Pentax K-5 In-depth Review

Menus

For the K-5 Pentax has slightly tweaked the menu system from the K7. Some options have moved from the record menu into the custom menu and vice versa but the basic structure and design remains pretty much unchanged (although you'll have to get used to it if you're upgrading from the K-7). There are 4 tabs: Record, Playback, Set-up and Custom Setting. 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 use the rear multi controller.

The K-5 is packed with features and therefore the menus can at first sight appear a little intimidating. However, considering the number of options and parameters to choose from the K-5 menu structure is pretty straightforward and easy to work with once you've been shooting with the camera for a couple of days or so.

	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 previous Pentax SLRs the menu is separated into multiple numbered pages within each tab. We found this made it quite easy to remember where we were and where options lived.

Record Menu

Option	Values / Actions	Notes
File Format	• JPEG  • RAW  • RAW + JPEG
JPEG Recorded Pixels	• 16M  • 10M  • 6M  • 2M	- 4928 x 3264 pixels  - 3936 x 2624 pixels  - 3072 x 2048 pixels  - 1728 x 1152 pixels
JPEG Quality	•  •  •  •
Auto AF Point Setting	• Auto 11  • Auto 5
Lens correction	• Distortion correction Off On  • Lat-Chromatic-Ad Adj. Off On
Cross Processing	• Cross Processing Off Preset 1-3 Random Favorite 1-3  • Save Settings	Only available in JPEG format
Extended Bracketing	• Off  • White Balance  • Saturation  • Hue  • High/Low Key Adj.  • Contrast  • Sharpness	Allows various image parameters to be bracketed in various steps (depending on the parameter being adjusted)
Digital Filter	• Off  • Toy Camera  • Retro  • High Contrast  • Extract Color  • Soft  • Starburst  • Fish-eye  • Custom Filter	Most filters offer adjustment of intensity and/or color and tones.
HDR Capture	• HDR Capture Off Standard Strong 1 Strong 2 Strong 3  • Auto Align On Off	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.
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  • Recall previous position Off On	Use four-way controller to adjust the composition
D-Range Setting	• Highlight correction Off On  • Shadow correction Off/Low/Med/High
ISO Auto Setting	• Adjust ISO min and max  • Auto ISO parameters Slow Standard Fast
High-ISO NR	• Auto  • Off  • Low  • Medium  • High  • Custom
Slow Shutter Speed NR	• Auto  • On  • Off
Program Line	• Auto  • Normal  • Action  • Maximize Depth-of-Field  • Minimize Depth-of-Field  • MTF
Color Space	• sRGB  • Adobe RGB
RAW File Format	• PEF  • DNG
Movie	• Recorded Pixels Full HD/25fps HD/30fps HD/25fps VGA/30fps VGA/25fps  • Quality level  • Sound Yes/No  • Cross Processing Off Preset 1-3 Random Favorite 1-3  • Digital Filter Off Toy Camera Retro High Contrast Extract Color Color  • Movie Aperture Control Fixed/Auto  • Shake Reduction Yes/No	Full HD = 1920x1080 HD = 1280x720 VGA = 640x480
Live View	• Autofocus Mode Phase Detect Contrast Detect Phase difference AF  • Show Grid Off Type 1 Type 2 Type 3  • Info Overlay Yes/No  • Histogram Yes/No  • Bright/Dark Area Yes/No
Electronic Level Disp.	• Yes/No
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.
Instant Review	• Display Time 1 sec 3 sec 5 sec Off  • Histogram Yes/No  • Bright/Dark Area Yes/No  • Enlarge Instant Review Yes/No
Digital Preview	• Histogram Yes/No  • Bright/Dark Area Yes/No  • Enlarge Instant Review Yes/No
E-Dial Programming	Move mouse here to see screen	Defines the function of the front and rear dials in the different shooting modes
Button Customization	• RAW/FX Button One Push Raw Exposure Bracketing Digital Preview Electronic Level Composition Adjust  • AF Button Enable AF Cancel AF  • Preview Dial Optical Preview Digital Preview  • Shutter Button Half Press Enable AF Off Off (Live View Only)
Memory	• Flash Mode  • Drive Mode  • White Balance  • Custom Image  • Sensitivity  • EV compensation  • Flash Exposure Compensation  • Cross Processing  • 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 Settings User 1-5 Rename User Mode User 1-5  • Check Saved Settings User 1-5  • Reset User Mode User 1-5	Saves current camera settings for instant recall via the USER position on the mode dial.

Playback Menu

Option	Values / Actions	Notes
Slide show	• Start  • Interval 3 sec 5 sec 10 sec 30 sec  • Screen Effect Fade Wipe Stripe Off  • Repeat Playback Off On
Quick Zoom	• Off  • x2  • x4  • x8  • x16  • x32	Defines the initial magnification level jumped-to when playback mode is zoomed-in and whether bright and dark areas are highlighted.
Bright/Dark area	• Off  • On
Auto Image Rotation	• Off  • On
Delete All	• Delete All  • Cancel