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42 of 44 found the following review helpful:
The Pentax K-x is a giant killer! May 29, 2010
By Edgar_in_Indy
I recently upgraded from my beloved Olympus e-510 DSLR with the 14-42mm and 40-150mm kits lenses in order to get a DSLR with better low-light performance and HD video capabilities. I loved my Olympus, but image quality took a nose-dive at ISO 800, and I liked the idea of having an HD camcorder built into my camera to capture high quality family photos and home videos in one device. I eventually settled on the Pentax K-x after first buying, and then returning, a Canon T2i.
I know that the T2i costs almost twice as much as the K-x, and they're not direct competitors, but I think my experience illustrates what a great camera and bargain the K-x is and how, for me at least, it was a giant killer.
I initially pre-ordered a T2i for the $900 MSRP after reading the glowing reviews in the press about the 18MP sensor, the high-ISO performance and the killer 1080p video. When I received the T2i, I was surprised by how cheap and plasticky it felt. It's not that the T2i was likely to fall apart, but my Olympus felt and looked like a higher quality camera, even though it was about $200 less than the T2i when I bought it. I realize that the T2i is a Rebel, but for almost $1000, I expected something more solid.
Even worse was the Canon 18-55mm kit lens, which felt like a toy compared to my Olympus kit lenses. It looked cheap, and the zoom action felt very cheap, and you could hear plastic-on-plastic as you zoomed in and out. There was no lens hood included, and the optional lens hood was only about an inch deep and looked ridiculous. The front element rotated when auto-focusing, which makes using some filters problematic, and you had to switch off AF to manually make focus adjustments. My Olympus lenses did not rotate the front element, and allowed full time focus override without turning off AF. And build-wise, they looked and felt like a higher end lens. But worst of all, Canon kits lens's optical performance was lacking, rendering the 18MP sensor moot.
I could live with the cheap feel of the T2i body and the ugly jelly-bean design, but I came to realize that in order to get a lens that would match the performance of the body, I would need to shell out another $500 or more, and as a hobbyist I just didn't have the budget.
The real deal-breaker with the T2i though, was the use of Quicktime format for the HD video. Quicktime is a proprietary Apple video format, and while I must assume it works well on a new Mac, the QT videos often gave PCs problems. I'd read about this from other users, but I figured that with my high-end PCs and my computer knowledge, I would be okay. But both my new Sony Vaio laptop with Windows 7, ATI 4650 graphics and 4GB of RAM and my desktop computer with Windows XP, dual-core processor, 4GB of RAM, Raptor 10K HDD and nVidia 8800GT graphics would stutter on playback of the 1080p files. And finding affordable programs to edit Quicktime HD video files is another headache. I wasn't about to buy a new Mac just to be able to work with the video from my new camera.
So back went the T2i, and my quest for a new camera continued. I was just about to pull the trigger on a Nikon D5000, when I came across the Pentax K-x.
The first thing that grabbed my attention was the styling. I thought the red was killer, but I wasn't that brave. And the camera looked dead-sexy in navy blue, but when I saw the white version, I was in love. One thing I liked about my Olympus was that it was something DIFFERENT than all the Nikons and Canon Rebels you see every other parent carrying to school or sports functions. I would often get questions about it from people who didn't realize that Olympus even MADE DSLRs. With this Pentax, I would again have something out of the ordinary.
Then I started reading reviews of the K-x. One of the great things about the T2i is the high ISO image quality, and according to the reviews and the sample images I was looking at, the K-x was right there with it.
And the K-x also did HD video. There were some limitations, such as 720p and lack of full control over exposure while shooting video, but I didn't really mind since the samples I downloaded looked great, even on my 110" 1080P home theater projector. And 720p files take less space than 1080p and require less processing power to playback and edit. And best of all, the K-x uses Motion JPEG video format, which plays back great on PCs and is compatible with almost any Windows video editing program. The MJPEG format does use more disk space than the equivalent QT file, but hard drives and SD cards are cheap these days, so it's not a big deal.
Another great thing about the K-x is that it has sensor-based image stabilization in the body, so any lens you stick on the camera is stabilized. My Olympus used a similar system, and I was very happy with it. The big advantage is that you can be non-stabilized lenses so they'll be smaller, lighter, and less expensive.
I ended up buying the K-x in white with the 18-55mm lens. The K-x looks and feels like a higher quality camera than the T2i, and matches my Olympus in this department. The kit lens is also a very worthy piece of hardware.
With the money I saved on the Pentax, I was able to buy the legendary Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 lens, a Pentax 55-300mm zoom lens, and a Sigma speedlight. The flash was new, but I got great deals on the slighty-used lenses on eBay and Craigslist.
I've been using the Pentax for a couple months now, and have taken hundreds of pictures. I am absolutely thrilled with the camera and couldn't be happier with the photos and videos I'm getting. The T2i did have just slightly more detail, but other than that I would say the K-x has equal image quality. And the 12MP RAW image files of the K-x are faster to work with than the 18MP files of the T2i and take up much less space on SD cards, so you don't have to worry about filling up nearly as fast.
That's not too much negative I can say about the camera. I would like it to have a mini-HDMI port and a standard mini-USB port, and continuous auto-focus would be nice in video mode, but no other DSLR has that yet. Stereo mics would also be nice.
I suspect that the image stabilization system may not be as good as the one in my Olympus, but I can't say for sure since my 300mm is longer than the telephoto I had with the Olympus and will therefore be more prone to shake.
I get compliments on the Pentax everywhere I go, and it's been a joy to use and own. I could not be happier with my purchase.
