The Sony 16 megapixel CMOS sensor is probably the most “sold” sensor of the DSLR and Mirrorless market. Ricoh, Nikon, Sony and now even the new Pentax K30 (Click here) uses it! Will be nice to see the comparison between that camera and our nee Sony A57. Anyway, I also wanted to focus on your attention on the complete new design of the new Pentax DSLR. You really don’t see often something like this. I don’t know if that is something Sony should do too! You like it?
P.S.: Out friend Jason from SonyAlphaLab (Click here) finalized the A57 review!
97 Responses
genuine leather handle?
looks good though.
Yep, looks really nice. One of very few Pentax cameras that look nice… but still: This is probably the first colored DSLR I wouldn’t be ashamed of using. Nicely done Pentax!
Errata:
megapxile=megapixel
nee=new
alsow=also
Out=Our
Do you really have nothing better to do?
+1
Believe it or not, professionalism is important! Spell checkers are free.
English might be a second language or they might be using some sort of translator hence the reason for the words being misspelled or having grammar issues. You show your ignorance by criticizing and focusing on inconsequential details.
English is my second language as well. I appreciate it when people correct me! How else I would learn!!
Vlad gets it.
Wouldn’t that be a great opportunity to improve said second language then? It is actually very consequential, as it is difficult to read. Also I didn’t see any critique, just a correction. It is you who is showing ignorance by refusing to acknowledge the problem.
Fly Moon merely provided a correction, which should actually be seen as being rather helpful.
Thanks Vlad. Somebody gets it
Yah, no doubt.
it looks cool but I prefer sony’s A57 65 and 77 black design more.
These do come in black too.
Comaprison = comparison
This camera looks amazing in my humble opinion. I really like the specs too, its a very decent camera for the price and everything, especially with the weather sealed design, and the lens selection from Pentax is wonderful. I love my sony cameras, but this is a good design and great mid-entry level camera
This camera has some good specs, polycarbonate has a great feel to it for plastic as any KM5d owner knows. However I think this camera really could have benefited from a mic input and the looks don’t do it for me but I wouldn’t be put off by them either.
I like pentax, they make some very good products and along with sony I want them to do well because there needs to be more variety than just canikon.
If only it had a big orange flashing light on top then everyone would look at it in awe.
Umm the pentax sensor is slightly larger then those used in all the other sony cameras. How are you sure this is a sony sensor?
I think that is a packaging thing, not a fabrication thing. It will be a Sony fab’d sensor.
Every other sony sensor in another camera is the exact same size. Like the d3200. I’m not saying it isn’t a sony sensor but whats the proof?
Mo, D7000 and K-5 sensor are slightly larger than A580 too. As someone answered you, it’s irrelevant. The sensor is still the same.
Yea, I still recall people calculating sensor pixel pitch from simply taking sensor size, dividing it by number of megapixels and than screaming all over the Internet how this or that Nikon doesn’t use Sony sensor because it’s impossible to be the same – they got different size of pixels!
ROTFL.
WHAT IS YOUR PROOF? as I said I’m not saying they aren’t the same exact sensor but without proof…. Its speculation not fact. Its just a FAB. Did you know IBM makes AMD processors? So lets start a rumors site and post host all AMD processors are really IBM’s. :-/ Same freaking thing as sensors fabs.
Te sensor is 100% Sony’s Exmor sensor. It has the same connectors like that on *all* other Sony’s exmor sensors. D800 sensors have the same connectors too. D4, D3s, and Canon sensors look different. Look at the pictures.
Well, connectors can be modified on the fabrication stage to fit the company requirements (afaik D3200 got it like that). The fact remains though that Sony is currently only supplier of sensors to Pentax DSLRs, we know this ever since Pentax K-r release.
And BS about Sony being just a fab is getting old – how a company that spends enormous budget on semiconductors R&D, more than anyone else in SLR world can only FAB sensors, while, according to brand users, both Nikon and Pentax got their own sensors designs with no budget on sensors R&D other than the one necessary for enhancing output signal? Do the math people, it’s not that hard. We knew about Sony developing sensors for ages before even the first rumours about cameras using these sensors surfaced.
Besides – why you people care so much and defend yourself from calling sensors inside of your cameras Sony? It’s a good news for you, cause Sony makes the best sensors on a market! Just look at pentax history – in a moment they switched to Sony suddenly they released the best DSLR image quality-wise!
But noo…. Sony is “just a fab”… ROTFL.
It looks great. Two dials, weatherproof, nice looking grip, stabilization, 850 dollar price tag. Much better than most of the competition. If it had a swivel LCD, it would be perfect.
It does strike a great balance between price and specification – If Pentax, with much more modest sales figures than other camera companies can achieve this, it means the big boys could do the same. I know of no other weathersealed, twin dials, 6fps body in this price range. Sounds like an “enthusiast” wet dream.
I’m not interested in adding a new system to my camera lineup (in fact, i’m trying to downsize), but if I was starting from scratch and wanted an APS-C dslr, pentax would be high on my list.
