Experiences with the new K-7 Camera

[fengwei]

Hi All,

Sorry for the delayed review. I've been playing this camera (pre-production w/ a firmware of V0.3) for several days. What a great little camera! After playing this one, I just can't live w/ the K10D camera (thanks James who lent this one to me to play until I got the K-7 ).

Here are some of my findings so far:

1. The camera is a beauty! It's small and classic, way better looking than any dSLR camera available on the market (to me at least). It is small, but feels very sturdy w/ its magnesium alloy shell over stainless steel chassis.
2. The shutter is so quiet, never had any camera which has a quieter shutter sound.
3. The shutter lag is so short, almost non exist, makes the camera even responsive.
4. 100% viewfinder makes composition much easier, what you see is what you get!
5. AF speed is quite a bit improved both under good light and low light, and the improvement for non-SDM lenses is even more obvious than SDM ones.
6. AF accuracy is improved too, especially under tungsten light.
7. Auto White Balance is improved, especially indoor under complicated light condition.
8. Shake reduction is even more effective.
9. 5.2 FPS might not be useful to guys like me, but I'm sure quite some guys would benefit.
10. The big 3" LCD is a big improvement over previous models, great for reviewing photos, live view or taking videos.
11. The LCD screen will rotate to any of the four directions automatically when you turn the camera, yes, even you turn it up side down. What a cool feature.
12. 77 multi segment metering makes matrix metering even accurate.
13. AWB under tungsten light has two level of adjustment: subtle or strong correction, to suits users preference.
14. The new battery lasts even longer than the K10D/K20D ones, can easily take 900 to 1k shots on one charge.
15. The green AF assist lamp is effective, makes AF possible under very low light.
16. HD Video is really cool, but since there is no AF at the moment, not so easy to use, yet.
17. The improved CMOS sensor still take great sharp photos w/ excellent colors.
18. The new WR kit lens is a great pleasure to use under light rain.
19. Lens distortion correction and Lateral CA adjustment (only works for DA/DFA lenses)


I might forget something. Will add in later. Overall I feel it's a big jump from k20D camera, really worth the upgrading.


I guess you guys wanna see photos instead of these words.

 

[fengwei]

Here is the body comparison between K-7 and K10D:

You can see the K-7 is slightly smaller, but when you hold both, you'd feel the difference is quite big. K-7 just feels better balanced when held in hands.

 

[fengwei]

The new D-LI90 battery vs the old D-LI50 battery, they are pretty much the same size, but have different profiles and contact pins. The new battery has higher capacity, lasts longer than the D-LI50 in my experience:

The new charger is quite a bit smaller than the old one, a good news for travelers I guess:

 

[fengwei]

Under Tungsten light the AF accuracy is much improved. AWB is a lot improved too. Previous Pentax dSLR cameras all have some front focusing issues when used under Tungsten light, seems K-7 fixed this problem.

K10D + FA77 under Tungsten light:

K20D + FA77 under Tungsten light:

K-7 + FA77 under Tungsten light w/ subtle AWB correction:

K-7 + FA77 under Tungsten light w/ strong AWB correction:

 

[fengwei]

Matrix metering is much improved:

Shake reduction is even more effective, I can take reasonable good shot w/ a 250mm lens at 1/20s speed:

I feel very comfortable to use even a tele lens under low room light condition:

 

[fengwei]

The new WR kit lens is really a plus for such a small K-7 camera:

This combo takes excellent photos w/ great colors. Here are some photos taken in light rain, w/o any post processing except resize and slight sharpening:

 

[fengwei]

Some more photos by the kit lens:

And I really love the color produced by this new camera. Here is one taken w/ the FA*80-200:

Two more w/ a FA77:

 

[fengwei]

Sorry I have to post a couple of bigger photos to show the potential of the new camera mounted w/ a lens like FA*80-200:

 

[fengwei]

Lens distortion correction test.

K-7 + DA1855WR @ 18mm, w/o distortion correction:

W/ distortion correction enabled:

The difference is pretty dramatic if you ask me. What a cool feature!



Now let's do some Lateral CA adjustment test. K-7 has an option to adjust Lateral CA if a DA lens is mounted. Here is the testing photo: K-7 + DA1855WR @ 18mm F3.5 wide open:

With Lat-Chromatic-Ab Adj option disabled (unchecked), right corner 100% crop:

With Lat-Chromatic-Ab Adj option enabled (checked), right corner 100% crop:

This is super cool, isn't it?

 

[fengwei]

Brought the kids to the zoo over the weekend, here are some photos from a short play there. All photos had very minor level adjustment before resize, all taken in JPG.

 

[fengwei]

 

[flowerpot]

Sorry flowerpot, have to insert some photos here. More photos from the Zoo:

A little girl at the zoo:

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one question, though its a strange one... the VF is already 100%, but can the eyepiece 0-ME53 still fit ?? making it even bigger...hahaha

Yes, it fits. But you need to move your eye around a bit to see the whole view。 The magnifier factor is still there.

 

[kayster]

Sorry I have to post a couple of bigger photos to show the potential of the new camera mounted w/ a lens like FA*80-200:

thanks bro for the review...nice to see that at iso320.. the photo is stilll clear and nice... hope u did not noise reduce them...

 

[TrailSeeker]

I still want the same old size of K10D /k20D much more macho look.. :bsmilie:

 

[Zenten]

sharp pics but they seem to look like they are overly processed....... quite flat.............. is this on account of the new image processor? :dunno:

 

[fengwei]

sharp pics but they seem to look like they are overly processed....... quite flat.............. is this on account of the new image processor? :dunno:

I'm the processor here, not the camera These photos were processed to my like. Those three from the kit lenses are not processed.

 

[Zenten]

I'm the processor here, not the camera These photos were processed to my like. Those three from the kit lenses are not processed.

Thanks FW, you had me :sweat: ...........

 

[skypacker]

FW, any comments on the AF-C improvements? Noticeable or just a placebo effect?

 

[fengwei]

FW, any comments on the AF-C improvements? Noticeable or just a placebo effect?

Based on what Mark Dimo said here, it's quite a bit improved. I myself never really used AF-C, so I didn't even think about testing it ... I might do a test if got chance again

 

[le petit prince]

Thanks for the preview, FW! Your test shots are exceptionally tasty!

Looks to be a giant leap from my K100Ds.. looking forward.