mountainvisions Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 <p>Just wanted to let everyone know I have a K7 in hand...FedEx is impossible to track down and I was on vacation all last week, but today the mysterious FedEx "ring and runner" was captured with the K7.</p> <p>I am charging the battery and off to work, my thoughts on the camera are it's very different...but I won't comment anymore till I can turn it on and get a real feel for it. Those who like dished and contoured grips will love the hand grip!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgredline Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 <p>cool, can't wait to read your thoughts. Mine will be here on Thursday.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob-c Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 <p>Congratulations, Justin, looking forward to reading your comments. And seeing some pics!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_shaw2 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 <p>get mine this week cant wait to hear your comments,dislikes etc. can anyone point me to new/used focusing screens for Pentax P3n? tks.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasbiker Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 <p>Why is it that the trashmen come at 3am... long before you get the can out to the road.</p> <p>But when you are expecting a new camera or exciting new lens, FedEx or UPS wait until after dark on a wet night to deliver the expected package.</p> <p>OR... come to the door during the only five minute bathroom break of the day, or while you absolutely had to run an errand....</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewg_ny Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 <p>Chris, there may be better or cheaper answers, but one approach would be to buy an as-is/for parts P3/P5/P3n/P30T/P50 etc and cannibalize. Is your old one damaged?</p> <p>That's right, Justin, taunt us. Make us wait.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_kuhne Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 <p>"Very different..." intrigue and suspense, Justin! I take your comment on the grip to be favorable from your preference. Can't blame you for getting one right off, since it is such a different design and complete overhaul of metering, AF and much more. And the price really is a bargain for what it is.</p> <p>Looking forward with great interest to read your comments and impressions.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnw436 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 <p>I'm like the last kid in 1985 to get a shiny glove. I get my K20d on Thursday! I'm handing the istDS to the wife officially on Thursday if I can snare the FedEx guy myself. I've dug a giant hole in the front porch and now I'm off to cover it with branches.</p> <p>At this rate when you 'cool kids' are getting your K10 I'll be snapping up the last K7 on the shelf. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dorus Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 <p>gee, I use very little of my K10's potential....., but do I like a K7 !<br> So I'm looking forward to learn about the experiences of the experts (meaning you all).</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miserere_mei Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 <p>Justin, do you still have the K20D? If so, I expect in-depth comparisons of the sensors at every 1/3 ISO step and detailed 374% crops. There is no other way to compare the K-7 and K20D...and you know it.</p> <p>A photo of Caney pulling a Blue Steel into the horizon is also required.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ad12345 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 <p>Received my production K-7 last Friday and have shot a couple of hundred images with it..... here are some quick observations:<br> 1) the Auto White Balance works MUCH better than the K20D under mixed lighting.<br> 2) Metering is also somewhat better in scenes with high contrast ranges (dark birds against light sky etc.)<br> 3) the mirror/shutter sound is almost perfect - quiet enough that it probably won't disturb anyone in a church or theatre yet you can feel it release if you are holding the camera away from your body for low level shots. I know it's not a big deal, but this is a nice feature.<br> 4) mixed results with respect to noise at iso 1600 and 3200 vs the K20 - the improvement seems to be linked to the better AWB performance. If I take the time to manually balance the colour off a white card images from the K20D seem to be very close to those from the K-7. If I don't balance for lighting the difference in detail is obvious. Very curious indeed - and I'm puzzled as to why I'm seeing this.<br> 5) 5 fps is nice, but tracking birds in flight I am actually getting more in-focus keepers with my K20d using the latest firmware. Haven't micro-adjusted the focus on the K-7 yet so this is probably something that will improve.<br> 6) The camera isn't too small and feels solid and really well built all around.<br> 7) The dedicated ISO button is nice, although I had set my K20D up to use the back thumbwheel to adjust ISO in Av mode which seemed perfect to me after a year of steady use. In M mode the Iso button will probably come in really handy.<br> 8) My hands are extremely large and I actually prefer the grip of the K20D - still trying to train my hand to release the shutter of the K-7 without that little twist. Will try the K-7 with the portrait/battery grip and see the bit of extra length helps out.<br> 9) movie mode is interesting but really eats memory (no bit surprise since the compression is only MPEG-4) - the jello pan effect due to the CMOS sensor is present but not overly objectionable for most objects that are moving at normal speeds through a frame.<br> Anybody else had a chance to be more scientific? I'm still deciding as to whether this one is a keeper.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ad12345 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 <p>oops... posted twice by mistake....