Hey all I'm in need of your advice regarding the models I mentioned above.

After using my Panasonic FZ18 Bridge camera for 2 years which I feel it's time to dive into the world of dSLR photography. I've spent almost the entire year reading tons of reviews, watching a heck of a lot of videos (including video reviews) and looking at pictures via Flickr.

I finally settled on the K-x until I discovered that there was a soon to be release new model (which is now available) the K-r.

From what I've read the changes aren't too drastic so in terms of what has changed it appears not very much however it appears that the K-r does perform much better. (to be expected). I then decided I'd prefer the K-r. It's ISO performance is simply astounding, judging by early adopters opinions and the photos I've seen of it.

There is a bit of a price difference however, but I was pleased to see Currys had brought the price down of the K-x. They have however gone once step further (whether or not it's a mistake I do not know) they've brought the price down of the twin lense kit to £399 which is an amazing price.

I'm in two minds now whether to go for the new K-r (priced around £599 single lense or £699 Twin lense) or go with this fantastic deal Currys are doing.

The one major thing playing on my mind is Lenses. Having had a look around the websites I mentioned before there just doesn't seem to be a great deal of Pentax lenses around and I couldn't really find any third party one's either. It concerns me that there seems to be very little available.

Main question - Is this the case? Are they few and far between?

Upon reflection maybe I haven't looked hard enough, or in the right places because browsing Youtube proves that there are for example Tamron lenses available. Maybe it's just me not looking hard enough!

If I got the twin lense kit I'd certainly stick with it for a while but I'm thinking long term it'll be very hard to get hold of additional lenses.

and in the interests of curiousity what are your opinions/thoughts on the aforementioned cameras?

For what I want both the K-x and the K-r tick all the right boxes.

Anyone got/had a Pentax in the past or now? Anyone actually got either of these cameras?

Thanks.

What made you go for Pentax?

I seem to remember the K-x had a bit of a problem with mirror slap blurring pictures in certain shutter speed ranges. £399 for the body and two lenses is a great price, assuming that the two lenses are actually useful ones.

Image stabilisation is built into the body which is something I prefer, but overall it's the image quality and high ISo performance I'm most taken with.

When I've read reviews and compared images taken and then looked on Flickr and compared shots I'm far more impressed with the Pentax than any other model available.

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/pentax-...58320-pdt.html

18-55mm Zoom Lens & 50-200mm Zoom Lens, interestingly the bigger lense included in the deal with Jacobs digital is 50-300mm rather than the 200mm that is included in the Currys deal, why that is I haven't got a clue.

I've been unable to handle one yet but when I can I plan to give it a shot.

The problem with using Flickr to judge cameras is that more often than not you're actually juding the photographer's handiness with photoshop rather than the camera itself. Personally I prefer to use shots straight out of the camera but don't forget to bear in mind the Photoshop factor.

Well your point about lens range is certainly a valid one.

Canon and Nikon have the biggest families of lenses. Your preference for in-body stabilisation is interesting. The advantage of that is when using lenses without stabilisation (which is not material if not that many lenses are supported by Pentax anyway). Ultimately, what's important is whether the stabilisation is effective rather than where it is done. Canon does its stabilisation in lens but this hasn't affected its reputation at all.

Canon has improved significantly on ISO performance from its reputation for slightly noisy performance. My Canon 550D gives me great shots even at ISO 3200. It's only when I use ISO6400 that noise starts to be an issue but often it's a happy sacrifice when working in particularly dark conditions and not wanting blurry shots.

I bought my canon with the 17-85mm kit lens for it. Given that your lenses have 50mm as a boundary, it's going to be a bit annoying having to swap around so much.

You can get it for £349 with the 18-55mm kit lens.

http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/index.html

You will need a good set of rechargeable batteries too its quite fussy about what you use, people recommend the Sanyo Eneloops although it does come with a set of lithium AAs. EDIT: one of the shops there supply it with eneloops for £349

Here are some reviews of the camera with many untouched sample pictures

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/pentaxkx/
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/pentax/kx-review
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/KX/KXA.HTM

I meant to say before - a disadvantage of in-body vibration reduction systems is that they do not stabilise the viewfinder image, wheras in-lens systems do. Lenses for a system with the stabilisation in the camera are typically a bit cheaper than their lens-stabilised counterparts, though.

HUH?

Image stabilisation generally kicks in when the lens focuses. If it is running continuously your going to drain the battery.

But the advantage of inbody stabilisation is that it is applied to every lens attached to the camera.

I shoot pentax (K10D, K20D and currently the K7) - they are great cameras but not in the mainstream like Canon/Nikon so you tend not to find most of the mainstream shops will stock alot of pentax stuff.
I've always used dedicated camera shops such as SRS microsystems (I do NOT work for them btw!).

