User reviews for Pentax K-x: Digital Photography Review

Opinion: Great camera,cheap, smart, all features in one small DSLR . Good low loght photos, good sensitivity,high ISO- low noise, good shutter speed range, very powerful flash, sensor auto clean. Recommend.

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Opinion: I owned a K-x for just over a year.
At the time the K-r was rather well featured for an entry level DSLR it has a solid strong spec which is clearly a cut above most other makers at this price point

Lots of things to get stuck into the K-x actually has a more mid level spec compared to most other models in this price range.

Decent enough build though the "silver plastic" rim around the top cheapens the look a little

4.7fps is fast enough for many action wise whilst the raw buffer is fairly small (5 shots) the jpeg isn't bad at all really around 24 with a fast SD card, not a bad budget sports camera

AF performance: I was happy overall with the AF in various lighting conditions it's quite fast and snappy, less so low light (all cameras slow down) but accuracy was good overall no real issues here most times (certainly better than the K-r which I replaced it with)

Live view mode: Decent but not fast for live view you'll likely use it for tripod work mostly. (K-r was much faster here)

Video: Fairly standard video at the time it was good for this segment it's fine for most users who just take the odd clip now and then

Features: Quite a lot to get stuck into lots of customisation and features. Tons of filters and effects to play with make this a good camera to learn on or for more experienced shooters on a budget.

Good jpeg quality with NR options to turn the NR down

Rated 100k shutter which should inspire confidence

Fairly simple controls are quite easy to get into, though the back D pad buttons are fairly small.
Body is a touch small for me but it's fairly comfortable to use

Viewfinder: Quite good at this price point it's no big semi pro Pentaprism, but bigger and better than most Penta mirror ones from rivals. Matte screen is quite good for manual focus too

Has good features such as wireless flash and MLU very useful (though flash system is dated with Pentax)

AA batteries. I found power from the AA's worked well and I liked the fact you could use AA's. Shots isn't bad probably 450 or so for normal use depending on make of battery. I was ok with this though it's not "great" battery life wise I have loads of AA's around so had plenty of power. LV and video sucks the power quite a lot

I found I once I had the camera set up in the custom menus (quite a lot of options here) I rarely had to dive into the menus very often this is a good thing for many users and for bodies with less controls (ie in this price range)

Overall a very nice compact DSLR, do take a look at the system though as there are some interesting limited lenses, but for budget (K-x type users) outside the kit lenses Pentax don't have a lot of choice for affordable primes esp a problem (V Canon and Nikon) I regret selling the camera as I replaced it with a K-r (which had big AF problems) overall the K-x is a safer s/h buy for most users, and quite a cracking little camera for a very modest outlay. Despite some quirks and issues there is little to really complain about and a very good price.

One of the best cameras Pentax have released for some time, though note the issues below

Problems: No AF points in VF: I didn't find it a big issue, but it does mean you'll likely just use the central AF point for most shots as the VF won't show which focus point is being used. Not a "deal breaker" (at this price point) but it rather wastes the potential of an 11 point AF system

Mediocre kit lens: Not bad wide end in fact quite good for landscape shots stopped down a bit. Tele end (above 35mm) is weak and mushy wide open. Needs to be dropped down quite a lot at 55mm to get sharper images and even then not very good sharpness across the range. Kit lens is now showing it's age (though this copy was better than the one I got with a K-r)

Auto WB: Good in most situations with a strong correction option for tungsten which hits the spot quite well v many other cameras (often an issue in this light) However a notable to strong green/magenta cast to images which needs watching, more so than with most cameras. This can play havoc with skin tones so watch this one

Mirror slap: I didn't notice a problem on my unit (I bought later in production) some users report mirror slap issues which cause images to have camera shake even with SR on (seems to interfere with the SR mechanism) One to watch out for s/h buying wise.

Cooked raw.: Some unavoidable NR going on in raw files. This is nowhere near as severe as the A700 was it's mostly colour NR and it appears some sharpening. But raw should be raw and not processed you can't turn this one off strange move from Pentax

Colours: Quite nice in some cases but bright is too punchy and saturated for my own tastes, natural is a far better bet. As it's a lower end model the colours have quite a bit more saturation, even raw files are more saturated than higher end models. Down to taste with some tweaking to the settings can help a lot

SR: Probably not as efficient as the Sony/Minolta in body AS quite difficult to accurately measure this but I'd say 1 to 2 stops max, where Sony get's to around 3 (real world use) not a problem as some in body AS is better than none

Can't bracket with the remote as it's a separate mode to use the infra-red remote and a separate mode for the bracketing (strange oversight) No wired remote option either (not unexpected at this price point)

Green button: Should be a pro but unfortunately as the K-x lacks a DOF preview button, you can assign it to this but then you can'd do P shift! For some reason Pentax have a very odd implementation of P shift you have to set it to the green button! Thus whilst you can assign other functions to the green button (such as raw) you'll lose both or something else. If the K-x had a dedicated DOF preview button that would be better. P shift should just start using the control dial as other cameras have. Minor quirk but the potential of the green button is a lot less than it could be

Battery indicator: Despite a firmware update the battery life indicator isn't very accurate

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Opinion: I have had the KX for almost a year now and I can say after owning a Pentax 200d,this camera has it all!!! I love the High ISO/Low Noise pictures I am getting with it. The white "Stormtrooper" model I have,has people stopping me and wanting one :) Have not used the movie mode much but it's nice to know it;s there in a pinch
t. Buying used lenses on Ebay at cheap prices at cheap prices make this camera a "no brainer"

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Opinion: I have a Canon 450D and side-by-side shooting the same scene in RAW, the Pentax K-x produces a richer image with better dynamic range. The Canon image burns out on contrast the Pentax gives beautiful colours. Since image quality rules, that settles it. Combined with good lenses, I love it - especially the Pentax prime lenses.

