Over the past four years, I've owned an *ist DL, a K100D and a K2000. The new Pentax K-r feels like a huge improvement over its already excellent predecessors.
NEW FEATURES:
The most obvious improvements are the great new features. The K-r now has a dedicated focus assist lamp. In short, it's unintrusive compared to a strobing popup flash and it works great. I can't believe it took Pentax this long to give us this feature.
The K-r also supports both a proprietary lithium ion battery and AA batteries. You'll have to find a special adapter to use AA batteries though. Unfortunately, Pentax didn't bundle the adapter with the body.
K-x users will also be familiar with the in-camera HDR feature. The K-r includes several HDR settings including auto, standard, strong 1, strong 2, and strong 3. HDR mode is easily accessed by pressing the Info button.
Movie mode is available once again, but it's still not particularly robust. You can shoot in 720p at 25fps, which is an odd frame rate. AF isn't available while you're shooting, but I've found that manual focusing is easy enough with the right lens. I didn't have any problems with my FA 35mm.
Auto white-balancing is greatly improved over the K100D and the K2000 also. You can now shoot in tungsten light without having to manually set the WB. No more horribly yellow photos indoors followed by extremely blue photos outdoors when you forget to white balance again!
Finally, my favorite new feature is the selectable 11-point AF. When it's enabled, you can press the OK button to bring up the point selection interface and use the arrow keys to select your focus point. When you're done, press and hold the OK button to close the menu so you can use the arrow keys for other shortcuts again.
INTERFACE:
With each new release, Pentax's interface has improved and the K-r is no exception. For people coming from the older *ist DL and K100D bodies, you'll immediately notice that the four arrow buttons now have double purposes. Instead of pressing FN + right to get to the ISO menu, you just need to press the right arrow button. Users of the K2000 will find the interface very familiar, but still improved. The Info button now brings up the grid of commonly used settings such as HDR modes, JPG/RAW, metering settings, AF mode, etc. Each setting is represented with an icon or text label and moving the cursor over the setting allows you to quickly cycle through the different modes using the dial. It's similar to pressing the OK button the K2000, but now with more options and fewer button presses.
When you preview your last JPG photo, you also get the option to save it as raw. This only works with the last photo taken, probably because the camera only stores the raw data for one photo at a time. This is a great feature for those who prefer to shoot in JPG and still occasionally use raw.
BUILD QUALITY:
The build quality of the K-r is as solid as every previous Pentax dSLR body that I've owned. The battery compartment latch is slightly improved over the K2000 and the K100D. It's a little hard to describe the new latch, but it's easy to use and much harder to accidentally open.
PERFORMANCE:
I loved the low light performance of my K100D and I enjoyed the newer interface and faster AF of my K2000. The K-r again gets the best of both worlds with very clean photos at ISO 1600 and even faster and more decisive autofocus. It's also now capable of shooting at 6fps in continuous mode.
OVERALL:
The Pentax K-r has really exceeded my expectations. The improved performance combined with the new features makes the K-r a joy to use. It's an excellent entry-level dSLR that it will satisfy even more seasoned photographers who want a compact spare body.
I upgraded from the Pentax K-2000 to the Pentax K-R. I have only had the camera a few days but I already have a good impression.
First, the LCD display is good, really good. A huge upgrade from the one on the Pentax K-2000. With this screen it is easy to verify the right focus, love it.
The camera is very fast. Fast at focusing, talking the pictures and fast going through the menus. Now, activate some of the special features like filters or lens distortion correction and things slow down. I think it is a fair exchange.
The camera brings a new battery that last a LONG time. In theory you could use AA batteries but you need a $35.00 adapter that the camera did not bring. I'm not going to spend $35 for an adapter, I would rather pay for another battery for that money. Pentax dropped the ball on this one.
The visible focus points make a BIG difference. I had defaulted the K-2000 to center only focusing to avoid problems. I had been doing this for so long that I didn't realize how useful it would be to have an 11 point focus system. This is a big improvement.
Live view is a LOT faster than the reviews give it credit for. I had NO PROBLEMS telling people to pose and using the face recognition in live view to take the picture. Once you focus it does a zoom in on the focus point for a second. I like the feature as it lets me verify focus.
The biggest surprise was the low light capabilities of the camera. I can shoot at ISO 1600 without having to worry about noise. Even if I shoot RAW there is not much noise to talk about at ISO 1600. ISO 3200 is still very usable and with some Photoshop using Raw files they are easy to make usable for 8 X 11 pictures. The K-R is a HUGE improvement from the K-2000 in this area.
Build and Handling: It feels just like a K-2000 and from the outside it has few differences. The biggest change was the menus as they have been GREATLY improved making finding and changing settings very easy. The camera is still noisy and in a quiet environment it will be noticed as you take the picture. Since I shoot a lot in Church environments I would have rather have a silent camera.
Low Point: The video is not really a big feature. Mono sound, you can only record up to 20 minutes as the sensor heats up too much, 25 fps, no automatic refocus, no aperture control after the movie starts. In short, don't buy the K-R for the movie mode, that is just a basic feature in the camera. Live view is the REAL improvement.
