Customer Reviews

Pentax K7 Digital SLR Camera (incl 18-55 mm Lens)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a Pentax SLR user (35mm film cameras) for many years, and owning a number of excellent quality Pentax lenses, the fact that I could use all my old lenses in the DSLR models meant that it was highly probable I would stick with Pentax when I got around to going fully digital SLR. Also, I "just like" the Pentax brand. So, for me, it was always going to be another Pentax. I took a long time choosing the K7, endlessly reading reviews, specification sheets, etc. I'm pleased to say I'm delighted with the camera. There are numerous other 5-star reviews on this Amazon site which go into great, very helpful adn very accurate detail about the pros and cons of this model - I have not read any of those reviews with which I would disagree. This is an excellent camera, and the only advice I would highlight to anyone considering a purchase is to echo a point another reviewer makes elsewhere - this really is a "semi-pro" camera and, to get the best out of it, you really need to have a fair amount of experience of SLRs. That said, you can just about use it as a simple "point and shoot"....but I'm not sure why you would want to spend that amount of cash if you are not going to push the camera's abilities to the limits. Highly recommended, with that final bit of advice.

I've owned my K-7 for the best part of a year now, and have been extremely pleased with it. Many reviews simply don't seem to "get" the camera's USP, which is a great shame.

The K-7 is about rugged, outdoors, all-weather photography, giving an impressive feature set in a durable but compact body. It's the perfect travel or landscape photographer's camera, incredibly intuitive but best-suited to photographers who like to fiddle and fine tune, rather than people who expect to get the best results at default settings right out of the box. Buy it with the WR kit lens simply to make sure that you have a system that is perfectly designed to cope with the British weather! And that lens is no slouch either: much better build than many other "kit" offerings, and a decent performer too, especially once you move past the widest angles and widest aperture.

This is a discrete camera in more ways than one. The quiet shutter can certainly be a bonus. And it's compact size - especially when coupled with some of the great Pentax primes that it was surely designed for - make you much less noticeable and threatening to the people around you. It's nowhere near as "in your face" as the enthusiast level Canon and Nikon offerings, and for some of us, that is probably an advantage.

If you want to shoot sports at mega frames per second, buy another camera.
If you want to shoot indoors at high ISO in very low light, buy another camera.

But if you want an incredibly well thought-out and rugged camera that is going to spend most of its life outdoors, travelling, hiking, etc, then the K-7 really deserves your attention. There is no other camera that offers a comparable set of features for that market, at the price the K-7 has now settled in.

Pentax K7 Digital SLR Camera (incl 18-55 mm Lens)
Very pleased with camera, competative price and a very quick delivery time.
Been out a few times and great results, controls are easy to follow and can be set to full manual operation or just press the green button to leave it to the camera, this works very well in most situations.
The auto-focus is quick and accurate with very little "hunting".
The kit lens performs well and all of my older Pentax lenses fit, which is a great bonus.
This Pentax gives pro results at a realistic price.

I have had the Pentax k7 for two months now, I love it.
Every thing about the camera is good, colour reproduction is more than wonderful, handling is just right. All the programs and features work wonderfully. I think some features are unnecessary, such as sensor movement, why not move the camera. But I wouldn't be without my K7.
I did a lot of research before purchasing the K7, Olympus came close, but Pentax won the day.
I'm very happy with it.

I've owned a K10d for quite a while now and absolutely love it. The only thing that I find really irritating about most pentax cameras (my K10d included) is the slow focusing and poor frames per second rate.

I've been having a play around with K7 thanks to a local camera shop and I am very impressed.

The K7 just feels sooo much quicker (than previous pentax dslrs), and surprisingly small - smaller than the K10d or K20d and much smaller than the Nikon D300. The focusing is much quicker and up there with the Nikon/Canon systems. The frame rate, whilst not quite matching the new Nikon D300s (7 fps!), is way better at 5.2 fps vs the 3 fps managed by my K10d. This still is not quite up there with the Canon 50D (6.3 fps) either, suggesting sports shutter bugs might want to look elsewhere, but it is still a big improvement over past cameras.

