zoom Off 2x 4x 8x 16x 32x	Defines the initial magnification level jumped-to when playback mode is zoomed-in and whether bright and dark areas are highlighted.
Delete All	• Delete All • Cancel

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