Howdy All,

I posted a while ago about some old Pentax SLR cameras and the 8 or so lenses I had for them. After much debate (with myself), I have sold the two 35mm camera bodies and kept all the lenses (all Pentax K mount compatible).

I am therefor in the market for SLR an camera and am keen to make use of the Pentax lenses, where possible. I am new to DSLRs in general, so any advice would be much appreciated.

I was thinking of purchasing a K500 or K30. The K30 is the slightly better model, and has weather proof sealing, but is more expensive. Camera body only is £420 ish (or £460 with basic lens kit), whereas a K500 with a basic lens is £350. Having recently sold some stuff on ebay, I have got a small fund to cover the purchase, so would prefer to buy the camera that would be better in the long term. There is also the option of a K50, but again this is more money.

Merry Christmas to all and thanks in advance for any advice.

good lord, a fellow heretic 😛

I would also consider picking up a K-5 (original) 2nd hand from Ebay UK or a forum for around 350 squid…

The advantages of the K-5 over the K-30 will be the 14 bit RAW, slightly better DR, Magnesium Alloy Body, marginally faster shooting and longer battery life, top lcd and silent shutter

Of those advantages I reckon the top lcd and silent shutter are two of the better ones

The K-30 is a beast for the money (and should have many Canikon users choking on their porridge with disgust) vs the K-5 it has better AF, focus peaking, is lighter and can also take AA batteries or the Lithium Ion battery (so possibly better for travel), better video. Also the 12 bit RAW (vs-K-5) is perhaps only a marginal disadvantage (shadow recovery etc) and really will depend on the subjects you shoot. Some people reckon not worth splitting hairs over for their usage. The JPEG engine of the K-30 is reckoned to be better than the K-5.

If you shoot landscape/astro (where AF won’t matter and bit depth DR will matter more) perhaps the K-5 gets the nod. Situations where you need the quiet shutter as well…

The K-5 is also rated for 150k shutter actuations IIRC

If you need faster AF then go for the K-30.

I would not look at the K-500 because it lacks the weather resistance.

The K-5 is still very much a marker in crop sensor performance

http://www.dxomark.com/en/Reviews/DxOMark-review-for-the-Pentax-K5

The best APS-C in all tested fields
No need for suspense: this new 16.3 MP sensor is simply the best APS-C we have tested so far, sometimes able to compete even with very high-end full-frame cameras.
The overall score of the K5 puts it in the lead with 82 points — more than 9 points better than the D90 or the Alpha 55, and 16 points ahead of the Canon 7D or 60D. The K5 is literally the best APS-C performer for each segment, even in low ISO.
Wonderful Dynamic Range performance
Dynamic range is clearly where the K5 struts its stuff. The scores it reaches at ISO 80 are simply impressive: at 14.1 Ev (print mode), even the D3X’s full-frame sensor is not that good. Smoothing appears at ISO 3200 but does not impact the metrics.

Conqueror, thanks for the advice. If I go for a K30, is there any recommended place to purchase and is there a particular configuration you suggest? It seems that you can get one with a 18-55mm lens for little more than the camera body only.

I see they sell them at Amazon, but not John Lewis, so not sure if there is any department store I can buy from that will offer better warranties/face to face service. (I am based in the South East).

I would go for a s/hand K-5, excellent camera for the money

The kit 18-55 is ok, but I preferred the 16-45 or for a wider range the 18-135

Not sure where you are in the SE, but SRS in Watford is a good place for all things Pentax as is this website Pentax

Plenty of advice there and a good classifieds section too

Are they AF or MF lenses? For AF obviously get a Pentax body, but…

…if they’re MF lenses the best body to get is a Sony Nex (many versions available). The big advantage being fast and accurate manual focus.

I use a Nex-5 (very cheap used) and a Nex-7 for PK lenses using a Camdiox focal length reducer which allows the lenses to behave like full frame lenses (which is the other advantage).

…does funny pentax handshake and wanders off…

AF or MF is not an issue… Any K-mount lens will fit a Pentax DSLR with no adapter required. The K-30 also has focus peaking which I think is what 5thElefant is pointing to on the NEX bodies.

Agree with Tijuana Taxi … SRS will probably give you the best advice/support, but if you are buying new from somewhere then you should be covered by a UK warranty.

The 18-55mm WR is handy lens to have as it is weather resistant. A lot of the WR lenses are quite a bit more. DA 18-135mm is about 330 quid. 100MM WR FA macro is about 500. DA* series [for instance] is serious money. The 18-55mm WR is a good one to have in your bag.

AF or MF is not an issue… Any K-mount lens will fit a Pentax DSLR with no adapter required. The K-30 also has focus peaking which I think is what 5thElefant is pointing to on the NEX bodies

Yeah. I didn’t know they had focus peaking. Obviously not in the view finder though.

You can’t use a focal length reducer with a dslr though, so you’re stuck with the cropped field of view.

If you do buy new try and ensure you buy from a Pentax Pro dealer so you get two years warranty instead of the usual one

A while back I put together a guide on using manual lenses with Pentax DSLR’s such as camera settings and in particular metering

Email me if you would like a copy, think it explained the method quite well or at least so a few people said it did.

I got a K-5 from SRS-microsystems in the summer when they were doing them for the same price as k-30.

The k-5 and k-30 are very similar inside in terms of spec, but the k-5 has a few things to make it better like a metal body and the screen on top, so if not having the latest model isn’t a problem then IMO its well worth it over the k-30.

Yeah. I didn’t know they had focus peaking. Obviously not in the view finder though.

The k-5 at least beeps and the center AF indicator lights up when you focus on something, but only the center point.

To use the old lenses (k-mount, no idea how m-42 works) you set ‘use aperture ring’ to ‘2’ in the menu (1=no, 2=yes, no need to undo this for auto lenses not entirely sure why it’s an option),
set the camera to manual (it will only work with K lenses in manual,
although with the green button it’s more like aperture priority),
focus,
press the green button to do stop down metering,
use the exposure dial to adjust up/down as necessary,
press shutter.

Or if it’s an A lense then set it to A on the exposure dial and use the aperture control on the camera.

I’m planning on getting some manual flashes, then it really will be a plethora of buttons to control!

Thanks all for your advice. After much research, I have decided to go for a K50. Discounts available at SRS in Watford at the moment, went on sale today and hopefully will get the longer warranty as I believe they are a pro dealer.

The lenses I have are a mix of manual and autofocus – some are from a K1000 Asahi and the other are Pentax SMC A I believe. It is all frankly a massive learning curve for me, so your advice above is helpful.

Tijuana, offer would be gratefully accepted. Will email.

*does the funny Pentax handshake and leaves as well*

Looks like a good choice to me and even better there is 60 quid cashback from Pentax on the K-50 with 18-55 lens or 40 quid body only

Email received and replied to, hope it helps and enjoy your new camera

I’d love a Pentax if I didn’t already have an Olympus. Great looking brand.