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Looking for Pentax dslr recommendation

Started Jun 6, 2018 | Questions thread
Tatouzou
Tatouzou Senior Member • Posts: 2,081
Re: Looking for Pentax dslr recommendation
1

All current Pentax bodies are weather sealed, so are all recent zoom lenses. But not all primes. The much praised DA limited are not weather resistant.

I use M43 besides Pentax APS-C. APS-C IQ is better thanks to the bigger sensor. The Pentax bodies are not much bigger than top grade M43, but heavier and the lenses are really bigger and heavier, excepted the DA limited.

Though Pentax AF-C is not the best in class, DSLR PDAF is faster and better than M43 AF.

But with 24MP sensors you need to fine tune the PDAF in-camera for each lens to get pixel level sharpness. And the AF points are only clustered in the center of the image.

Best AF is in K3, K3-II and KP.

I have K3 and K30; K30 has the same AF as K5, and K3 AF is really better.

K3, K3-II and KP have the same AF engine, with a little improved algorythms in K3-II and KP.

K3/K3-II are pro grade, very rugged and reliable.

I have K3, it is my main camera. Not that big when compared to M43 but heavy.

The main difference between K3 and K3-II is in the accessories built-in features: flash vs GPS, astrotracer and pixel shift (see DPR reviews for details)

KP is kind of K3 lite, with newer processor which allows a better high ISO IQ and more responsive AF.

K70 and K-S2 are lighter bodies, less rugged, less advanced AF, the same AF engine as K5/K30/K50, OK for static scenes but not as good as K3/KP for moving targets. Also less advanced shutter. The sensor and image pipeline in K70 is more advanced than in K3 or K-S2.

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Panasonic Lumix DMC-LF1 Pentax K-3 Panasonic Lumix DMC-GM5 Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX8 Pentax smc DA 17-70mm F4.0 AL (IF) SDM +24 more
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