Compact DSLRs Just Got More Serious
Thursday, May 21, 2009

Since the days of the original Canon Digital Rebel (300D), DSLR manufacturers have seemed to equate "small" with "entry level" and "cheap". Doubtless there has been improvement over the years in this respect. The Olympus E-620, Nikon D5000, and Canon XSi/T1i are all very fully featured and capable yet small DSLRs. However, there is a list of features which we usually don't get in today's small SLRs:

  • Weather resistance
  • 100% coverage in the viewfinder
  • Magnesium-steel alloy construction
  • Top level autofocus (whatever that may be for a given manufacturer)
  • Top level metering (whatever that may be for a given manufacturer)
Not only are these features missing in the smallest class of DSLRs (D5000, T1i, E-620, etc), they are also missing in the middle weight class (D90, 50D, E-30, etc).

With the introduction of the new K-7, Pentax has parted ways with this old, restrictive thinking.  The K-7 offers all of the above features and does so in a body which is quiet, has in-body stabilization, and remains smallest in class.
 
Kudos to Pentax for putting their very best into a light-middleweight camera.  It's one solid step closer to what I really want to see, which is all of the above features plus a 35mm full frame sensor in the lightweight (D60/E-620) class.

Posted by Amin

Comments (19)

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jpmccormac's avatar

jpmccormac · 829 weeks ago

Remember that all these "features"
- Weather resistance
- 100% coverage in the viewfinder
- Magnesium-steel alloy construction

put the K-7 in a much higher price category than the 450D, D5000, etc. $1,500. for body only?
6 replies · active 828 weeks ago
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Tariq Gibran's avatar

Tariq Gibran · 829 weeks ago

$1299 is the suggested retail price, not $1500, a price that puts it in direct competition with the Canon 50D and Nikon D300 yet it offers features not found on either of those.
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amin's avatar - Go to profile

amin 67p · 829 weeks ago

The D300 is pretty darn fully featured (weather resistant, 100% coverage, magnesium alloy frame, top AF module, top metering), but it is a big brick. Also, the K-7 will almost certainly settle out below the price point of the D300.
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Tariq Gibran's avatar

Tariq Gibran · 829 weeks ago

I agree. I think the only major thing the Pentax has over the D300 is HD video. I also don't think one should overlook the line of higher end, fixed focal length lenses Pentax now has specifically for this format - the most complete range of any of the manufacturers I believe.
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Prognathous's avatar

Prognathous · 828 weeks ago

The D300 may be well featured, but the K-7 offers many advantages, so of which are quite significant:

- In-body image stabilization (SR)
- HD video (720P, control over aperture and brightness, stereo mic socket, contrast-detect AF)
- $400 less expensive
- 175 gram lighter; significantly smaller
- DNG support (with lossless compression)
- Digital level with manual or automatic correction using sensor tilt
- Pixel remapping
- Digital preview
- The green button; ISO, WB and Menu button accessible using the right hand; RAW button
- Automatic AF correction based on ambient light color temperature
- 3-exposure HDR; Multiple exposures up to 9 exposures (without tone mapping or overexposure)
- HyperProgram
- Higher resolution (14.6 MP vs. 12.3MP)
- LCD color calibration
- Cold weather support down to -10 degree C
- Dust alert
- Composition adjustment via sensor shift
- Copyright embedding in EXIF

If I wasn't already invested in A-mount and FourThirds I would have definitely bought this camera. Other than the lack of an articulated screen, it seems like the closest yet to a perfect DSLR.

