Latest K-30 and K-5II/s Reviews

Full K-30 review at the DPR:-

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/pentax-k-30/

Rough K-5II and IIs review at the PF:-

http://www.pentaxforums.com/reviews/pentax-k-5-ii-iis/introduction.html

Now the "stop gap" models suddenly has become "new flagships"! That's really funny! :-D

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100 Colours Q10 - Real Dummy Units!

Photos at "Pentax Briefing Paper" (Japanese).

Wow! I really want to buy one this time and couldn't help myself, regardless of the super small sensor of this TOY! :-D


Previous Stories:-

100 Colours of Q10 are Available for Ordering Now

100 Colours of the Q10

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Another K-5 Vs K-5IIs Sample Comparison (w/ FA*28-70)

Same site, same author, who has done many shootout tests between the two cameras recently and shared his results:-

http://pentax.briefing-paper.com/2027
(in Japanese)

The lens was put at f/5.6 at 50mm which could one of the possible sharpest settings of the lens.

This time, IMHO, the difference between the K-5 and K-5IIs is almost non-existent. In fact, with the extra-sharpness setting +1, the

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Pentax Forums K-5 Vs K-5IIs Sample Shots and Comparisons (Two Pics)

http://www.pentaxforums.com/news/pentax-k-5-iis-vs-k-5-sample-photos.html

Btw, do you see and like the moires? :-o

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SLRGear (IR) DA18-135 Full Test

See: http://slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/1384/cat/46

The measurbation results seem to be in line with what PhotoZone found long time ago. I now understand why Pentax Germany replied Klaus that the lens under test was "within factory specs"! :-o

If we compare further of the above against those of the original Canon EF-S 18-135 IS, the new Canon 18-135 IS STM and the Nikon 18-135

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EOS M First Hands-on Impressions

First played with a M with the 18-55 STM kit zoom for about 15 minutes and here are what I found:-

- The body is really nicely built and it feels very solid in hands. Unlike all other mirrorless bodies, the M is actually made in Japan.

- The body is thicker than the NEX but is obviously thinner than the K-01. It feels a bit heavier than my NEX-3, which is yet the lightest and most compact APS-C

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News: E-PL5 Has No AA FIlter! (And Amazon Top Sales Charts Pentax Update)

See what 43 Rumors report:-

http://www.43rumors.com/surprise-the-olympus-e-pl5-has-no-low-pass-filter-no-aa-filter/

So, this is a camera with a 16MP Sony sensor without an AA filter in front of the sensor, resulting in a "higher image quality" as people say.

This must be the cheapest AA-filterless body in the market then. Similar to the K-5IIs, it is in 16MP and uses a Sony sensor.

Speaking

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Disassemble (and Repair) the FA 80-320 Zoom Lens

Thanks to Blog reader MattMatic for his alert, here is the series of lens disassembling photos of his:-

http://www.photon.me.uk/pu/pentax_fa80_320/index.html

Full shared story here: http://www.pentaxuser.co.uk/forum/topic/fa80-320-37602

Btw, the MIJ label reminds me of those high quality days of those Pentax products, even a consumer zoom like this was made in Japan, where and when the

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Focus Peaking Trick on E-M5 (Which has NOT the Feature! Trick NOT works for Pentax Bodies!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpOqo6gA92Y

Via 43 Rumors.

Wow, this OM-D user is really clever and brilliant!

However, this tricks does NOT with any existing Pentax bodies which do not have the focus peaking feature built-in, i.e., those models without a PRIME M processor, including the K-5, K-5II/IIs and the Q. It is because the in-camera digital filters of the Pentax cameras are applied in

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New K-30 and Q Firmwares Released

1. Firmware Version 1.01 for K-30:-

http://www.pentax.jp/english/support/digital/k-30_s.html

Changes to V1.01

Improved performance of contrast AF
Improved stability for general performance.


2. Firmware Version 1.10 for Q:-

http://www.pentax.jp/english/support/digital/q_s.html

Changes to V1.10

Correspond to [Adapter Q for K-mount Lenses]. How to input focal length Click here
Correspond to

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More K-5 Vs K-5II Comparisons (Moon Shots and Outdoor LCD Views)

(Left: K-5; Right: K-5IIs, 100% Crops.)

Via Post @ the Chinese Xitek Forum

Well, the poster commented that the difference in sharpness is negligible in his opinion. Besides, I found that the colour rendition of the K-5 is better, once again! The K-5IIs shot is somehow greyish for the blue.


(Left: "Air-gapless" LCD Mon. of K-5II; Right: K-5.)