The K-5 was already a well-placed camera, this one pushes Pentax even further. I really wonder what would be the flagship then? 🙂
Pentax 645D.
Does anyone feel like this is much of what we would have liked to have seen as an A600? In fact, I can’t get over how ‘complete’ this camera really is. It is better (in my Sony biased opinion) than any other camera in this catagory.
I think it’s the best value optical viewfinder DSLR for taking photos.
Agree.
Tilting screen would be a big miss for me but other than that it’s great. Built in intervalometer too – I think that’s a great feature.
Wha? No Cinnabar version?
Weatherproof with leather?
You know leather can be coated with stuff like they use to coat leather couches or many other water proof/resistant leather things.
Probably not 100% leather. Synthetic leather, perhaps. Genuine leather seem too luxury for a mid-level DSLR.
Looks pretty good indeed (talking specs-wise) but I do like the color. This is one of the best alternative to other APS-C cameras with weather sealing right now. Didn’t know about it until you mentioned it here in SAR. Even dual dials. THis is a good package. Very very Good competition.
Will head now to dpreview to see more about it.
Don’t know about you guys, but THIS should be the A65 since day 1. A body just like the A77 (weathersealing), but with the 16MP sensor instead and ask about 150USD less just for the difference of sensor. Damn PENTAX…it’s on fire right now with this camera. They’re heading a good path. Good for competition and for some customers.
It’s a real camera company, like Nikon & Canon and yes, like Minolta was.
Evary day that goes by, mOre and more photos are taken with phones. As more and more new devices will be able to tAke photos giving A satisfactory experience to their users, strictly being a camera company, is not a plus anymore.
I doubt phones eat into DSLR sales.
Camera phones are not taking business from DSLR’s. It is simply that inexpensive phone cameras are available to much broader audience today.
canon make photocopiers, printers etc.
Besides, just being a camera company isnt going to do anyone any favours in the current economy, I heard Pentax have been sold off twice already, if the situation gets bad again, what if nobody wants to buy them a 3rd time?
This time they were bought for the cameras.
Vlad – Previously they were bought for cameras too – Hoya invested a lot in DSLR line-up – at their time Pentax made excellent K5, switched sensors supplier and created VERY risky systems like 645D (which development was enormously expensive and took years being on the edge of death several times over the years) and two mirrorless systems (only one managed to be released before the sale though) including extremely bold Pentax Q (regardless if we consider it a fail or not). K30 also has it’s roots in Hoya cause camera like that isn’t something you can develop in less than a year from ground up.
Problem was that Hoya just couldn’t make Pentax profitable, even despite of all these new projects. And as they ain’t as big as Ricoh or Sony or even: Nikon, they had to cut-off part of Pentax causing losses and sell it to Ricoh.
Management from Hoya have said on the record that they bought Pentax for its (quite profitable) medical business.
hm… interesting. They’ve been doing extremely well with photography part then if it was despite of being just a side-effect of buying the corporation.
Sky_walker, I would have to disagree, unless you have some internal information. Same like you are saying that the K30 took more than a year to develop, the merger was made in March 2008, if I am not mistaken. The 645D was announced merely 2 years later and even on DPreview you can see the following statement: “Five years after announcing its development, and following a month-long online campaign trailing the launch, Pentax has finally unveiled its much anticipated 645D medium format digital camera.” Certainly not Hoya. Pentax K-5 is essentially a Pentax K-7, which in turn was announced a year after the merger.
And on top of all that, as Carl pointed out, you have the very clear statement from Hoya 🙂 This is why I am expecting a lot from the new acquisition 🙂
Ah, one more thing. Personal thoughts here. Generally these companies have several designs developed in the same time, some are allowed to exist others not. Now that Ricoh took over, it seems that they opened the doors, K-01 and K-30 are both quite radical in a sense.
YOU are so right.
Does it swim?
I’m not sure what they were thinking with that 800si-esque prism housing. Looks like a very nice camera in other respects, though.
Room for your hands when you make lens changes. Pentax routinely designs function before form.
Carl
It looks like an awesome body, but what Pentax really needs to do is expand their lens lineup. Otherwise, they’re still going to have a hard time beating Canon and Nikon.
Also, I wonder how many raw frames it can buffer in a burst, and how long the mirror blackout time is. If it does well in those areas, this could be a really attractive option for sports shooters on a budget. The 9 cross point AF module is pretty good in the entry level market.
Looks horrendous! Soo cheap and nasty. Good job the actual camera is ok, but wow, Pentax really have picked up the FUGLY design team of late
Did Michael Bay design that camera?
Michael Bay designed D800 – that’s why it explodes randomly.
lol
But, wouldn’t it explode in Slow-Mo while the owner out-ran the explosion?
And how do you know it didn’t?
That’s the Sony camera I have been waiting for but which never came.
If it has AF micro-adjustment (and as far as I know, most Pentax camera allow when enabling some kind of debug mode), it would be a perfect camera for me.
