K-5 vs K-7
I have been figuring a few things out and de-cluttering my lenses and cameras and I have discovered that I think I would really like an APS-C, weather sealed, Pentax body for travel. I have settled on either of these (or the K5II (non-s)). I was wondering if people had any insights about the two cameras aside from the typical spec-sheet stuff like better af or iso performance, things you would really only notice about a camera after using it that you thought were interesting, well designed, or otherwise noteworthy.
Furthermore there is quite a big price jump between them and the k3. Is there any justification for that (outside sensor performance)
Hi,
I have never had a K7, neither the K5-II BUT a K5 and also recomended it for my dad and one of my best friends as their first dslr camera.
I bought my copy in 2014 in Japan as a second hand camera, and I loved it.
Keep in mind that the camera was mostly used to shoot motorsports, but also holidays and hikes. The K5 is a joy to use. Handling is great, it goes down to ISO 80, and helps recover shadows very really well.
For me is one of those models of cameras that marks a before and after, check some videos on youtube if you can. The K5-II I've heard is quite the same but maybe better. My old K5 now is resting in the shelve as I use and abuse my K3-III's now.
But yes, I recomend it. It is usually a great camera. From what I have heard is a model more advanced than the K7 but there I can't say much.
I hope it helps.
All the best,
Quote from Daniel Gonzalez on November 4, 2024, 11:13 amHi,
I have never had a K7, neither the K5-II BUT a K5 and also recomended it for my dad and one of my best friends as their first dslr camera.
I bought my copy in 2014 in Japan as a second hand camera, and I loved it.Keep in mind that the camera was mostly used to shoot motorsports, but also holidays and hikes. The K5 is a joy to use. Handling is great, it goes down to ISO 80, and helps recover shadows very really well.
For me is one of those models of cameras that marks a before and after, check some videos on youtube if you can. The K5-II I've heard is quite the same but maybe better. My old K5 now is resting in the shelve as I use and abuse my K3-III's now.
But yes, I recomend it. It is usually a great camera. From what I have heard is a model more advanced than the K7 but there I can't say much.
I hope it helps.All the best,
Thanks for your input! I watched a few videos on each, it's really hard to find good video-form content for Pentax, maybe it's just the age demographic, but a lot of stuff about Pentax seems to be written. On average the K5II is about $90 more than the K5, people report better autofocus as being the primary difference, especially in low light and I was planning on picking that up, but I found a good deal on ebay for the K5 and a SMC DA* 55mm f/1.4, which I got for $312 shipped, so I couldn't pass that up.
I ultimately decided on the K5 because it shares a sensor with the K-01, which I have been really enjoying, and I feel like the high ISO performance on that is acceptable up to 12800, which gives me one or potentially two stops over the K7 depending on how well it does at 6400.
The OG K-5 was a great pickup, good choice. That 16mp sensor is great and it's a big upgrade from the K-7. I really liked trying the K-7 years ago, but it was mostly interesting from a price perspective. But they seem hard enough to find nowadays that it's not significantly cheaper than the K-5, which is much improved.
Enjoy it!
Quote from James Warner on November 5, 2024, 12:37 pmThe OG K-5 was a great pickup, good choice. That 16mp sensor is great and it's a big upgrade from the K-7. I really liked trying the K-7 years ago, but it was mostly interesting from a price perspective. But they seem hard enough to find nowadays that it's not significantly cheaper than the K-5, which is much improved.
Enjoy it!
Yeah I noticed that they were pretty close in price to the K-5, I almost bought a K-7 just out of curiosity about how the sensor looks.
@james-warner-b I heard that the 55mm f/1.4 can't be converted to screw mount, do you know if that's true? If it is, I'm probably just going to sell it on while it still works and just pick up a 50mm later.