There are some quite cool features like built in HDR, which kind of works quite well and has different settings. I cannot see it replacing the results you can get from photoshop.

In the hands it feels as well built as the K20d/K10d, which is a good thing. The K7 if anything, feels better, thanks to the magnesium alloy body. It manages to somehow feel light and yet incredibly well built - one thing you notice is the reassuring coolness of the magnesium when you pick it up, sounds a bit of an odd thing to say but it reminds of picking up a metal bodied 35mm slr. The grip is even more comfortable than the K20d. For those used to previous Pentax models, you will also notice how much quieter it is, much less of a clunk when you release the shutter.

Moving around the camera you notice how well thought out some of the additions are. You get a dedicated ISO button on the top, saving the bother of having to go through the menu to adjust it. The exposure compensation button moves up to the top alongside the ISO button, near the shutter release where they feel like they make the most sense. There are some other minor tweaks, but the other most useful one is the white balance button, available at a single press of a button when in shooting mode - much handier than the K10d.

The screen is gorgeous compared to the k20d/k10d and of a much higher res, around 930,000 pixels (versus around 230,000 in previous cameras). Despite being an impressive 3" it does not make the rest if the back of the camera feel cramped. All in all, the K7 retains the best features of the K20d body and improves on it, significantly.

You still get the unique shooting modes (at least I think Pentax are the only ones who do them) where you can have complete control over the aperture and shutter speed but the metering system will vary the ISO to correctly expose the image (called Shutter & Aperture Priority mode). Another mode which I think is unique is the Sensitivity Priority mode, where you choose the ISO you would like, and the camera adjusts the shutter and apertures to expose correctly. They are more useful than you might think, and surprising that more cameras don't have them.

I must admit that I have not used the live view or video so I cannot comment on that, but from what I have heard it is better than the K20d (Live View) and the video is ok but has no aperture control. Personally I'd rather have dedicated video recorders, I use a Creative Vado Pocket Video Cam HD - Camcorder - High Definition - Widescreen Video Capture - black and just carry it around in the camera bag.

Image quality, from what I can gather from the screen, is very good. Noise seems well under control up to about 1600, but noticeable after that. Although I suspect that it would be more evident on a larger screen. I certainly think that the improved metering system makes it much better to get a great shot straight off.

All in all, this is finally a Pentax with the specs, image and build quality to match the higher end Canons and Nikons. If it had a slightly higher frame rate I'd give 5 stars.

very good product - great value
lots of improvements compares to the K10D (lens, noise, speed, live view mode, auto rotate pictures and movie!)
compact with a good size of grip for both men and women hands (not for big big hands probably)
easy access to all functions
great performances compares to other DSLR cameras (even more expensive)
+++ : weather and dust sealing / body incorporated shake reduction / up to 5.2 frames per seconds
- : image noise when high iso
extra charge : I had to buy a new bigger sd card as pictures and movies at this resolution are obviously big!

Have had a K100 for a few years. Decided to upgrade. Thought K5 too expensive and for my photography the high iso performance of the K5 is not needed. Like stepping from a Skoda (nothing wrong with Skoda - or the K100) into an Aston Martin.

I bought the Pentax K7 about a year ago and over that period it has been a delight to use and produced some truly excellent photos. It has a compact, rugged and weather-resistant design which makes it particularly well suited for travelling and outdoor photography - which is probably 75% of what I use it for.

In my experience it has everything that a semi-serious amateur photographer is likely to need and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone like me looking for a new DSLR.

this is well thought out feels better looks better very light and yet incredibly well built Image quality is there.
this is not a point and shoot camera this is semi pro and it shows as well,i have also got the pentax km and that gave me the start i needed.
so for the k7 10 out of 10 to pentax
hope this helps

I find the Pentax K7 a fantastic camera in every department. I spent several weeks checking out the other top brands; in the end,I had no problems in choosing the K7.
The build is first rate, the auto focus is on par, and the PENTAX lens system and accessories are all top notch.