The specifications of the K-30 look quite good. (Especially for the price tag.)
But the design of that camera is just sooo bad. At least in my opinion. So Sony should stick to their current design!
I’m sure it can transform into a BattleBot. Beware.
At $850 this competes with the A65 which has a more impressive feature set imo.
Like weatherproofing ad two dials? 🙂
Like 10fps, 1080p60/AF-C in video, swivel LCD and other minor things (like built-in GPS).
Just making a point. Depending on what you need, the Pentax can be considered better featured.
Depending on your needs you can find even Pentax Q a better featured camera 😉
Sky_walker, true, true 🙂
You’re right. And the Ford Mondeo is a better car than the Ferrari 580 because you can fit two large suitcases plus 4 people in it.
+1
YAY Sony sensors is the reason why Canon rule de market ! 🙂 until all brands will use sony sensors canon can stay safe because dslr are a different thing froma a playstation
Canon sensor development is about 4 years behind that of Sony.
All cameras using Sony sensors wouldn’t make Sony #1
Huge user base is what keeps Canon #1
How do you think they got that huge user base?
from their film days
Good marketing. Put a bunch of photographers on every soccer game with Canon cameras and lenses, put a giant banner behind the home base in every single baseball game (when you watch a baseball tv broadcast, I see most of the time Canon logo). Sony doens’t do a lot of marketing compared to what Canon does.
A bold design for sure.
How does one use an af/ael button?
Also, the thumb rest is shiny plastic/polywhatever. Even with those ribs it will be slippery and not comfortable, me thinks.
Meh. There are a lot of great specs here to knock it out of the park, except one deal-breaker….
…why on Earth have Live-View without an articulating screen? WTF? It boggles the mind.
I was never very keen on live view, even though I migrated from SLRs to DSLRs via P&Ss. I always understood the uses, 80% which, to my mind, are negated by the absence of a screen that you can use over folks’ heads, or down on the ground for children & pets.
It really makes a 2012 camera look so 2006.
wheather resistant made swivel screen hard to build at a reasonable cost. But Pentax screen have very good view angle, with my K7, i can easily frame above my head of near the ground, but i agree that a articulated screen is a must, for movies, self portrait, macro. The lack of input mic jacks is really a backdraw, along with no dc in. What the point of a 999 shot intervallometer if camera shut off in the middle 🙁
“weather resistant made swivel screen hard to build at a reasonable cost”
I have no idea where this comes from. It would probably cost 10 dollars more.
I don’t like the design 🙁
+1
Sony needs to retrofit their sensor production line with equipment to make high-quality lenses with new designs.
“…NOCK” – The sound of a bat hitting a home run.
Carl
Who cares who makes the sensor? Does it make Sony users feel better that Sony has abandoned the little semi-pro market they had?
I’ve never heard people go on and on about Itel CPU’s making Macbooks as great as they are.
Sky Walker, shouldn’t you be out taking high iso shots of mailboxes for your paid billboard ad’s?
For the rest of you, get it together.
Actually, Intel CPUs give any product they grace with superior skills, so yah, Intel can and should be named in praise.
Hate to be negative about superfluous exterior design, but … not a fan. Not that Pentax cares about my opinion, but really, cooling fins on the side??? Someone else noted the “Transformers” appearance which I also think is apt. Between this and their mirrorless, can’t quite figure out which market Pentax is pursuing. The camera specs sound great and I am sure it will be a good picture taker.
I wish if Sony made its new models with 2 dials. Then I could buy any of.
Looks cool, specs are cool. This puts Pentax back on the map again.
Seriously? I thought they were on the map for a long time.
I think that Pentax K5 was already equipped with this sensor, also DXOMARK score for the K5 and Nikon D7000 are almost identical.
As for numbers, I’d expect cheaper sensor to be the #1 bestseller (because the cheapest DSLRs are sold most) or 18mp Canon sensor – they put it into all their APS-C cameras now (since 550D I think), even the new 650D will probably come with some version of this chip.
I suspect it uses Aptina sensor. I also suspect Nikon uses Aptina as there’s a photo of the back of a Nikon on their website. http://www.aptina.com/solutions/dslr.jsp
The camera on Aptina’s website is a D200. I don’t know if D600’s 24mp sensor is SONY or Aptina but K30’s is definitely the SONY 16mp.
Too bad… I was really hoping for a nice yellow camera. I don’t like that blue shade, so I will have to pass.
First a comment to the general design: I like the organic design-style of the A57,65,77 Bodys much more then the Pentax K30 and K-5. Just from the point of design and ergonomics this three (57,65,77) sony-bodies are my favorite DSLR/SLT bodies in terms of design at the moment (even better then all Canon and Nikon Bodies and A33/35/37/55-Bodies).
Secondly I don´t like a other colour then black for a professionel camera in terms of distraction.
Still I´m happy about competition and gratulate Pentax to a new DSLR with nice specs. (But won´t buy anything else then SLT – but this is my personal preference)