K-x does not suffer from K-r problems

[sircam]

I am now increasingly feeling that I am fortunate indeed NOT to have sold off my K-x yet.

I soon became increasingly unhappy with the K-r not allowing me to use my many AA NiMH rechargeable cells unless I invested in a very expensive battery adapter. Or I had to buy another original K-r proprietary battery which is also very expensive... either way I have to spend a bomb for something so trivial.

My personal tests also showed that both the K-x and the K-r had nearly the same IQ... in fact some popular web sites state that the K-x is slightly better than the K-r in controlled test conditions.

So I decided to keep my K-x in the end and sell the K-r instead since I desired to purchase the K5.

But my K5 suffers from focusing issues in dim artificial light. Its not too bad though and I still continue to use it quite satisfactorily in other shooting conditions. I just don't shoot in very dim artificial light anymore with my K5.

I just happened to browse through some popular photography forums and I read that many K-r owners are now also complaining of focusing issues. Sheesh!

A reputed German forum had been running a poll for some time and I learnt that as many as 43% of K-r owners complained of their cameras suffering from focusing issues. And this is a result of a user-poll on a popular forum... not a troll starting a fictitious thread.

Read about it here...

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1036&message=37304888

QUOTE/ "In the aforementioned German forum currently 43% users report to have a faulty (FF) K-r or K5 (unfortunately, the poll doesn't discriminate) whilst 57% say that everything is o.k., out of which 10% users say they aren't sure yet. Thus 43 out of 100 new K-r/K5 don't focus correctly under "dim" or artificial light." /UNQUOTE

43% of users ?!?!?!? My eyes popped out for a second! :bigeyes: I read that figure thrice to make sure I was reading right!

I also have been the owner of a Nikon system for many years. Having owned numerous Nikon DSLRs over the last few years, I cannot recall even one case of any of these cameras have similar focusing issues. My current Nikon DSLR is a D90 which I am thinking to selling off next month and replacing it with the newer D7000.

My K-x stills takes as good pictures as it did when I first bought it. So what if it does not have focus indicators lighting up on the viewfinder. At least when I use center focus, I never have these focus problems. Even if my K-x is slightly slower, I still get accurate focus as I have come to expect.

I cannot help feeling a bit disillusioned by Pentax's recent corporate policies:

a) Expensive accessories for their newer DSLRs.

b) Non availability of original proprietary accessories for their newer DSLRs.

c) Unduly long corporate silence on some issues commonly faced by an increasing number of owners of their newer DSLRs across many countries. More and more are testing their equipment and speaking up as the days go by. This definitely isn't rumor mongering or trolling.

I'm in love with some of Pentax's lenses. I really like my K5 and am waiting patiently for Pentax to issue a fix in the near future. But I cannot help feeling a bit more irked nowadays when I realize this problem seems to be plaguing more and more owners of the K5 and K-r.

In the meantime I am going to keep on happily using my K-x. At least I get consistent results with superb IQ from my K-x with its nearly unlimited supply of power through easily available and affordable NiMH rechargeable Eneloops.

Its seems the number of K-x units being offered on sale rapidly falling over the last two weeks. Not at all surprising under the present circumstances.

I just really wish I could use the newer Pentax DSLRs with the speed & accuracy that I have got accustomed to from my Nikons. I'll say that again... SPEED with ACCURACY... no point in designing newer cameras with speedier focus but which are also affected by increasing inaccuracy of focus.

I just don't feel as comfortable being an early adopter of new Pentax DSLRs anymore as I was earlier. I have been a Pentax fan boy for quite a while now but am not sure now for how long I will continue to be one. And if there are increasingly more members in here with the same irking feeling that I cannot help but feel nowadays, that's not reassuring for the brand's long term goals.

I was so happy with my K-x that I managed to convince a good number of people to invest in the Pentax brand. I don't feel the same way about giving my opinions to others regarding the K-r and K5. Hopefully Pentax will come out wiser from all this and will not bring any more new cameras to market with issues that should actually have been ironed out in the labs during a more stringent testing phase.