Via Post @ the Chinese Xitek Forum

I like the

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K-5 Vs K-5IIs High ISO Shootout (800-12800)

http://pentax.briefing-paper.com/1925
(in Japanese)

Test Conditions:-
Manual white balance, Natural custom image, NR Off, FA77 Limited lens used at f/5.6, LV AF, Direct JPEG.

Below is a snapshot of the ISO 3200 comparison pair:-


(Left: K-5, Right: K-5IIs, @ ISO 3200 - Click to Enlarge.)

It is obvious that the colour response of the K-5 is more favourable. The colours produced by the K-5IIs

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A K-5 Vs K-5IIs Head-to-head Measurebation

Test shots were made with the same FA31 Limited lens under the same lighting and test condition from f/1.8 to f/11 with an addition test shot at f/5.6 with the "extra sharpness" setting:-

K-5: http://pentax.briefing-paper.com/1121 (in Japanese)

K-5IIs: http://pentax.briefing-paper.com/1864 (in Japanese)

In particular, the following is the side-by-side f/5.6 pair of the comparison shots:-


(

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More K-5IIs User Samples (Downsized)

See this Flickr page:-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sansuu3dan/

All the photos in "original" (i.e., maximum) size are downsized/edited to about 3MP and all EXIF data is deleted, nonetheless.

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K-5 is Sharp Enough! (Portraitures w/ DA70 Limited)

Portrait Gallery! (Include Guys and Gals, Slide-show)

100% Crops (No Sharpening, Slide-show)

The K-5 plus Pentax glass is really sharp enough! Besides, we can see nice Pentax colours and skin tone! ;-p So, what's the point of a "new" K-5II which has reset the price to 50% dearer?! :-o


View Also:- 

Some Recent Random Snapshots of Mine

Who Said K-5 Cannot be Used as a JPEG Camera?

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K-5II/IIs: Central Cross AF Sensor Will be Disabled with Most DA Zoom Lenses, and even Some DA Limited Primes!

(Source: Pentax Japan K-5II/s page, Credit: Blog reader "jaad75".)

Look at the above official diagram and illustration. For the "new" K-5II and K-5IIs, the first thing is that only the central AF point is equipped with the f/2.8 sensor, for the horizontal one. That f/2.8 sensor is unique for being the one and only one f/2.8 AF sensor that the camera has. However, this sensor will NOT work with

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"PENTAX Demonstrates Host of New Products At PhotoPlus Expo 2012"?!

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/10/prweb10021997.htm

What's the "Host of New Products" actually? They are all the same old and unexciting stuff that were shown to the world at Photokina last month!

Btw, the K-01 and the previous disclosed new lenses are not mentioned anywhere and will not be displayed of course. It seems that Pentax Ricoh has firmly decided to abort the "line" and will

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Two Really Good Things of the K-01!

Read this lengthy incompatibility EF lens list with the EOS M (when the EF adaptor is added) and I am shocked!

http://support-cn.canon-asia.com/contents/CN/ZH/8201705900.html
(in Chinese)

Even the lens is compatible, the AF speed of the new Canon mirrorless is just terribly sloooow, even when it is worked with the latest Canon EF-M STM lenses, which are specifically designed for the EOS M! :-o

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WiFize "Any" Camera of Yours!

Well, here is the PQI Air Card in SD format, it should be compatible with all the latest Pentax DSLRs and the Q inclusive, as officially tested and listed.

With this card and the App (in both iOS and Android versions), instantaneous WiFi transfer of image files to mobile device is easy and effortless.

A YouTube demonstration can also be found here:-


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

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K-5II User Manual is Put Online

http://www.pentax.jp/english/support/man-pdf/k-5-2.pdf

Last time I have searched for the whole document, there is no information of any for mentioning about the f/2.8 AF sensor for this "new" camera. So, the mystery about its layout and compatibility / usability with different lenses are yet unknown!

Speaking of the K-5II, IR has put their measurbation RAW(DNG) and JPEG files onto their

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First K-5IIs Hands-on Review with Complete ISO Samples (100-51200)

http://www.yaotomi.co.jp/blog/walk/2012/10/pentax-k-5iis-1st-review.html
(in Japanese)

All samples are available in full size and full EXIF is preserved even for thumbnails. ISO samples from ISO 100 to 51200 are posted, with a few other picture samples, all of which are also night scenes. Lenses used for the test are FA77/1.8, DA14/2.8 and DA*16-50/2.8.

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Sensor Size Talk with Aptina at DPR (Interview)

Read: http://www.dpreview.com/news/2012/10/16/Sandor-Barna-explains-how-1-inch-sensors-will-save-the-compact-camera

Via 1001 Noisy Cameras.

So, how is the Pentax Q? Your thought?