</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainvisions Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 <p>I had to laugh at some of the comments on UPS/FedEx.</p> <p>I literally sat on my couch paralyzed unable to go to the bathroom or take the dog out for a walk, both of us were knocking our knees, because FedEx rings the bell 1X and then runs after pre printing the door tag in the truck.</p> <p>One time last year the bell rang and as I was walking towards door, i openned it and FedEx was gone as I heard the truck speed away, these guys should run track!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainvisions Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 <p>No the K20D is returned to it's home....but I will say (as I've said), the K20D only had about a half stop advantage over the K10D and mostly in the shadows. ISO 2500 was like 1600 (properly exposed) on the K10D, so if this camera exceeds that by some degree I will consider the sensor a success in terms of evolution of noise control.</p> <p>I am excited to hear the shutter though, and see what a Pentax 5fps camera feels like.</p> <p>I will have some specific info tomorrow on build and layout. Batteries should come pre charged.</p> <p>Oh, and everything says Pentax with "Hoya Corporation" on it, so this is officially the first "Hoya" camera.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orly_andico Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 <p>The K20 I got in February has Hoya Corporation on the under-body name plate.. that said, I'm also looking forward to comparisons with the K20. Interestingly I found the AWB on the K20 to be much, much better than on the K10.. hoping to hear of a similar level of incremental improvement on the K-7.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainvisions Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 <p>I have to confess...I don't care about white balance and never ever tested it's accuracy EXCEPT on a point and shoot with JPEG only.</p> <p>I only shoot RAW and thus WB is the most irrelevant thing to me. Usually I just leave it on daylight or if I'm indoors whatever the source is, and then fine tune later. I know the ist D had some hiccups on auto WB, and while I have never seen this on subsequent models, it seems like giving the processor one less thing to think about is not a bad thing so I never use AWB.</p> <p>I still feel if you are shooting an SLR, you should be shooting RAW. Obviously that is an opinion so please don't be offended by my statement.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpo3136b Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 <p>Justin, you've had this camera since 3:21 p.m., and you haven't posted any pictures? Find a gorgeous woman immediately, and photograph her with the new camera! </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken_yee Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 <p>I thought the K20D was a stop better than the K10D...mostly because noise is muchhhh smoother :-)<br> Looking forward to your AF comparisons...</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainvisions Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 <p>I never found the stop difference, and certainly not the 2 stop difference some had reported. I have not idea what they were comparing it to that they found 2 stops difference.<br> I would say to Ken it was more like 2/3 in the shadows, but only 1/3 in the mids and highlights. Definitely better, but not ground breaking, plus, it the ability to turn off dark frame, and was less consistent at lower ISO with or without DR expansion. I still think the 1st gen DSLR CMOS was a good sensor, but not ground breaking compared to the K10D, and in many ways (not all, but many) I preferred the K10D sensor.</p> <p>I truly hope the K7 takes things up another notch and makes me want to toss my K10D in the scrap heap (although I won't). The K20D never did do that.</p> <p>@ John, still at work, obviously not working to hard. I will sink my teeth into the K7 tonight and tomorrow.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_kuhne Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 <p>Andrew D- compared to the K20D, my initial questions are: does the K7 still tend towards slight underexposure in somewhat lower lighting, and are the JPEGs still as crisp? I am hoping for no on 1 and yes on 2.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mithrandir Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 <p>My FedEx guy used to ring and run. Now he does creative things like leaning my packages up against my garage door to see if I will run over it when leaving the house or (when it is raining) putting my package directly under the downspout.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaloot Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 <p>well it's the next day and I'm waiting for the invetiable thread from you Justin... it seems so long ago that I held that K7... I need to see if I can link up with my contact again...</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaloot Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 <p>well it's the next day and I'm waiting for the inevitable thread from you Justin... it seems so long ago that I held that K7... I need to see if I can link up with my contact again...</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaloot Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 <p>sorry for the double post... I have one thing to ask; are all the K7s that people are getting body only? I'm curious to hear about that WR kit lens that also came out, and I thought they were going hand-in-hand with the K7.<br> I'm real tempted by the WR kit lens, since I still use my kittens v1.0 and really like them...</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgredline Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 <p>Andrew,<br> Thank you for the list, it has been most helpful.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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