Maybe Pentax shouldn't stop manufacturing the K-x until all these problems are sorted out once and for all for good.

 

[creampuff]

How come you're scaring yourself silly reading other websites?
Your alarmist notion that 43% of users encounter problems is just plain misleading. What is the sampling size and actual number? It's anybody's guess.
Again, I have my reservations with some recent pronouncements provided by some German users which have been proven to be bunkum (the supposed discontinuation of the FA Limiteds for example).
Having slight mis-focus under dim incandescent lighting is not limited to Pentax cameras but to many other DSLRs.
While this is not a new phenomenon but a possible solution is to use Live View or wait for the AF Assist Light to be activated.

Seriously I find your ranting about the K-r's optional battery AA holder pretty laughable. Over this one item and suddenly you feel disillusionment with Pentax's corporate policies?
Perhaps you can list out the other accessories that you find troubling as you state in your point a) and point b).
Please elaborate on your point c). Best I can tell, any supposed issues are covered by warranty or in some countries by an exchange policy.

Sorry but I find your conclusion about the K-x that you have highlighted is way off the mark. The K-x is already replaced by the new K-r, so it is quite natural for remaining stocks available in the shops to be limited.
Not for the reasons that you have expounded.

If you are unhappy, please go and use whatever other brand that you find comfortable with. Ranting is unproductive and for all you know, your experience with Pentax is not commonly shared by others. I for one enjoy my K-5 immensely and I think others do too.

 

[sircam]

How come you're scaring yourself silly reading other websites?
Your alarmist notion that 43% of users encounter problems is just plain misleading.

Not my notion! Its the result of a direct user-opinion poll at a reputed web site. I just highlighted the thread here. Many K-r users are discussing this same issue over at DPReview too presently in several threads.

Having slight mis-focus under dim incandescent lighting is not limited to Pentax cameras but to many other DSLRs.

Have you tried doing the same with a K-x? Refer to my earlier thread. My K-x focuses absolutely fine in the exact same conditions. My Nikon D90 focuses fine too. No problem whatsoever with these two. My K5, sadly, does not.

Maybe your K5 is one of those which does not have this problem. Is so, you are lucky. Or maybe you haven't tested it for this consistent behavior as yet.

While this is not a new phenomenon but a possible solution is to use Live View or wait for the AF Assist Light to be activated.

I did not buy my K5 to use Live View in dim conditions. Neither do I like shining the AF Assist Light into the faces of my subjects. These are simply not acceptable solutions for me. Seems you are easily satisfied using Live View & AF Assist Light in dim conditions. Obviously our shooting styles and expectation standards are different.

I like Pentax too... quite a lot. That is why I have a considerable investment in Pentax lenses too. I was a Pentax fan boy earlier. Am not so sure now. I'm waiting and hoping for a quick solution.

Hopefully Pentax is taking note of the gradually growing levels of global discontentment with their new K-r and K5 DSLRs. Just take a look around any popular forum these days. There are many knowledgeable K-r and K5 owners out there in many different countries who are claiming to be suffering from the same exact issues. Why do some here habitually bury their heads in the sand and find it so difficult to accept that a lot of other knowledgeable owners are indeed affected by these focus problems?

 

[ricsal]

DpReview? hmmm. I thought they Anti-Pentax?

 

[pentax]

With peace. Just to share my experiences and thoughts.
I am a k-x user.
I love holding and using my white k-x, although it has a back focus issue in the body - which is fixed now by using +110um in debug mode.
I apply the aluminium foil tweak (which I posted here a few months ago) so that I can use my manual K lens and M lens like the A lens, although I still need apply exposure compensation and manually turn the aperture ring on the K/M lens.

Since I also like many advanced features in K5 (like WR, more control buttons, metal body, 14bit processing etc etc), I plan to get k5+18-135wr next year when current reported issues are fixed

Cheers

 

[fengwei]

I am now increasingly feeling that I am fortunate indeed NOT to have sold off my K-x yet.

Yeah, yeah, we all know Kx is a good camera, value for money, but people are dumping it like they are junks after new cameras came out.

