Pentax SLR makes its high-end level of competition – LiveView, video – while retaining the features that made the success of its predecessors. All in a box that’s surprisingly compact. If ownership of Pentax K-7 can confuse, investment is worth the candle.
More: Rugged, compact, LiveView, 720p video stabilizer, 1/8000 speed, sensitivity priority mode, microphone jack.
Minus: A bit heavy, slow autofocus in LiveView mode, unworkable in Iso 6400, HDR mode unconvincing, a bit difficult to tame.
Pentax K-7 Specification
- Product Description :
SLR movie mode with 14 million pixels - Dimensions (WxDxH) :
130.5 x 96.5 x 72.5 mm - Removing dust from the sensor :
yes - General / housing material :
Case tropicalized - Methods Taken :
Single, Burst (fast, slow), timer (2, 12 sec.) Remote (0, 3 sec.) Rafale with Remote, Auto Bracket or advanced (exposure, white balance, sharpness, saturation, contrast) and on-press, Bracket-timer, shooting with Mirror noted, Remote Control & Shooting mirror survey - Weight :
750g with battery and memory card - Key Features / White Balance :
Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent (white, day neutral, L), Flash, Manual, Color Temperature (3 niv. Settings for values Kevin (100) and Mired (20) with precise adjustments)
Key Features / Exposure Modes : - Green Program (Hyper-program), Sensitivity Priority (Sv), Shutter Priority (Tv), Aperture Priority (Av), Shutter Priority / Aperture (TAV) Manual, Speed Sync, Bulb, USER, Video
- Key Features / Sensitivity :
sensibilités___ Sensitivity Auto, Manual (100 to 6400 ISO) increments, 1 1 / 2, 1 / 3 value - Key Features / Shutter Speed :
1 / 8000 sec - Key Features / speed shutter :
30 seconds and Bulb - Sensor Resolution :
14.6 million pixels - Supported Resolution :
JPEG: 14M (4672×3120), 10M (3872×2592), 6M (3008 x 2000) 2M (1824×1216). Quality Levels: JPEG compressed (Excellent, Superior, Very Good, Good), RAW (14M (4688×3120) - Product Type :
SLR movie mode with 14 million pixels - Media Type :
SD and SDHC - Viewfinder / Support Color Viewfinder :
Pentaprism – Coverage 100% – Ratio 0.92 x
Test Pentax K-7 Camera
Pentax SLR makes its high-end level of competition – LiveView, video … – while retaining the features that made the success of its predecessors. All in a box that’s surprisingly compact. If ownership of the K-7 can confuse, investment is worth the candle.
K20D successor noticed, K-7 from Pentax is a major development. Marketed naked around the 1200 €, this semi-professional model is positioned between the D90 and D300 Nikon on one hand and between the 50D and Canon 7D on the other. Difficult in these circumstances, to designate direct competitors. Especially since he did not blush at the comparison with tenors above, and even offers many features enabling it to stand out.
Starting with its design, surprisingly compact for a device of this range. Significantly smaller than a Canon 50D and a Nikon D90, the K-7 is also heavier than average: 750g with battery and SD card. The case exudes a genuine feeling of strength. As usual with Pentax, it is tropicalized – resistance to water splashes and dust – like the handful of goals and power associated with this model.
The grip is good, despite a directional pad located perhaps a bit low for easy access with the thumb. A first contact shows that Pentax has omitted any function fashionable in the world of digital SLRs. The LiveView (referred to as the LCD screen on the compact) was already present on the K20D, but unconvincingly. In case, an LCD monitor a bit limited: 2.7 inches (6.8 cm) and a definition of 230 000 points only. With 3 inches (7.6 cm) and 910 000 points, that of K-7 makes much more laid-friendly. One point all the more crucial that the autofocus is painfully slow in this mode most of the time, it will be quicker to disengage in manual mode, where the accuracy of the monitor while playing a role. Another complaint: the activation of the autofocus is while pressing a dedicated button, not pressing the shutter button halfway …
This slowness is however common to all SLR LiveView, just as the absence of continuous autofocus in video mode. Because yes, like the Nikon D90 and Canon 500D, K-7 is the first model of Pentax to offer the 720p movie recording at 30 fps. If the function can still seem anecdotally to experienced videographers, we appreciate the opportunity to connect an external microphone via the stereo mini-jack stereo proposed. The device can also select a mode control aperture: Automatic (varies during the shooting) or fixed (set before). Finally, you can also choose to enable or disable the stabilizer to reduce tremors.
For like Sony, unlike Canon and Nikon, Pentax prefers to stabilize its sensors rather than its objectives. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages, system compatibility with the full objectives of being the main brand of the latter. Pentax announces that the process saves 4 speed: if this figure is difficult to verify, however, we could assess the effectiveness of the system at low speed.
More generally, the K-7 manages the difficult lighting conditions correctly. If this is the ISO 6400 by the manufacturer are not usable: it is a sort of equivalence as give competitors, and this mode is also not accessible by default. It would have been fairer to announce ISO 3200 even though the noise, which appears significantly to 1600 ISO, is then very far.
This increased sensitivity is due to the presence of a revised version – called Prime II – CCD sensor fitted to the K20D. Although the definition does not change, ie 14 megapixels, it inherits a better anti-dust, and can make shots in the honorable gust speed 5.2 fps (3 fps cons for K20D ). A new version of the ERD process-optimization of the dynamic image similar to D-Lightning Nikon – can operate with finesse. You can choose to activate or not the highlights, and set three levels of intensity as drain dark areas. The result is quite convincing. In the same vein, the K-7 proposes to make shooting in a mode “HDR”, that is to say by combining three photographs taken with different exposure settings. The result this time we have much less enthusiastic, while the use of a foot becomes almost mandatory.
With this level of equipment, K-7 without penalty rises to the level of competition. And do not stop in so good way: we find pleasure and with the peculiarities of the small manufacturer, such as priority exposure modes sensitivity (variation of the torque speed and aperture based on the value ISO) and shutter priority and aperture (reverse). In manual mode, you can ask at any time automatically adjust exposure parameters, while a clever button Raw – Customizable behavior – change on the fly format shooting. A intervalometer authorizes taking 99 photos at maximum intervals ranging from 1 second to 24 hours. Finally, the K-7 provides, through its stabilization, de-center the sensor of a few millimeters practice to correct a framing studio without moving the camera. The maneuver is more accurate than the viewfinder offers 100% coverage.
Redesigned from the K20D, the menus are clear and organized. Fortunately, however, since the number of settings and customization options is proving itself staggering. Clearly, the K-7 is not an audience of beginners, and can sometimes confuse the extent of its possibilities. But for those who make the effort to tame Pentax K-7 will put them in command of a reflex powerful and very effective.