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Another K-5 Vs K-5II Vs K-5IIs Side-by-side Comparison

By Wesley Wong again:-

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/post/50086545

The Setup:-



One of the Crops:-



The Test Conditions as mentioned:-

"1. Lens used is Pentax-M 100mm f/4.0, shot at f/11, 1/125, ISO100 mounted on tripod. 

2. Subjects are lighting with two Lastolite RayD8 5500K continuous lights.

3. Focusing was done manually with focus lock confirmation.

4. Each image was

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A K-5II Vs K-5IIs Image Shootout

(Click to Enlarge.)

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/post/50081949

P.S. My thanks to Wesley for his email alert for his above test.

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K-01 Firmware V1.00 Vs V1.01 Round 2: w/ DA*300, DFA100WR and FA28-105

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1gmeEzOuKk

Via http://forum.pentaxfans.net/thread-131047-1-1.html (in Traditional Chinese)

AF tests with the new firmware is starting from 04:55 and before that is with fw version 1.00. It is once confirmed that the new firmware provides obviously better performance with faster AF speed. The improvement is particularly obvious with the longer (focal) lens, i.e

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K-01 AF Performance Firmware V1.00 Vs V1.01

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSW4yOs48RE

By What Blog is This?

Via 1001 Noisy Cameras.

Assuming the battery power levels were the same, the new firmware does significant improve the AF speed of the K-01. However, the CDAF still need to turn the lens to-and-fro so as to search for the focus but did never know which direction to turn first at the beginning. I believe that if Pentax will be

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100 Colours of Q10 are Available for Ordering Now

http://www.pentax.jp/japan/products/q10/color/
(in Japanese)


Last Report:- 

100 Colours of the Q10

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Shutter Shake Problem is More Significant with Mirrorlesses than DSLRs!

See this article:-

http://cameraergonomics.blogspot.com/2012/09/micro-43-shutter-shock-revisited-omd-em.html

(Newly discovered website introduced by the 1001 Noisy Cameras.)

Well, we all know, DSLRs have mirror slap as well as the shutter movement that cause camera shakes right before the exposure and hence image blur. But then mirrorlesses have yet another shutter movement in lieu of the

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New K-01 Firmware! (V1.01)

The K-01 is not completely dead, Pentax has provided a new firmware for it today!

http://www.pentax.jp/japan/support/download/digital/k01_s.html
(In Japanese)

It is said that the AF performance and compatibility with SD cards are improved as well as the new firmware is generally debugged. If you are a K-01 user, just follow the download link in the above page to get and install the new firmware.

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Gun Cameras, Camera Gun! (And Please Continue the K-0x Line, Pentax Ricoh!)

Well, this is a gun camera:-



Source: http://www.photoblog.hk/wordpress/24662/

It was modified from a real gun by the Japanese traffic police back to 1954, the purpose of it was to shoot with one hand and steadily! Clever design, I have to say.

But then there was a real gun which looked like a camera by the CIA in 1966. Well, it was modified from an Asahi Pentax Reflex! Oh yes, it was the big

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Big Pentax Q Cake for Ned Bunnell! :-o

Read the story here: http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2012/10/08/giant-pentax-camera-cake-marks-retirement-of-pentax-u.s.-president

Btw, my all the best wishes to Ned! Happy retirement! :-)

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Latest Pentax Interview with Pentax Ricoh HQs' Senior Official by DC Watch

Thanks to Blog reader "qwe" for his alert, we have the latest Pentax Ricoh interview by the Japanese DC Watch, as follows:-

http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/interview/20121010_564928.html

The above is in Japanese, you can read also the machine-translated English pages by Excite here and Google here.

The interview has just been published today, it seems that the tone of Pentax Ricoh has

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First K-5IIs User Sample

(Click to Enlarge.)

This should be the first K-5IIs sample that posted online, via a forum post at Photo Malaysia here.

In the same thread, we can see a pair of comparison pictures on the K-5II and K-5IIs sensors and their different appearances:-



Via this post here, in the same discussion thread.

Well, I like the appearance of the K-5II sensor better, it looks clearer and more transparent

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Yet Another Pentax Full Frame Rumour

http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-news-rumors/201457-ff-under-development.html

Everything has no proof of any and rumour is rumour. So, just believe it or not! Btw, these Pentax FF rumours have been with us for years, which seems to be a dream that never vanishes amongst we Pentaxians, maybe until one day a FF Pentax body really comes! ;-)

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Ephotozine DA50/1.8 Test, with Full Samples

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/pentax-smc-da-50mm-f-1-8-lens-review-20006

This time the samples seem to be look better than those of the last review at Optyczne.pl. The measurbation results seem to be better than what SLRGear measured and found also.