In the future I'll probably add a Sigma 30mm F1.4 prime and a Sigma 10-20mm ultra-wide zoom to my lens kit.
Just for the record, I'm not trying to bash on the T2i. It is an amazing camera that is currently without peer in its price range. But if you're like me and you only have about $1000 to spend, I think you will get much more value by going with a less-expensive but almost-as-capable camera like the K-x, and using the extra money on high quality lenses. My F2.8 constant-aperture lens has been a revolution for me, and I recommend every budding photographer make room in their budget for something similar.
17 of 17 found the following review helpful:
Great DSLR, I couldn't be happier. Jan 10, 2010
By James M. Lach
This my first DSLR. I am very happy with the purchase. It is very easy to use and takes great photos. I will occasionally still get a blurry or under/overexposed photo which I assume is somehow my fault but overall the auto setting just seems to work. I do get alot more pictures of my 3 year old's smiling face because it focuses so much faster than my old camera. I am just starting to use some of the more advanced features but I used some of the filters only a day or two after first trying it. They were very easy to use, actually, the whole camera is very intuitive.
I am not a professional photographer. I imagine there are things the camera can't do but I don't know what. The shake reduction seems to work really well and battery life is really good as long as you don't do a lot of movies or live view. The battery indicator was a bit wacky but I updated the firmware and it is fixed.
In a nutshell, worth every penny.
21 of 22 found the following review helpful:
 Excellent Camera with a Few Flaws Mar 23, 2010
By Bradford
"oneiros11"
I recently upgraded to the K-X from a Panasonic FZ50. I wanted a lightweight camera that could shoot in low light. (I purchased the 50-200mm kit, since this telephoto is significantly lighter than the 55-300mm.) I was drawn to the K-X's low noise profile at high ISOs. The first thing I noticed upon using the camera is that the K-X is very responsive and fast. The controls and menus are intuitive and very easy to navigate.
Image Quality: I was pleased with the first images out of the camera, letting the K-X choose the exposure values. Good clarity, exposure, white balance, and color value. No discernible chromatic aberration. I have also used shutter mode when I want a narrow depth of field. The camera seems to create a pleasing bokeh. In scenes with flowers and fruit stalls, the colors are rich and vivid. The in camera digital filters were an unexpected treat. You can get creative with this camera w/o resorting to Photoshop. I shoot a lot of landscapes, and K-X produced decent results. Compared with my earlier camera, the K-X seems to have a much wider dynamic range. The relatively brighter sky does not cause the camera to underexpose the land. I have some questions about the white balance and color space in landscape work. However, with some tweaking via the accompanying Pentax Digital Camera Utility software, I have been satisfied with the results. While exploring this, I noticed that I actually prefer the default color space to Adobe RGB, which suggests that Pentax has worked hard to produce a pleasing image right out of the camera. The supplied software seems very flexible compared to an earlier version of Silky Pix. I love the fact that I can modify the white balance and exposure value of JPEGs, in addition to the other processing options. The software would be enhanced if one could use it to apply the camera's digital filters. Then you wouldn't have to drain the battery to let the camera do the processing. Another enhancement would be to include a digital grad filter. But perhaps this is too much to expect.
One of the features of this camera is that it can combine multiple images to create an HDR. I use HDR a great deal in my work. However, the HDR images from this camera seemed lifeless and washed out - especially the stronger HDR2. I will continue to experiment with this, but probably will stick with combining images in the HDR software I use.
One flaw that may point to less than optimal factory conditions that K-X seems to suffer from dust issues. The first camera I received showed multiple spots on the images after I changed the lens in very clean, indoor conditions. I returned this camera, and the second camera immediately showed dust inside the viewfinder, which thus far I have been unable to remove. The dust removal system did remove some other dust that appeared on the sensor. While the viewfinder dust does not affect the image, it was annoying to see it there on the first day of use. After reading about DSLRs and dust, I have picked up a Giotto Rocket Blaster, which is a tool that can be used to blow dust off the sensor. Since the Panasonic had a fixed lens, dust was never a problem.
Pros:
Low noise at high ISO
Light weight - even with 50-200mm lens
In camera digital filters can unleash your creativity
Excellent quality images
Wide Dynamic Range
Good value
Cons:
Battery Life
HDR washed out
Dust issues
Bottom Line: So far I am happy with my K-X. If you buy one, experiment with the settings and take some time to get to know the menus and controls.
13 of 13 found the following review helpful:
EXCELLLENT Camera Jan 02, 2010
By Bob
"Bob"
I really did my homework on this one. The K-x is my first dSLR and I am very pleased with it. I have taken almost 600 pictures in about every possible condition. I am still on the first set of batteries. It really shows off in low light conditions. The two kit lenses are very good. I have had zero problems. Make sure to download the updated firmware available online.
Major pluses for me include: a) Image stabilization is in the camera body. When I add more lenses, I don't have to buy lenses with built-in stabilization. b) The low-light capability as mentioned earlier. NO other camera in this class performs as well, according to many reviews. [...].
The increase in picture quality over my point and shoot is literally like night and day.
9 of 9 found the following review helpful:
Love my Pentax! Mar 30, 2010
By C. Pierce
For all of you trying to decide on which DSLR to buy, get the Pentax K-X. I researched all the DSLR's for about a year, and this camera is by far the best bang for the buck.I have friends that own the other brands(and they are all great camera's)and my K-X will do anything thers's will do for a lot less money.So quit pulling your hair out reading all these reviews and trying to decide which camera to buy.This camera is very easy to use and a great bargin.
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