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Pentax K-x Initial Thoughts: Impressive

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Posted by Patrick on Dec 24, 2009 in Cameras, Reviews

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Pentax K-x Digital SLR Camera Quick Review
I’ve been wanting to get my hands on a Pentax K-x ever since I attended its launch party several months ago, and now thanks to the efforts of B&H Photo, I’ve finally got one of these little 12.4 megapixel DLSR cameras in the studio. If you happened to read DPReview.com’s review today of the K-x, then you’ll know why I’ve been so anxious to get a hold of one. This entry-level offering from Pentax offers great handling, very good image quality, and some of the best low light performance of any APS-C DSLR, all for a very low price (well south of $600 at B&H Photo).

Availability

B&H Photo helped us to get our copy, and you’d be well served by purchasing your K-x, and all your camera and computer related gear from them too. The K-x is in stock in a variety of configurations, and notably, in several color options. Check out the very low price on the kit option, which is too low to print here. Help support our site and insure future camera reviews by shopping through the following links.

Build

A well made camera. Can’t say enough good things about the K-x grip. It’s deep for such a small camera, and I’m continually amazed at just how well sculpted it is. Elsewhere the K-x of course provides a good deal of plastic, and limited grip material (none on the back for the thumb), but all in all a sturdy little camera. The multi-selector buttons are a bit to shallow for my tastes, but for the most part there’s little to complain about here. Did we mention that really nice grip?

Interface

The Pentax K-x has a pretty straightforward interface, that users can quickly adapt to. Not bad looking either, but not quite up to the level of finesse and polish found in a camera like the Nikon D5000. One thing about the K-x, it provides countless creative options for users looking to take their images in all sorts of different directions. The playback options are well worth exploring, easy to implement, and provide pretty interesting results.


Simple and to the point info screen.	Example of a camera setting change screen. Note the ability to set ISO range.

Standard view for image playback. 2.7 inch LCD sports only 230K of resolution and does an average job of displaying image quality.	Zoomed in view during image playback.

Optional histogram view.	The K-x allows users to get pretty creative after capture...

There are several filters and creative color options, all in-camera and post-capture. Here's the "Toy Camera" setting.	The "HDR" filter.

Performance

Mostly good. We like the 4.7 fps, but there are a couple of issues that deserve mentioning. First the 4.7 fps is for 5 frames when it comes to RAW files. Second the K-x doesn’t show the selected AF point in the viewfinder, and third, live view focusing is painfully slow. We’ll discuss these aspects more in the upcoming full review. Discounting these negatives, shooting with the K-x is quite straightforward, and overall performance is very competitive with other entry-level cameras.

Image Quality

Things really shine here, in fact it’ll probably surprise some folks how good the K-x image quality is. We’ve still got many more pictures to take, but I’m happy with how the IQ is shaping up. Also surprising, the low-light capabilities of the K-x. ISO 1600 is quite usable, and honestly ISO 3200 and 6400 are just really impressing me. The K-x really is one of the better APS-C cameras out there for higher ISO work. Check the full size samples (all higher ISO captures in low light situations) to get a better sense of what the K-x can do.

ISO Samples

Use the image below to orient yourself to the 100% crops below. Click here for full-sized, un-edited originals of the following samples. (Converted from RAW to JPEG via Lightroom). In-camera noise reduction is turned off for these images. Click each thumbnail for the full %100 crop.

Crop 1


ISO 800	ISO 1600

ISO 3200	ISO 6400

Crop 2


ISO 800	ISO 1600

ISO 3200	ISO 6400

Crop 3


ISO 800	ISO 1600

ISO 3200	ISO 6400

Conclusion

I’m liking the K-x enough that I wanted to get these first impressions out before everybody spends all their Christmas gift money. Given the price, abilities, and image quality, the K-x is a worthy option for consumers looking to get an entry-level DSLR. More in an upcoming review, but for now–I’m loving the K-x.

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