Pentax K-5 In-depth Review

December 2010 | Barnaby Britton and Lars Rehm

In terms of operation and design the new K5 is all but identical to the K-7. For this reason, to gain a '360' view of the K-5's body design and operation we therefore recommend you not only read this review, but also the relevant sections in our full review of the Pentax K-7.

When the K10D was launched in September 2006 it was Pentax's first foray into the 'enthusiast' DSLR market, competing at the time with rivals such as the Canon EOS 30D and the Nikon D200. Four years later in 2010 the enthusiast sector of the market is as competitive as ever and the K-5, Pentax' latest offering to the 'serious amateur photographer', will have to fight for consumers' attention with the likes of the Canon 7D, Nikon D7000 and D300S, and the Olympus E-5. At a launch RRP of $1600 (body only) the K-5 is currently at a similar price point as its main competitors but we would expect the street price to go down sooner rather than later.

At first sight the K-5 is virtually indistinguishable from the K-7 (in some markets the K-7 will remain in the Pentax line alongside the K-5). Apart from an additional 'Fx' (which stands for 'flex') label on the customizable RAW button and a subtle redesign of the AF switch on its rear there are no readily significant differences between the K-5 and its predecessor the K-7. However, there is more novelty to be found under the hood - the K-5's most notable new component is a 16.3 megapixel CMOS sensor, which is probably closely related to the sensors inside the Nikon D7000 and Sony SLT-A55. The new sensor brings with it a higher maximum sensitivity (ISO 51200 in expanded mode, the highest on any APS-C camera to date), faster continuous shooting (7.0 fps vs the K-7's 5.2fps) and a 1080p full HD video mode (the K-7 offered a rather non-standard 1536 x 1024 pixels maximum video resolution).

Other improvements include an upgraded SAFOX IX+ AF system, inherited from the recently unveiled medium-format 645D, which features color-detection, wider coverage of the AF points and improved speed. Also new is a dual-axis electronic horizon (now with pitch as well as roll indication) and a few extra digital filters and custom image modes. Despite the changes, however, existing K-7 users will no doubt require very little adjustment time if they decide to upgrade to the new model.