Pentax K1 – a not so certain upgrade
I’ve been boundering over the K1 for quite some time now. It’s a great camera for a relatively low price.
Compared to a7rIII and D850, the Pentax actually shoots cleaner files and does so with smaller filesizes. (according to „Cameraville” on youtube). It has a much better implementation of Pixel-Shift than Sony, features an astrotracer and sensor stabilization like the Sony. And that’s where the benefits end :P
I don’t like the inferior AF on this camera. It’s not suited for fast paced action. Therefore wildlife and sports are not very viable. It's weird that they lag behind so much.
Obviously compared to the Sony, this is still an DSLR and it’s heavy ~1kg.
There aren’t many lenses available either, both Pentax’s own and third party. There’s always the claim that there is a plethora of old vintage glass for Pentax, but these lenses are all manual focusing and most of them aren’t suited to cover 36MP. It’s really bad in that sense.
Where this camera shines is it’s price. It’s half of the competitions price.
I want to stick to Pentax, because I own a Pentax right now and I'm used to how these cameras handle. But the "bad" AF and missing lenses really don't make me feel confident I'll be happy with this camera as I like to shoot all kinds of photography.
But do I actually need to buy a new camera, well... that’s up for debate too :P
What do you think of the K1? What camera would you buy if you had the chance?
My photography gear:
Camera: Pentax K-50
Lenses: DA*50-135 / DA-L 18-55 WR / Cosinon 1.8 50mm
Flash: Yongnuo YN660
Tripod: Zomei Q555
You can find me on:
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Questions are welcome!
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Have a great day!
Do the MP count with the vintage glass? Isn't just about the size of the sensor? If their projection successfully covers the whole sensor, does it matter how many pixels are on there?
I'm a huge fan of vintage lenses, but for special reasons. The ones I like offer a lot more character and distinctiveness than the new super-sharp ones that you can buy. I've even gone as far as to hack an old projector lens on my Nikon DSLR with just some really basic focus control (as projector lenses from decades ago not only don't have AF, but don't have aperture blades either).
One this this K1 body has that I like is the articulated screen - that's priceless when shooting macro or flowers that are close to the ground or high up on a tree.
I'm a pixel peeper :D I want max sharpness. As far as I know most vintage lenses are really soft 1:1. The sensor resolution is far greater than what the lenses can produce.
I only own 1 old manual lens. I do like it's character, but manual focus isn't that great. I can do it very precise with focus peaking, but it's time consuming and cumbersome. When I do portraits I use both my manual lens and DA 50-135. The difference AF makes is big.
The screen is nice though :) A flippy screen might be better I think :D
With vintage lenses it's sometimes hit and miss in more than one way. One of them is that the quality and sometimes even the properties vary drastically between lenses that are supposedly the exact same model. Sometimes they come from very different factories and have been made in different decades and the quality control was very different back then so buying one without having tested it first is sometimes a roll of the dice. And then comes the manual focus which is not always easy to get right. Since I don't shoot portraits that often nowadays I just take a ton of shots of the same subjects and edit the best one. And when I'm back to modern AF lenses, it feels so much easier and I still use them when appropriate (like for portraits when I get around to that).
But I get what you mean about the softness, now I understand what you meant about the resolution.
You might be right, yes! :D
It looks amazing I would so love to try one :) but I'm guessing they cost a lot over here X
You can always try one out at the shop. They cost about the same all around the world.
The eternal question... there is no limit to perfection and price )
yeah... :/ just have to make a decision at one point.
You can throw a coin )))
Of course I'm joking, it's really hard...
I would probably choose the one that has better optics.
Hm... the lack of lenses is a problem on Pentax. :/
A great post @sulev. I invite you to visit my post.
Photography in a forest? nice placement.
?
i asked this photo was taken in the forest? or in a garden or park?
It's a K1 promo composite from Pentax. This post isn't about the picture.
that is so cool..
the K1?
Thats cool