Customer Reviews

Pentax K-x Digital SLR Camera (Single Lens Kit,18-55mm) - White

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

 

 

I chose the K-X based on its features and the price. What sold it for me was the incredible low light / high ISO performance and the 4.7 frames per second shooting rate. Having decided on the camera, I then had to choose the colour. I think its great that Pentax are offering such a huge choice of colours for the K-X, why stick with a boring black one? For me, it had to be the white one. It is gorgeous, the photos don't really do it justice. The 18-55 kit lens is also white and they look great together. It has a smooth, almost enamelled finish which seems quite hard wearing. I love it and it doesn't look cheap at all.

Its worth pointing out that some of the other colours only have a black colour lens included. The kit lens does not come with a lens hood but I picked one up from eb*y for £6.50. Camera comes with a fully printed manual, about an inch thick! Nice one Pentax, much better than having to look on a cd for instructions. My kit also has a Sanyo Eneloop charger plus 4 batteries attached to the box. There's no mention of that in the listing, so maybe I was just lucky! Check out the reviews, especially at dpreview, as they rate its high iso performance as best in class, better than just about ANY other aps-c dslr ! Buy one.

If you read my review, it may seem overly negative for a product I've awarded 5 stars to. Don't let that put you off by any means, it is a phenomenal camera, however the kit lens (as with all kit lenses) could be better....

So anyway, lets start with the kit lens..... Any lens that costs £40 brand new is not going to be the best performer, although it's perfectly usable most of the time (I have taken plenty of stunning shots with it!). The only problem is that it's not fast enough in low light conditions. For example, you may struggle to get sharp images of friends on a night out, since it tends to require fairly long exposure times. Is that a show stopper? Well no, it's actually one of the things that makes this camera so amazing!

If you buy this camera, then you absolutely MUST hunt around on your favourite auction site for the following 2 lenses:

Pentax-M 28mm f2.8 ... approx £30 -> £60
Pentax-M 50mm f1.7 ... approx £20 -> £40
(The pentax-M 80-200mm F4 zoom also deserves a special mention, approx £20-£25, although it's not as useful)

(You'll have to google "Using a pentax-M lens on a Pentax K-x" to get a quick guide for setting this up for first time use. You only need to follow the instructions once though). When using those lenses, you can use the green button on top to set the exposure time (which can also be manually adjusted using the dial on the back), and obviously you'll then be limited to manual focus. But by god, is it worth it!

The first photos you take with those manual lenses will take your breath away! They really do highlight just how good the K-x camera body is! Anyhow, enough about lenses, let's get back to the camera....

The camera is very easy to use, and has a really nice learning curve. It's no harder to use than any digital compact, and in manual mode feels exactly the same as the old K1000 film SLRs (which used to be recommended as the best cameras for A-level art students). You've got the 4 buttons on the back for white balance, shutter modes (self timer / continuous), iso level and flash. From the Info button you get quick access to the most useful settings (Custom Image->Black and White, digital filters, image stabiliser, Raw/Jpeg, and the quality/resolution settings). The 'Menu' button then provides an extended set of options in an easy to navigate menu should you need them.

In playback mode, you've got the dial on the back to zoom in and inspect the images up close, as well as another set of simple options where you can easily do any colour correction, or apply any filters.

The digital filters are a mixed bag. The 'extract colour' filter is probably the best. The others are a bit hit and miss (and aren't as good as photoshop/gimp etc). The camera is very nice to hold (and is a lot more compact than most SLRs). It feels solidly built (although I can't say the same for the kit lens).

All in all, this camera is an absolute joy to use and I can't recommend it enough! It's so good that my technophobe wife (who has resisted upgrading from her pentax film SLR for years) went and bought one the day after I got mine!! A truly brilliant piece of kit!

Thank you the digital depot first, they sent me so fast that I can use it on my trip to Scoltland. Then the camera is wonderful for me to use.