Prog.
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Gaurav S. 18p · 828 weeks ago

$1500 for the kit (with the waterproof 18-55 lens) which is almost 2 n' a half times what the Olympus E-620 kit costs.
I think thats a significant difference in the camera's design & appeal, but even so, full points to Pentax for this awesome piece of equipment most specially considering it's size (as compared to the D300 or the 50D or the E-3)
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amin's avatar - Go to profile

amin 67p · 829 weeks ago

Sure, the K-7 is in in the mid-size (50D/D90/E-30) category. However, none of those cameras have these features either, despite all of them being introduced at a similar price point. Also, the K-7 is smaller than the other mid-size cameras.
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Wolfieps3737 · 829 weeks ago

If the new Olympus M4/3 is going to cost US $1000 as rumored, and it is a "consumer" model, then the "serious" w/r version will probably price out like the K-7 - or even higher.
Kudos to Pentax for introducing two WR lenses that don't cost the earth - only $199 for the WR 18-55 f3.5 lens - much cheaper than anyone else's WR lens even allowing for the slower aperture.
As some others have said - the K-7 is what the Olympus E-30 should have been... a lot of people would take WR protection over art filters and swivel LCD!
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gnat · 829 weeks ago

Finally a smallish pro/prosumer DSLR. I already put my money down on this camera. I've been shooting an Olympus E420 since October and have been back and forth about the E3, E30 and the E620. I almost walked out of the camera store a week ago with an E620 but I wanted a weatherproof E620 with the performance and features of the E30 and E3. I am getting more than I wanted from the Pentax X-7.
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sam's avatar

sam · 829 weeks ago

I'm hoping this catches on. I bought a cheap import D40 in the days of the Pentax K100D with one eye on the upgrade to a weather proof tough camera which at the time, Pentax didn't make. I think I'll now just buy a 35mm 1.8, keep learning for a while with that then if Nikon insist on charging a fortune for the D90 I'll switch to a Pentax K7 with a 16-50 f2.8, followed by a 12-24 f4 and 60-250 f4, then start saving for all those gorgeous limited primes......
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Eolake's avatar - Go to profile

Eolake 33p · 829 weeks ago

Hear hear.
I've already blogged this camera twice:
http://tr.im/mai4

(Includes comments on upcoming Olympus.)
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DubJay's avatar

DubJay · 829 weeks ago

What makes the K-7 particularly interesting is the ability to mate it with the three Pentax "pancake lenses" (21mm f3.2, 40mm f2.8, & 70mm f2.4).
1 reply · active 828 weeks ago
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Linh's avatar

Linh · 828 weeks ago

This is a huge reason why I want to switch. Unfortunately, I also do events and canon wins for me hands down right now. I have a 20D and 40D, which at my cost was less than the k7. It'll be a little while before it drops and/or I see some in the used market. But even then, the reason I got good deals on the canon stuff is the abundance in the used market.

That and the cost of lenses to replicate what I have would be significantly more for me.
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Jim in Denver's avatar

Jim in Denver · 829 weeks ago

This 'small is top-of-the-line' is not a new development with Pentax -- the 35mm Pro body of the 80's, the LX, was much smaller than the Canon F-1 or the Nikon F3.

I wish them well with this camera!
2 replies · active 828 weeks ago
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Spiny Norman's avatar - Go to profile

Spiny Norman · 828 weeks ago

Note that K7 is LX, upside-down. That is not a coincidence.
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fadzlan's avatar

fadzlan · 828 weeks ago

Is it possible to have a 100% viewfinder that also have sensor-auto cleaning (not exactly cleaning but I forgot the term>) ?
1 reply · active 828 weeks ago
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amin's avatar - Go to profile

amin 67p · 828 weeks ago

Yes, the Pentax K7 has both a 100% viewfinder and an integrated dust removal system. The Olympus E-3 and Nikon D300 also have this. None of the "mid-level" Canons have this combination.
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Zeusman's avatar

Zeusman · 828 weeks ago

Very keen eye to notice that (K7 is LX upside down). You have me wondering if that was indeed intentional. I had an LX and OM4ti and those were among my favorite cameras way back when.

They get 'it'! It seems more and more consumers are waking up to the fact that the camera doesn't need to be massive to be a "pro" body. Years ago, there was way too much ego involved with these massive bodies with motor drives.

I really like this K7 alot and considering selling some of my Canon glass to get one with some of those pancake primes. My gut tells me I'd use it more than my 5DII.

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