The Kx at £375 for the twin kit is stonking value see this hotukdeals post for price info
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/pent...a-twin-/798039

The inbody stabilisation of the cameras is a real plus simply because all of your lenses will benefit. The comment about not seeing the benefits in the viewfinder are not a big deal imo because you don't tend to see the shake so it won't affect your framing.

Thanks for all the replies guys. I've heard of that suggestion to buy Eneloops from the extensive research I've been doing on the K-x. I have been looking at as many photos as I can and I know that many on Flickr are Photoshopped but it's easy enough to find and view images taken straight from the camera.

I also looked at the group on Flickr that has images taken with the Kit lense to get an idea of the lense.

After I posted this thread I went back to Jacobs Digital and discovered they have reduced the price of the K-r to £569, not only that but Pentax are doing a £70 Cashback so it'd be £499 which is just unbelievable.

I have learnt a fair amount about Pentax since I started researching the Pentax cameras and I know about other companies through reading other threads on DS and other websites such as dpreview, photographyblog, Steves Reviews and Trustedreviews.

If I remove from the equation my thoughts on getting hold of lenses then there is nothing stopping me from going down the Pentax route. I did however notice that Currys have reduced the price of the Canon EOS 500D to about £515 is I think it was.

After seeing what i have with the K-r I think that's the one I've really been taken with.

TheBigM, can I ask you in your opinion what do you think is more effective (camera depending I'd imagine) In-body stabilisation or built into the lense?

I'm aware of the issues that surround(ed) the K-x but I believe a Firmware fix resolved those issues.

Cheers for that I totally forgot about Hotukdeals! The deal for the K-x just keeps getting better!

Hi, I'm not a massive expert so shan't give you an opinion on this at the moment.

All I can say is that my Canon lenses give up to four stops worth of stabilisation.

How many stops' worth is the body stabilisation of the Pentax body?

3-4 stops worth.

I think I'm going to go with the K-r. It fixes the little thing's that were niggles for me with the K-x. Plus the £70 cashback offer is brilliant.

Why the huh? I never said anything about either one running constantly. As you say, they kick in when you half-press the shutter release to focus. Stabilised finder image is handy when you're using a medium tele lens handheld, I find it helps to keep the active focus area exactly where I want it.

Chief advantage of in-camera systems is indeed as you say, which I meant to include in my earlier post.
I know you didn't ask me directly but in terms of pure effectiveness at actually doing their job there's not really any significant difference. Manufacturers like to claim "upto four stops difference" but in practise it's more like three most of the time.

pentax K bayonet used to be the standard fitting, besides 42mm screw thread

ricoh and probably others used K mounts. so you could probably find some decent old glass for a pentax slr

That was quite rude of me actually, I should have asked for everyones opinion on that question. Sorry about that.

Yeah I'm going to try and get the K-r. I'm really impressed with what I've seen of it so far. I read through a big thread on Pentaxforum by a guy who has one and I was blown away by the test shots relating to ISO. Amongst other thing's.

Only one shop round here actually sells it and that's Jacobs Digital who just so happen to have it on offer. Need to get myself over there and have a play about with the K-r.

Welcome to the Pentax family then EDN1 - don't forget, as a fairly rare breed you have to say hello to any fellow Pentax shooters when you are out and about

The K-r looks like a great camera so with the discount you've got a whole lot of camera for a reasonable price.

The first digital camera my family ever had was a Pentax compact. It was nice but awfully noisy but I guess CCDs and in-camera JPEG processing was still in its infancy back then.

I don't really see them competing in the compact space much these days apart from with their waterproof stuff.

Kr here with AA battery adaptor and rechargeable eneloop batteries £579

http://www.srsmicrosystems.co.uk/559...---Holder.html

or £549 with just the rgular battery

It absolutely is. It's fit's in between the entry level K-x and the higher end K7 and in fact it has some features that are actually better than the K7.

Oh I will, If I should ever see someone shooting witha Pentax I'll say hello.

That's an absolutely brilliant deal. However I don't really buy online anymore and since they are only based in Watford I can't go to them. Jacobs Digital have a branch just up the road from me so it's easier to walk into there and leave with a new camera.

Thanks for that though. It is appreciated.

It's interesting to note that so soon after it's release the K-r is already coming down in price. It's making me wonder if I should hold off until after Christmas to see what happens, the only down side there being it could well go back UP in price!

Looking at their website (srsmicrosystems) I'd be an idiot for not taking them into consideration if I get a Pentax especially after my original question about lense availability!

What are srsmicrosystems like? I've never heard of them.

They are excellent - I've used them alot in the last 3/4 years and got my recent Pentax kit from them. They are a proper camera shop so they know their stuff and are a Pentax Pro centre which I believe means you get 2yr warranty with the camera too (please check this though).

Again I'll state - I am only a happy customer of theirs and I am in no way linked to them otherwise.