One of the downsides to covering gadgets on a daily basis for as long as I have is the fact that I think everything is crap. Very few things excite me and anything that does usually ends up falling short of my expectations. It’s unfortunate, but once in a blue moon does something not only impress, but also exceed my expectations. Case in point, the Pentax K-7.
I had the pleasure of taking it along with a DA* 300mm f/4, DA 17-70mm f/4 and my trusty FA 50mm f/1.4 to the 2nd Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix race over the weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I knew the K-7 was a good camera and based on all the reviews I’d seen for it, I knew it was right up there with the Canikons. But I never imagined that it would make my jaw drop.
I really only used the 300mm telephoto and that sucker rocked my socks off. All photos were taken at f/5.6 and ISO 800. There’s a bit of smearing at ISO 800, but I pulled a rookie move and didn’t take my laptop with me on the trip. I would have changed my setup for the final day, but you live and learn. Anyway, the jewel of the entire weekend is the last image I’ve attached of Jorge Lorenzo on his Yamaha as he’s coming around the first turn in front of the BMW M banner. Of course, I really like the emotion I captured with the Tony Elias crash during qualifying on Saturday. He wasn’t a happy camper after that, but he still managed to qualify fourth and started on the second row. That crash also happened less than 100 yards from where I was shooting at turn 2.
Here are a handful of “test” shots that I thought you guys might want to check out. I’ll have a few more “hands-on” posts throughout the week.
[PSGallery=apq10vbu17a]
Those are some good shots, definitely a point in Pentax’s favor. Still I am not sure I could go with it over an Olympus, Canon or Nikon.
OK, at first I thought I was retarded. I literally asked myself “Where is the hands-on to this article?” There’s four shitty pictures and Peter Ha talks about how craptastic of a photographer he is (you didn’t need to tell us Peter, it shows in the images).
Seriously this reeks of Pentax advert. WTF CG going down the drain? Sad that I actually wasted time reading and writing on this. Isn’t it about time you guys fired Peter?
Goes and cries in the corner.
wow. You’re not having a good start of the week, are you?
:)
So are we missing something? Like the actual hands-on review instead of that four paragraph haiku above?
I do think the others are being ridiculously harsh. This site is not an in depth analysis of gear. If you want some great hands-on review, go to dpreview.com. But I would have liked to know some basic specs on the camera. I am a canon shooter (just used my 5d mkii tonight in Madison Square park) and don’t know anything about Pentax. How many megapixels, fps, highest iso, etc…? This is good info to have for a cursory review.
OK. I am Pentax user, and I had my up’s and down’s in the relation with it.
They do their best to create excellent cameras, IQ is on par with others (one should be naive to bias for one brand or another nowadays when P&S deliver such good results), it makes a point by decreasing the weight&size, increase the quality and features, have on board SR, and take excellent old & new glass.
The best thing about it is the confident feel of the camera.
The article above… hmm…. Doesn’t say much, but what bothers me more is the quality of the pictures. Maybe I’m not the best eye, but I would never post such.
Peter, sorry bro, keep trying. you need to learn more about framing & composition. Choose your place wisely, where the speed and position of your subject will allow you better results. otherwise people may get the wrong impression.
Quote : “Seriously this reeks of Pentax advert”
If that reeks of a Pentax advert then they should be changing their media team damned fast.
Hi Peter,
thanks for sharing your pictures, Those are nice shots . i know your pic are not pix-peepable thats why most of those comments above got high-fever. Keep on going, some best results might be appreciated by more.
This is public and everybody have their point of view and how they like to look and expect for a picture…. even a nonsense dry leaf above a colorful pieces of colored papers , just to show that a rendition of their favourite camera is good enough.
Did you know that a career-photogs and pro-photogs rarely and sometimes haven’t seen these place ? most are busy on their job,. So some of kids in this web just nothing to do but bashing people or brands you use…
Just Carry on…
darelo