I soon became increasingly unhappy with the K-r not allowing me to use my many AA NiMH rechargeable cells unless I invested in a very expensive battery adapter. Or I had to buy another original K-r proprietary battery which is also very expensive... either way I have to spend a bomb for something so trivial.

How long did you keep your Kr? I thought you sold it right after you bought it? You claimed you've got so many cameras, seems pretty rich, but still consider a 70 bucks adapter very expensive? It's just an optional item which no other camera even comes with!

My personal tests also showed that both the K-x and the K-r had nearly the same IQ... in fact some popular web sites state that the K-x is slightly better than the K-r in controlled test conditions.

I don't believe your test, 无图无真相！

So I decided to keep my K-x in the end and sell the K-r instead since I desired to purchase the K5.

But my K5 suffers from focusing issues in dim artificial light. Its not too bad though and I still continue to use it quite satisfactorily in other shooting conditions. I just don't shoot in very dim artificial light anymore with my K5.

Again, I don't believe your test, 无图无真相！

I also have been the owner of a Nikon system for many years. Having owned numerous Nikon DSLRs over the last few years, I cannot recall even one case of any of these cameras have similar focusing issues. My current Nikon DSLR is a D90 which I am thinking to selling off next month and replacing it with the newer D7000.

Go ahead and just buy lah, rich boy, D7000 is really cheap, value for money.

My K-x stills takes as good pictures as it did when I first bought it. So what if it does not have focus indicators lighting up on the viewfinder. At least when I use center focus, I never have these focus problems. Even if my K-x is slightly slower, I still get accurate focus as I have come to expect.

Yeah yeah, your statement can't push second hand Kx value higher, nobody can.

I cannot help feeling a bit disillusioned by Pentax's recent corporate policies:

a) Expensive accessories for their newer DSLRs.

b) Non availability of original proprietary accessories for their newer DSLRs.

c) Unduly long corporate silence on some issues commonly faced by an increasing number of owners of their newer DSLRs across many countries. More and more are testing their equipment and speaking up as the days go by. This definitely isn't rumor mongering or trolling.

Wow! I thought you are very smart, how come it took you so long to figure out all these? Why stay w/ Pentax if you don't like it? Nobody asks you to stay. As a matter of fact, most here would be happier if you just go away!

I'm in love with some of Pentax's lenses. I really like my K5 and am waiting patiently for Pentax to issue a fix in the near future. But I cannot help feeling a bit more irked nowadays when I realize this problem seems to be plaguing more and more owners of the K5 and K-r.

In the meantime I am going to keep on happily using my K-x. At least I get consistent results with superb IQ from my K-x with its nearly unlimited supply of power through easily available and affordable NiMH rechargeable Eneloops.

Its seems the number of K-x units being offered on sale rapidly falling over the last two weeks. Not at all surprising under the present circumstances.

Come on! There are at least 7 Kx posted for sale in the past 7 days! Have you ever seen so many same Pentax cameras listed for sale in the same period of time here at ClubSnap?

I just really wish I could use the newer Pentax DSLRs with the speed & accuracy that I have got accustomed to from my Nikons. I'll say that again... SPEED with ACCURACY... no point in designing newer cameras with speedier focus but which are also affected by increasing inaccuracy of focus.

I just don't feel as comfortable being an early adopter of new Pentax DSLRs anymore as I was earlier. I have been a Pentax fan boy for quite a while now but am not sure now for how long I will continue to be one. And if there are increasingly more members in here with the same irking feeling that I cannot help but feel nowadays, that's not reassuring for the brand's long term goals.

I was so happy with my K-x that I managed to convince a good number of people to invest in the Pentax brand. I don't feel the same way about giving my opinions to others regarding the K-r and K5. Hopefully Pentax will come out wiser from all this and will not bring any more new cameras to market with issues that should actually have been ironed out in the labs during a more stringent testing phase.

Maybe Pentax shouldn't stop manufacturing the K-x until all these problems are sorted out once and for all for good.

Just go away, everyone will be happier

Thread closed!