So I find the K-R a very good upgrade from the K-2000. The pictures look great and the low light pictures are excellent. Only two issues are the basic video feature and the lack of the AA adapter in the package. The fast focus, fast shooting, improve LCD, visible focus points, amazing low light pictures and live view make the K-R a great upgrade for K-2000 users.
Buy Pentax K-r 12.4 MP Digital SLR Camera with 3-Inch LCD (Black Body) Now
As a Canon 5DII shooter needing a compact SLR for hiking or backup on trips I got a good deal on this K-r and immediately set out to find fault with it. I had the box ready to send it back. My nitpicking was in vain; I like this little guy!
I let my Pentax K20D go to my son to get more pics of the grandkids out of him, leaving me without a Pentax body. I already own a couple of Pentax digital lenses, and I thought that a compact DSLR was preferable to holding a miniature camera out like a baby with a dirty diaper to compose, or dealing with one of several miserable electronic viewfinders.
The K-r has a bigger, clearer LCD screen than the K20D, image quality is noticeably better in the shadows than the K20D, and the penta-mirror optical viewfinder competes well with its CaNikon peers (at this price level). The ergonomics fit me fine, and the interface is very simple. In fact, I am familiar with Canon and Nikon SLR's and I find the Pentax interface to be straightforward and well thought-out. LiveView is very smooth in use, and is a great help in focusing a manual-focus lens, such as for macro use.
Unlike my Canon 5D2, proper exposure reads in the middle, without any underor overexposure that I can see. If colors look too cartoonish for you, simply select the Natural jpg mode. As other reviewers say, there IS a tendency to blow out strong highlights. If the picture is that important to you, shoot RAW and be extra careful. Setting minus Exposure Compensation and processing for the highlights (Adobe Camera RAW) should not cause noisy shadows with the K-r. Set the K-r to shoot your RAWs in the DNG format, and do your processing in ACR. In my testing, hot spots in the scene, such as a sunlit white wall, really do show up hot. You must adjust for that with ANY camera. Also, you will have SOME blown specular highlights with any digital camera in some situations. Finally, use at least a Class 6 card, or it'll be slow writing to the card.
In summary, the K-r is compact (especially with the DA 21 or DA 70 pancake lenses) and competent. It's a pleasure to carry around in a small bag. It is feather-light without being at all flimsy. Great buys in Pentax lenses for the K-r include the new 35mm f2.4, the old FA 35mm f2, the F and FA 50's, and the F and FA 28's. The 55-300 tele zoom is decent, but don't expect Canon L performance ($350 lens vs $1,200). If you MUST have a zoom, an excellent choice would be Tamron's 17-50 f 2.8. The Tammie is significantly better than the Pentax kit zoom, which is, in turn, not junk, just a cheap zoom. Don't shell out for the Tamron Image Stabilization; get the non-IS version. You already have in-body IS with the K-r.
The Pentax K5, for double the money, gets you a brighter viewfinder, better weather-sealing, better high ISO images and bigger files. At about $550, The K-r is a good buy. You can expect the price to come down even more as the next "latest and greatest" comes out.
Read Best Reviews of Pentax K-r 12.4 MP Digital SLR Camera with 3-Inch LCD (Black Body) Here
Ordered this camera from Emmy Photo. The original camera that I was sent had the light meter calibration off by more than 2 stops. Sent back and promptly received a replacement unit. The LED display on this second unit began to fail within a matter of weeks. Emmy will not take back the second camera, so am sending back to Pentax.
Note added in postscript: I contacted Pentax today regarding warranty service, and was told that I was responsible for shipping and insurance costs sending this unit back to them for repairs. I was further told that I should expect turnaround of up to 4 weeks.
When I requested free shipping and exchange for a new unit given that I had been sent two defective units in a row, I was told that "this is not Pentax's warranty policy".
Want Pentax K-r 12.4 MP Digital SLR Camera with 3-Inch LCD (Black Body) Discount?
From the factory, the K-r front focusing was really bad (tested 3 lens: 18-55mm f3.5-5.6, 28-90mm f3.5-5.6, and 35mm f2.4). I had to AF Fine Adjust to -10. I then found a nifty app called PK_Tether, which allows you to put Pentax cameras (K-x, K7, K5, K-r, K20D, K10D, K200) into debug mode. That enables you to get to the Debug menu and do AF calibration. I am not sure what the max is but I went as high as -19. You would want to reset the AF Fine Adjustment to 0 before using the calibration. That way you can do fine adjustment from the calibrated setting.
Other than the front focusing issue, the K-r could use the individual AF fine adjustment setting for up to 20 lens feature available on the K7 and K5. Otherwise, the K-r is a great camera with the fix mentioned above.
I will have to play a bit more with this camera but I suspect it will be going back for a refund by the end of the week. This camera takes wonderful indoor photographs with flash, very clear. Although at the highest resolution the photos are less than 500k and I would expect something more like 2mb.
