5 Comments for Pentax K-x 12.4 MP Digital SLR with 2.7-inch LCD and 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL Lens

• 1. nicejob  |  November 14th, 2009 at 3:10 am

  I was excited when my K-x finally arrived. But disappointed to find it had NO SD card. Not even a .5GB throwaway. Kind of takes the joy out of getting a new toy. I’d like to review the camera, but now I have to wait until I can get a card.

  Also, the small end of the USB cable is non-standard (I really hate that.) So, I would recommend a card reader as well – misplace the cable and you are SOL.

  Finally, to continue ranting a bit, the camera does not come with rechargeable batteries. It ships with four lithium AAs. It’s not clear, from my brief research, that the camera works well with rechargeables. The lithiums are expensive, and certainly not very green.

  Overall impressions of the camera are good – it’s light, compared with a full-size DSLR, but still feels fairly study. The overall organization is fairly straight-forward and the menu system is simple, at least compared to the Nikon D-300 I’ve been using.

  I’ll update once I can actually take some pictures. But if you want to have fun out of the box, make sure you get an SD card.
  Rating: 3 / 5

• 2. Waldo  |  November 14th, 2009 at 4:56 am

  I bought this for my daughter, and she had it working and taking pictures in less than 3 minutes after the initial configuration. Low light, bright light, macro and even stopping the blades of a helicopter with the 1/6000 of a second shutter speed make this camera one with the specifications of a high end model, at an entry-level price. Oh, and it takes HD movies as well. The rest of the cameras in this price range will be trying hard to catch up to the K-x.
  Rating: 5 / 5

• 3. Enche Tjin  |  November 14th, 2009 at 7:07 am

  Pentax Kx is Pentax digital SLR for beginner and enthusiast. Pentax Kx replaces Pentax KM / K2000. There are many improvements from KM, such as three stops higher ISO setting, video recording, faster continuous shooting, 11 selectable auto focus points and 12.3 megapixel image resolution (compare to 10 mp). Kx shares same body as Km, so it is still very compact but not weather-sealed like Pentax k200, k20d or k7. It also use four AA batteries instead of lithium batteries.

  BODY & HANDLING

  Pentax Kx weights 581g, and its dimension is 122 x 92 x 69 mm. It is one of the smallest DSLR camera around, but not the lightest because of body material and 4X AA batteries.

  Using batteries has been always been debated, some people like to have lithium battery with their camera, especially those who does not or concern about reliability of rechargeable batteries. Some might prefer the universal AA batteries because they are available everywhere and the rechargeable one is relatively cheaper compare to lithium one.

  Built quality of this camera is generally good for beginner digital SLR, sturdy and substantial. Ergonomic is not the best especially for people that has big hand or finger, but it is good in general.

  Like KM, the camera interface has been simplified yet very accessible. It has one thumb dial which you will use this a lot to change setting values. There are dedicated trash button, AF/AE-L, exposure compensation button, customizabe green button, live view button, info button, four way buttons which are shared with ISO, WB, Flash, self timer. These are basically what you will need and expect from a good digital SLR camera.

  There is also a shooting mode dial, where you can find manual and semi automatic control. There are also some popular scenes mode and video mode. Unique to Pentax, there is Sv (sensitivity mode), which allow you to set preferred ISO and let the camera decide on aperture and shutter speed value.

  Changing setting is fast and easy because of availability of many dedicated buttons. Main LCD screen could be activated by turning the camera to ON position or pressing INFO button. Pressing INFO button twice, you will get 12 squares representing popular settings such as auto HDR, image size, shake reduction, etc.

  This small control panel is a great help and better than Nikon’s info screen, but it is not better than Olympus super control panel.

  LCD SCREEN & VIEWFINDER

  LCD screen is basic, plain 2.7″ , 230k. Compared to recent years DSLR, this screen is a bit outdated but it is not bad. Viewfinder is relatively big compare to beginner DSLR camera. Only Canon 500d and 450D can match the size of the viewfinder.

  AUTO FOCUS PERFORMANCE

  Auto focus (used with 18-55 kit lens) is surprisingly fast in bright light or low light situation. You will get AF confirmation in the viewfinder (hexagonal green dot) but there is no indicator where the active focus point is. For who that rely on automatic 5 points, 11 points or central point AF, it might not be a problem, but for those who usually use other individual AF point, it might be a bit of inconvenience.

  IMAGE QUALITY AND ISO

  Pentax Kx images in natural setting are not bright and saturated like competitor like Canon DSLR, but they are more muted and a bit cold. It is similar to Nikon DSLR such as Nikon D90. Nikon and Pentax Kx uses Sony sensor, and that might explain the similarity.

  But don’t too worry if you don’t like muted color, because you can always set higher saturation in Pentax custom setting or deal with it later in your favorite photo editing program. But off course it won’t match Canon color when you both set the saturation setting to the max.

  The sensor strength is on high ISO setting. It matches Nikon D90 and even slightly better. Combined with built in shake reduction, this camera is very good in low light photography such as night scene or indoor performance. This performance might be the best for crop sensor camera up to date and only to be beaten by expensive full frame camera such as Nikon D700 12.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only) or Canon EOS 5D Mark II 21.1MP Full Frame CMOS Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

  OTHER FACTS & FINDINGS

  * Pentax Kx is available in 100 colors combination in Japan
  
  * Built-in photo processing like auto HDR is slow (takes approx. 10 sec to process and to make a good HDR, you need tripod). It also drain batteries power quickly. Live view, movie recording is very basic for DSLR standard and it also drain batteries. Prepare plenty of rechargeable AA batteries if you keen on using these features.
  