However, I discovered an obvious quality issue (minor or not) from the outside appearance of the lens under test at my first glance. That is

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Updated: Some Recent Random Snapshots of Mine

I think the Lafayette ceiling shot of the official Q10 samples is just not wide enough, so I would like to post mine:-


(Above: Canon EF17-40L @17mm on 5DIII; Click to Enlarge in New Tab.)

Does it look better now? ;-D

Besides, I would like to share some "crappy" photos of mine which are taken with my DA18-135 on K-5 today, which shows that that combo should be still usable for a longer time as

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Poll: Do You Intend to Buy the K-5II or the K-5IIs?

The K-5II and IIs will be on sales in Japan on October 19 and the official initial (Japanese) selling prices are published.

So, I would like to see what's your buying intention of these new models. Are you intended to buy?


Do you intend to buy the K-5II?
Yes, I am an existing K-5 owner.
Yes, I am an existing K-mount user but do not have a K-5.
No, I am an existing K-5 owner.
No, I am an

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The "Pentax Ricoh" Online Survey

Thanks to Blog reader "flomatix" for his email alert, I have noticed this:-

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/pentaxowners

Which is supposed to be an online survey created and conducted by Pentax Ricoh, although it is not clearly stated anywhere in the survey, except the PR logo.

I have participated in the survey anyway and you are encouraged to do so as well. But since the identity of the

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DA40XS Vs EF40STM on 5D3 (Full Frame Shootout Test)

Let's measurebate again! It's actually what I promised months ago and here we go! :-D

Testing conditions: All test shots were made in Manual exposure mode at f/6.7, 1/500s, ISO 100, Standard Picture Style with tuned down Sharpness, Contrast and Saturation by 1 step each, optimal focus as measured and indicated by the body's PMAF system. Pictures were all taken at almost the same time for the

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K-5II/K-5IIs are to be On Sales on October 19

In Japan:-

http://www.pentax.jp/japan/products/k-5-2/index.html

According to the prices at the official Japanese Pentax Online Shop, the K-5II and K-5IIs will be sold at 109,800 and 124,800 Japanese Yens respectively, which are roughly equal to US$1370 and $1560 then.

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Updated: New Pentax Lens Patent Published: 70-200mm F2.8 Full Frame Lens!

http://egami.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2012-10-05
(in Japanese, Excite English Translation Here.)

Via Photo Rumors.

This new patent has just been published yesterday. Do note that it is specified that the "Image Height Y = 21.64mm", which simply tells that it is not a 135 Full Frame lens for the image circle, despite that the focal range is really common for many of those Full Frame F2.8 tele-zoom

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Live View AF Speed Comparison: D600 Vs K-5 Vs NEX-7 (YouTube Videos)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuj7GnQjhWA


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYg_OY-V6Jk


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGYHC9biqUM

And the following are posted by the same person, which are Pentax and K-30 related:-


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDRuzvcR310


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RB8DQUSFPk


Related:- 

The Pentax Sex Party Continues..

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DA50/1.8 Full Samples (on K-5)

http://www.optyczne.pl/5268-nowo%C5%9B%C4%87-Pentax_smc_DA_50_mm_f_1.8_-_zdj%C4%99cia_przyk%C5%82adowe.html
(in Polish)

They look rather soft and lack of contrast throughout the frame, which is even not much improved when stopped down. I am almost sure that my K-5 with an old budget A50 could do better, but I don't know why these samples suck nonetheless!

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K-5II/s Official FAQs

http://www.pentax.jp/japan/support/faq/k-5-2/index.html

Available only in Japanese, but you can read the machine English translation via Google here.

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Q10 Official Full Samples

http://www.pentax.jp/japan/products/q10/ex/

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SLRGear DA50/1.8 Full Test (on K-5)

http://slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/1519/cat/45

I think it performs quite close to the old A50/1.7 and A50/2 and the behaviours are quite similar for what are tested and found. However, the DA50/1.8 is really selling too pricey, and its construction is too cheap to justify its high price, on the other hand.

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Official K-5II/IIs Full Samples

http://www.pentax.jp/japan/products/k-5-2/ex/

Measurebate yourself but I don't think they are obviously better than the original K-5's. In particular, the IIs samples are not that "sharp" against what was expected.

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The Last Wave of Pentax Interviews at Photokina

First, the PF's interview with the Pentax officials in transcript has finally arrived:-

http://www.pentaxforums.com/news/photokina-pentax-interview-transcript.html

Next, Quesabesde also interviewed the Ricoh seniors (Google translation here), via 1001 Noisy Cameras.

Just read and digest yourself for what are being told and judge if those are pure marketing talks or not and feel for yourself

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