However there is a list of flaws:

1. The missing red dots to tell you where it is focusing is a very practical problem that takes some getting used to. I centre focus and then recompose but at F2.4 on my 70mm pancake lens, the slight change in geometry introduces slight change in focus on a very narrow depth of field. The K-r fixes it.

2. You cant read the numbers in the viewfinder on a bright day because the Pentax shows LEDs on a black background. The Canon is the inverse and it is never a problem trying to read the black letters on a bright background.

3. The CPU is slow. After taking a picture, it takes 4 seconds before it displays the picture on the back. Where you have to make a quick decision as to weather the shot worked or whether you have to do another one, that is just unacceptably slow.

4. The metering is way off the mark in many situations - much worse that my Canon by under exposing for which I adjust the exposure compensation. See point 3.

5. Continuous shooting gives you two shots in RAW, 3 shots in JPG. Stick to portraits and landscapes. No good for bursts of action.

6. It is not weather proof like my K200D. When you walk out of an air conditioned building in the sub-tropics, moisture will condense on the inside of lens and body and take 10 minutes to clear up leaving water marks on the inside - including the sensor.

In spite of its limitations, I love the little runt and will save up for a K5 when the price drops the year after next. Pentax does not allow the K5 to be sold at a discount. I use my Canon only where I need a good flash and when I use lenses I do not have for the Pentax. I am not brand loyal. What works, works. I bought a Sigma TTL flash for the Pentax. It hopelessly under exposes. I now use a twelve year old Cobra flash with its photo sensor measuring light bounced back from the subject and this technology works just fine if you don't need high speed synchronisation.

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Opinion: This is one of those products that the manufacturer made it better than they intended.

High ISO performance is excellent. I use ISO 3200 with impunity.

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Opinion: Anything I want from a DSLR after a Nikon FE and a Minolta X700.
Color respect is very nice. May be I will forget the beautiful skies formerly given by the Kodakrome 64.
Autofocus in LiveView mode is extremely accurate.

Problems: Shutter is noisy.

And the worse : autofocus accuracy is uncertain with the DA 35 mm macro limited. Lots of shots are blurred. A pity given the high potential of the censor and lens.
The small viewfinder makes manual focus impossible : accuracy can not be checked visually.

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Opinion: tough to be negative about this very capable camera. Coming off a k10 which i gave to my son. lighter and easier to handle. I do miss the wheel in the front. As i find working the wheel in the back a bit ackward. Image quality is great!

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Opinion: The first DSLR that i brought after a long history with
Point and Shoots. However i had already tried a few
Olympus units before purchases.

Not going to repeat what the reviews say, but overall
the camera has been stellar specially in the high ISO
department. The 18-55mm kit lens is more than
adequate for most users, though the 50-200mm i got
was not that great. My mistake as i should have got
the 50-300mm which i hear is a very good kit lens.

The complains of the in-body IS not working seems to
have been rectified with the newer firmware, and
overall i can get decent shots even at low shutter
speeds as much as 1/15 or lower depending on my grip
of the camera.

The lack of viewfinder showing the focus point was
something i was not very well aware during the
purchase, and though you can get away with center-
focus or using the live view to focus carefully, it is
something than limits this camera from being truly
great as you may end getting a shot that has focussed
differently to what you wanted. The low res screen
though handling sun glare well is also not truly
effective, and a 460K screen might have done better
justice since you will need to resort to using the screen
for fine focusing due to the lack of indicators in the
viewfinder.

The camera shooting speed of course is super fast, but
the shutter noise is quite loud!! The video is very
useful and does handle low light conditions pretty
decently. However the audio is practically useless and
you mostly only hear the lens noises.

Overall though as a camera for stills and the odd video
its a great unit, and has a load of features built in to
get you started and beyond. On the long run pairing it
with either some good manual lenses or newer Pentax
or third party lenses can take you further in the
photography learning path.

Problems: Lack of focus point being indicated on the viewfinder is
limiting.
Battery indicator is buggy (shows battery as charge
completed when its not the case)
LCD screen can be higher res to negate lack of focus
points in indicator
Sensor dust cleaner not very effective
50-200mm lens a must avoid, 50-300mm a much much
better option.

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Opinion: Great entry-level DSLR for the price. Seems the least expensive one that come with HD video recording at the market so far. I think review says the good things pretty much there. For normal people, it is a good enough.

Problems: The only big problem is not knowing where u focus at in viewfinder. I got many where the focus is not where I want it to be..kind annoying. But I thinking skill and setting kind compensate it. The other thing is the screen resolution is low. In sunny day, still hard to see. another thing is the HD video. The img is impressive. But the sounds is awful. Especially if u active anti-shake. U can hear the in-body motor sounds clearly. But I feel the anti-shake is a must for taking video. Steady motion is needed. Fortunately, I usually do not keep the original sounds. I edit with own music. So not a problem for me.

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