  * The kit lens 18-55mm is generally an OK kit lens, but to get better image quality especially sharpness and image acuity, I recommend you to look for some better lenses such as Pentax 16-45 f4 or 17-70mm f4.

  COMPETITOR

  Canon EOS Rebel T1i 15.1 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3-Inch LCD and EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens Price: $750
  
  is a leading beginner cameras with 3″ hi-res LCD and 15 megapixel image resolution. The most important maybe the access to Canon extensive lenses. But this camera is more expensive and slower in continuous burst (only 3.5 fps), no built-in image stabilization, and image is not as clean as Pentax Kx’ image in high ISO setting.

  Nikon D5000 12.3 MP DX Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR Lens and 2.7-inch Vari-angle LCD Price: $700
  
  D5000 is also a great low light performer like its brother Nikon D90, but the problem with this camera is lack of built-in auto focus motor. This limit your lens selection. There is no built-in image stabilization either. Like Canon and Pentax beginner DSLR cameras, D5000 has live view and movie mode, plus swivel screen.

  Olympus Evolt E620 12.3MP Live MOS Digital SLR Camera with Image Stabilization and 2.7 inch Swivel LCD w/ 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Zuiko Lens Price: $700
  
  The E-620 is very small and compact because of smaller image sensor (which is actually a disadvantage). Like Pentax KX, it has swivel LCD screen and built-in image stabilization. Click the camera name for review.

  CONCLUSION

  Pentax Kx is a small wonder. It is great camera for low light condition, very portable (especially combined with Pentax pancake lenses), and the design is very user-friendly. It has two problems that prevent this camera to be the perfect beginner/enthusiasts camera: the active auto focus indicator is absent , and battery life is short when you use photo retouching features and record movie often. However, with the current price point, this camera gives you a better value than its competitors.

  Subjective Rating – Relative to entry level DSLR cameras 2009
  
  Image Quality : 5/5
  
  Features : 5/5
  
  Performance : 5/5
  
  Body and Handling : 4/5
  
  Value for Money : 5/5

  For image samples and iso comparison please visit my blog. You can find the link through my Amazon profile.
  
  Rating: 5 / 5

• 4. Leonel Leal  |  November 14th, 2009 at 7:09 am

  I just received and unpacked the K-x. The K-x feels solid and quality built, this is great for the class and has features that many more expensive cameras lack. I shot a few pictures and they are looking awesome… I will need more time to do a complete review, but overall the K-x looks great. I think this Camera has tremendous Value and will push more consumers to look at Pentax for dSLR. Many ppl forget or don’t know the great Film Pentax’s of the past.

  A few notes:
  
  1. Yes the camera comes without a SDHC Card, but Camera’s lack this anyway. (I purchased a 16GB Class 6 SDHC ~$32).
  
  2. The Camera comes with Lithium AA Batteries, but you can use Ni-MH Rechargeable AA also.
  
  3. Included Kit lens 18-55mm is sharp and takes great pictures…
  
  4. You can use many film/dSLR Pentax Lenses going back about 50 years, this mount is compatible.

  I will update my review after some good photo work. The K-x does lack HDMI connection (only USB) so you can’t playback from the Camera the 780p Video to a TV with USB. I will have to load my SDHC Card into my PS3 or Laptop for viewing/editing in 780p. It depends how much Video you will shoot and if you will record to DVD, in which case this is not an issue.
  Rating: 5 / 5

• 5. jackmaddy  |  November 14th, 2009 at 9:27 am

  This is only a preview and I will post a revised review in a few days.

  This is my first SLR camera so I have no frame of referrence other than my visits to camera shops to try a few out. I was torn between the Canon T1I and the PENTAX K-X. I took a look at the T1I and felt it was a bit on the cheap side. It was also a bit more expensive with less features and lens are very expensive. Also I think the 1080P at 20 frames is a gimmick as is the whole HD video feature in SLR camera’s.

  I have only had the Pentax K-X camera for 24 hours but cant get over the build quality. It takes fantastic pictures and has more options and tweaks than you could ever want. Its very easy to use right out of the box even for my wife, yet if you want to tweak your photos and get into it everything SLR offers, the options are there and then some.

  A few comments about the fact the camera does not come with rechargeable batteries and battery life in general:

  As for Battery life, I am using the supplied Lithium AA’s I have used the camera for several hours, taking video and a couple hundred pictures, the battery is still showing as full! As for no included rechargeables, this to me is a non issue. 1. You can keep a spare set of batteries either alkaline or Lithium or even rechargeable which is what I plan to do. I think this offers a ton of flexiblity and ensures you will never run out of juice!

  Also, the camera I purchased was a kit with both the 18-55mm and also 50-200mm lenses. these lenses are great build and have excellent image results.

  Again, this is only a preview but what I have seen so far I am so glad I went with the Pentax over the Canon T1I! More to come soon.

  Rating: 5 / 5

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