New Pentax K-X

Has anyone bought one and or tried one out. I've seen newer footage on vimeo and some of it looks pretty decent for it's price. and now with that amazon code that's 50 bucks off... Thanks e-steve
 
Several interesting "raw" K-x sample videos can be downloaded at dpreview for those who want to check the image quality without vimeo or youtube compression :)

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/pentaxkx/page20.asp


@HHL
I like the K-x more and more so I finally ordered one. Besides the quite heavy moire issues it's a real bargain, has 24fps, aperture control and there are tons of old but great, fast and cheap lenses out there to use on it. Being that cheap I also have money left to give the caprock anti moire filter a try.
 
Last edited:
@HHL
I like the K-x more and more so I finally ordered one. Besides the quite heavy moire issues it's a real bargain, has 24fps, aperture control and there are tons of old but great, fast and cheap lenses out there to use on it. Being that cheap I also have money left to give the caprock anti moire filter a try.
Click to expand...

Hey Stip! That so cool! Would you mind posting some footy when you get it? I've been watching this for a while now....it NOT an "upgrade"....however, I think that it could redefine "micro-budget"....interesting anyway.
 
damn those stupid shutter speeds ,who need so random shutter speeds why they didnt left the damn thing like old first camcorders on 1/50 and without shutter speed options, this is retardness.1/24 shutter speed whats that ,blurry pentax joke? Or bad lowlight cheat.
 
With a price like this someone should just hack this darn camera so that you can control iso, shutter, etc...and while they are at it they should improve the compression codec, increase the bitrate and throw in fullHD ;-)
I've seen some very nice clips on vimeo. It's really a shame about all the video limitations.
 
Last edited:
TrueIndigo said:
"Could someone tell me what 3:2 is all about?" -- the Pentax K-x shoots video at 1280 x 720 (16:9 aspect ratio). The Pentax K-7 (a more expensive model) also shoots 720p video plus a larger video frame size (can't remember what it is now, but it's smaller than 1920 x 1080) and this has an aspect ratio of 3:2.
Click to expand...

That's the 1.6mp mode in the menu and it has a resolution of 1536x1024. It uses the entire sensor for video instead of cropping the top and bottom for a 16:9 ratio. The K-7 is a really good camera for the money, well built with lots of features. The video has its issues like most of these cameras (specifically the Canonesque aliasing and quick overheating when it's hot outside, which leads to banding in the shadows). I hear the latest firmware allows a backdoor workaround for manual control of video. The inbody stabilization is nice to have.

For those interested, the K-7 seems to have a better video mode than the K-x. The best summary of them can be found here:

http://falklumo.blogspot.com/2009/10/lumolab-pentax-k-7-hd-video-quality.html

http://falklumo.blogspot.com/2009/10/lumolabs-pentax-k-x-hd-video-quality.html
 
richtrav: "I hear the latest firmware allows a backdoor workaround for manual control of video." -- any more info on this, please? Any links? It sounds interesting.
 
Basically the camera has a slight delay in activating live view for video, during which you can lock settings. So you would go into M mode, set your shutter and aperture and then switch to movie mode and instantly press the AE lock button. I still don't think you can lock iso though. There's a good writeup on it in pentaxforums.com.

Here's a quick and dirty video I made yesterday on the K-x with the 18-55 kit lens. It's all handheld with no corrections whatsoever. Straight cuts, that's it.
 
Thinking about picking this up from BHphoto. Need an all around camera that shoots photos and hd video for a local animal shelter. Is it worth it? It will simply be another tool in the toolbox.
 
As just another tool in the kit? Worth it for sure... as long as you're not expecting HD camcorder functionality.

It's a great little stills camera and offers some awesome features like in-body stabilisation & 4.7fps. The video mode is pretty scarce - you can control aperture and lock the AE but that's about it. It's usable for short clips as long as you are careful and have it well stabilised, but You wouldn't want it as your everyday camcorder.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top