PCWorld Rating
Pros
- Excellent image quality
- Simple interface
- Thorough feature set
- Good high ISO performance
Cons
- No depth-of-field preview button
- LCD screen must be turned off and on manually
Bottom Line
If you're looking for a small, lightweight, inexpensive starter DSLR, then the Pentax K-r is a great choice, thanks to its image quality and huge array of features.
Images (click to enlarge)
Pentax has long made very good digital SLRs that offer excellent image quality with simple, intuitive interfaces. And while their latest cameras pack a thorough selection of high-end features, they also have something that a lot of competing SLRs don't: style.
Consider, for example, the Pentax K-r, a midrange, 12.4-megapixel SLR ($850 with an 18-55mm lens; $800 for body only as of 4/1/2011), with a compact, lightweight, but very sturdy body. The K-r is available in red, white, and the comparatively boring black. We looked at the white K-r, a very striking camera that's a nice break from the usual black DSLR color scheme. Fortunately, the camera has the features and the image quality to back up its pretty looks.
Body and Design
Like most midrange SLRs, the K-r is very compact and lightweight, making it easy to carry for an entire day of shooting. The grip design is good--the K-r is very comfortable to hold. As with other Pentax SLRs, the K-r feels very sturdy despite its lightweight frame, weighing 21 ounces with the battery and SD memory card loaded. It's not fully weatherproofed like Pentax's higher-end offerings, but the K-r has a solid build that feels very nice in the hand.
Pentax has always made streamlined, simple interfaces, and the K-r follows that trend. A single mode dial on top gives you quick access to the camera's selection of auto, manual, and scene modes. All critical functions--exposure compensation, program shift, ISO selection, white balance, and flash control--are easily accessed via external camera controls, which lets you skip a lot of on-screen menu jumping.
Settings, live view, and camera status are displayed on the camera's bright, 3-inch LCD screen. While the LCD screen has a well-organized on-screen menu, it does not turn off automatically when you raise the camera to your eye to look through the optical viewfinder; instead, you need to power it off and on manually. If you're shooting in low light, having the screen on while the camera is up to your eye can be very distracting. Fortunately, the in-viewfinder status display is so thorough that you'll rarely need to use the LCD screen, so you can probably leave it off most of the time. The optical viewfinder offers 96 percent coverage and is clear, though a little dim.
The K-r uses a stabilized sensor, which means any lens that you put on the camera will reap the benefits of in-body stabilization. And the Pentax stabilization system is very good, easily smoothing out most jitters you'd get from normal hand shake. Unfortunately, there's no depth-of-field preview button on the K-r, which can make assessing depth of field at wider apertures more difficult.
Finally, it's worth noting that this is not a quiet camera. The K-r shutter release is fairly loud, so if you intend to shoot performances, shy wildlife, or other situations that demand discretion, this may not be the best choice.
Features Abound
The K-r has a very well-rounded feature set. In Pentax's DSLR lineup, it fits between the higher-end K-7 ($1100 for the body only) and the entry-level K-x ($750 with a kit lens). It has the same sensor as the K-x, but the K-r does improve on the K-x in a number of ways: It has a higher maximum ISO (12,800, expandable to 25,600), sports a larger and higher-resolution LCD screen, can shoot more frames per second in continuous shooting mode (6 fps), and has a number of new effects, such as HDR and Cross Process.
The K-r has the 11-point autofocus system of the K-7--a very good thing. Pentax has included its Prime II image processor--the same one that is used in its K7 and K-x--and this makes the K-r a speedy performer. Boot-time, image saving, and menu navigation are all very quick and responsive on the K-r.
Sensor cleaning is built-in, along with a unique LCD-screen feature that shows you where dust is located on the sensor. Live View is provided, but autofocus is very slow, as it is on most SLRs with Live View. The K-r shoots 720p HD video at 24 fps, and includes a built-in mono microphone. As with most SLRs, shooting video takes some skill and practice, especially because the K-r doesn't offer autofocus in video mode.
The built-in HDR feature shoots a burst of three JPEGs and automatically merges them into a single image with seemingly expanded dynamic range, while the D-Range feature automatically corrects highlights and shadows in an image. The HDR feature is fairly unforgiving of camera shake, as it makes no attempt to align images before it merges them together. You'll need a tripod to get good results.
The sample images at above left show the effects of having the HDR feature turned off (above image) and turned on (below image) for the same shot--and they also showcase the blurry effects of not using a tripod with the camera's HDR mode.
Several HDR "strength" settings are provided, offering a range of results. The Custom Images feature lets you specify the in-camera image processing that you want applied to an image, and in addition to the usual saturation and contrast adjustments, the K-r includes stylized looks such as Bleach Bypass.
Many other features can be found within the on-screen menu, but one of the most curious and unique features is actually on the mode dial. Sensitivity Priority mode (SV on the dial) works like a Program mode: It automatically chooses a shutter speed and aperture that's right for your current ISO, but it also allows you to change ISO by simply turning the dial on the back of the camera, rather than having to dig into the usual ISO menu. If you're working in low light and need to carefully ride ISO, this is a very handy feature.
In addition to a long-life, proprietary, rechargeable battery, you can also run the K-r on lithium batteries, which aren't too hard to find. This gives you another power alternative if you're traveling and need power in a pinch.
Image Quality
As with most SLRs these days, the K-r takes very good pictures. In JPEG mode, the in-camera processing yields images with nice color and contrast, and the kit lens delivers a reasonable level of sharpness for the price. Noise is very low all the way to ISO 1600, but even images shot at ISO 3200 and 6400 are still quite usable. What's more, ISO 12,800 and 25,600 produce nice print images, even though the images look noisy on screen.
In our lab tests, the K-r received a word score of Good for exposure, Very Good for color, Good for sharpness, and Very Good for distortion. Click on any of our lab's test images to view them at their original size.
The K-r also delivers very good HD video quality. In fact, it's kind of amazing that you can get such a high-quality HD video camera at this price. That said, as with most SLRs, shooting video with the K-r comes with some caveats. There's a slight rolling shutter problem, which can make objects appear to wave and wobble if you pan too quickly (or if those objects are moving quickly on their own), and there's the aforementioned lack of autofocus when shooting video. Finally, the ergonomics of shooting video with an SLR are just trickier than they are with a real video camera.
Below are sample clips that we shot in bright indoor lighting and in and low light with the Pentax K-r. For the highest-quality clips, select 720p from the drop-down menu in the lower-right corner of each player.
Buying Advice
If you're looking for a small, lightweight, relatively inexpensive, yet relatively high-end "starter" camera, then the Pentax K-r is a great choice. With its huge array of features and nice image quality, it might end up being the only SLR you never need. If you're a more-serious shooter who already has an investment in Pentax lenses, the K-r offers very usable high-ISO capability and speedy autofocus, making it an ideal second body.
0 Comment:
Yorum Gönder