Nice review. "Shutter is noisy" just that would be a big step back for me; I found the quiet shutter of the K-5 to be a valuable asset for candids; it was an evolution for me: *istDS' shutter noise could wake the dead, K10D felt much better, but K20D made me realise how loud a K10D it was, finally the K5 feels like the pinnacle of Pentax DSLR shutter quietness evolution (I'm guessing the K7 was the same, never tried one). Before using a K5 I considered the original istD the most acceptable of the pentax digitals when it comes to shutter noise.
On Mon, Aug 13, 2012 at 11:09 AM, Margus Männik <mar...@eol.ee> wrote: > Now I have walked a week with (literally) K-30 in one hand and K-5 in other. > I wrote a review for our local press, but obviously I'm not going to > translate the whole thing, but just want to share some points (and please > forgive me if my English is not good enough). > > + Nice body. I'm not very happy with K-7/K-5 body design (especially w/o > battery grip attached) and K-30 feels better. First it looks a bit > suspicious, but it's really comfortable in hand, even for a long > carrying/shooting. > + Two-wheel user interface. I've never liked single-wheel cameras like K-r > (and many other). Considering the price, it's really nice feature. > + Very good viewfinder and possibility to change focusing screen. Once > again, I wouldn't expect those features from less-than-top-line camera, > especially Pentax (who has such a short line of cameras). > + The picture quality is nearly the same compared to K-5 under ~ISO 6400. > I've really compared around 100 "parallel" shots and just sometimes K-5 > images seem to have a tiny bit more dynamic range. At very high ISOs K-30 > noise becomes more prominent and has different nature (rougher grain). > Considering that Pentax K-5 have been named as the very best APS-C SLR, it > seems that now the second best is also Pentax. > + Video quality is superior to K-5. It's not much surprising as K-30 > utilizes the same PRIME M processor that we've already seen in K-01. > Focusing in video mode has made a significant leap forward compared both to > K-5 and K-01. > 0 Much praised modifications to focusing system are nearly unnoticeable. > K-30 may be a bit more self-confident with SDM lenses, but can not drive > older ones as fast as K-5. > - Battery life is not impressive and there's no battery grip either. Of > course, 450 shots per charging is not THAT bad, but serious enthusiasts will > definitely need a spare battery. > - Shutter is noisy, about the same as K20D. Continuous drive at 6 fps sounds > quite scary. > - Video soundtrack is mono and camera has no external mic connector. > - Image buffer could be larger. Nowadays the memory chips are inexpensive, > after all. > > All together, we have got an really impressive camera. IQ is much better > than K20D and almost the same as K-5. My personal favorite is still K-5 (I > need battery grip and don't care about video), but I'm quite sure many > existing pentaxians will prefer K-30. > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. -- http://www.flickr.com/photos/ferand/ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
