Pentax K-7 hands-on preview.
The K-7 is the latest and highest end digital SLR to have been released by Pentax. The K-7 will have to compete with the enthusiast/professional level models such as the Canon 50D, Nikon D300, Sony A700 and Olympus E3. These are all well built and feature rich cameras and the K-7 can sit comfortably alongside them and is in many respects a superior model. Having only seen a pre-production model we can’t yet comment on the final image quality but I would assume it to be an improvement over the already impressive K20D. Keeping the pixel count near enough the same but on a newly designed sensor it’s safe to assume Pentax have made their claimed improvements in high ISO noise control amongst other aspects of image quality.
What we can tell you already is that the camera handles very well, slightly smaller than its rivals but without sacrificing the comfort of the grip. The Pentax models have always been well built with a level of moisture and dust resistance not matched by it’s competitors for similar models. The K-7 has taken the sealing of the K20D another step, now incorporating 77 rubber seals. In a similar vain the two new lenses are Weather Resistant revisions of the existing 18-55mm and 50-200mm kit lenses.
The screen on the back of the camera is very impressive, bright and very detailed with 920,000 dots across it’s 3 inches. The quality of the screen is important to get the most from the live view mode and new HD movie mode. At 30 frames per second you can shoot at 1280 x 720 and even 1536 x 1024 pixels. An external microphone socket allows better quality audio recording. When not using live view the viewfinder is large, clear and bright.
All other areas have been improved compared to previous generations of Pentax DSLRs. The metering system is new with 77 segment metering which can take into account subject distance. The shake reduction system has been tweaked, offering between 2.5-4 stops of compensation and the speed of the camera has increased. The AF system has new algorithms to improve speed and accuracy and this should help keep things focus when firing at up to 5.2 frames per second for 40 continuous JPEGs.
Aside from the headline features above there are a host of new features which will be very useful to some and less so to others. These include a new HDR blending mode in camera, digital level device to ensure straight horizons, dynamic range expansion settings and many others.
It seems that Pentax have ensured there is not a single feature they have left off this model that is available on any of its direct competitors. We’ll soon know how the image quality stacks up and if it is anything as good as the rest of the camera then Pentax will have a real winner on their hands.
This model is already generating a lot of interest so I’d suggest pre-ordering to secure one this summer.