Really NO MORE HOPE WITH PENTAX (Dozen Reasons for WHY NOT PENTAX NOW)

Everything have been made clear now. I believe there is really no more hope in Pentax anymore, after thinking thoroughly, calmly and objectively these days. I have been doing my research extensively for these few weeks. I have bought and read every review and report by the local magazines and all these show unfavourable results in the K-7 performance and image quality. I have inspected all those *unedited* photo samples from the K-7 and I don't think those are actually anything better than the 1.5 years old K20D, which I was not satisfied with..

I have also read many of the new K-7 users at forums reported that the PQ/IQ is nothing better and the AF system is not much faster and sensitive than the K-m with lithium batteries. Why they needed to say so and all these if these are not true? Isn't that they should now be still excited with their new toys and should have given more favourable comments than reality? (Well, for those who are always living in the world of fanboyism, this could happen forever! ;-))

In fact, if one now thinks more objectively, there are just so many sensible reasons for Why NOT Pentax NOW. I humble and wholeheartedly share below some of the current facts and real situations, that faced by we old Pentaxians:-

1. The SAFOX VIII+ system used in the K-7 is clearly still under-performing. It is still slow and continuous tracking is not up to a par with similar priced offerings from C and N, namely, the 50D and D300. Nor it copes well with the 5.2 fps continuous high frame rate of the camera, unless the user shoots in MF mode before a higher frame rate can be maintained.

My pardon "SAFOX VIII"?? They are still using an AF system that was designed for the entry level film *ist back to 2001?? Add an Plus "+" sign shows the honesty of Pentax/Hoya, though, which I should give credit to them anyway.

2. The PQ/IQ is just what the 1.5 years old K20D could give, nothing better or even worse, as far as noise is concerned more. And there is an obvious sensor bug and issue found already. Hoya/Pentax has made no announcement on the bug fix yet. (This is normal as they seldom admitted gear problems and responded quick and fast to *real issues*!)

3. Exposure inaccuracy yet still seems to be an unresolved issue with CWA and Spot modes (the 77-zone metering seems to be improved, but still not perfect). Underexposures are just common for the hundreds of samples with EXIF that I have inspected and that's also what reviewers said.

4. The K-7 body is indeed not cheap. The separated sold 18-55 WR kit lens in HK is particular expensive. It is more than double the price of the non-sealed version DA 18-55 II at the streets but then which is supposed to be optically equivalent to the new WR version.

5. The current prices of Pentax lenses worldwide are all ridiculous and users from different countries have been complaining. Those lenses are indeed harder and harder to find, (far) more expensive than C and N offerings but the future is unknown - especially for all those DA lenses which are designed for the *APS-C*! Well, Diamonds are rare so that they can be more expensive, but, Pentax lenses??

Previously, many of the Pentax lenses used to have the best value and the highest performance-to-cost ratio. But now just a new FA43 is priced 2.5 times more than it was in around 2002. What is the reason for Pentax now?? WHY PENTAX?? You think!

6. In fact, "upgrading" Pentax bodies endlessly one by one, say, even waiting for and upgrading from the *ist D->K10D->K20D to K-7, or whatsoever is just and surely money wasting - no doubt. The benefits and improvements that the user would get are all very minimal and insignificant. In fact, the changes in machine performance and picture quality are rather incremental and marginal.

7. Pentax's P-TTL flash system is the weakest in terms of accuracy, consistency and functionality. The dropped and now incompatible plain old Pentax TTL Auto was very reliable and consistency, although it is by no means intelligent, which is yet a very sad thing with Pentax these years. Pentax's current dedicated flash guns and system even do not support the basic and useful function of FEL, which is just utter stupid, frankly.

8. There is still no Full Frame from Pentax and there is no light about a Pentax FF DSLR body in K-mount and there will not be one in the foreseeable near future. Without Full Frame, the inferior Image Quality issue of Pentax DSLR and *system* to other DSLR systems, namely Canon and Nikon, cannot be cured and no new APS-C Pentax body will help! Non, the true potential and proper focal and usage of our old Pentax glass can be unleashed (actually I should used the word "resumed").

9. The K-7 is still equipped with an crippled K-mount which does not support well with old Pentax glass without an A position. Stopped down metering just gives exposure errors (see this concise experiment with clear results). Even worse, when an old K-mount lens is mounted on any Pentax DSLR body the user have to press a button to meter, which is an extra step and inconvenience. I do not need to even bother to do so with my Pentax lenses on Canon bodies - they do the metering real-time and what I need is to press the shutter release button, but not an additional button for stop-down metering first!

10. The colour rendition of the K-7 looks fake. Look at the grass and the tree leaves and you will know. The K-m is surely better as long as colour rendition and accuracy is concerned! But the K-m is outdated in features and it is just an entry level body with entry level performance. So, what body should one buy now in the Pentaxland?

11. The body sensor-shift SR system is not performing as good as those in-lens IS/VR systems, I am sure as I have been using both for long now (at least this holds true up to the K20D from my own experiences and according to a latest test review by a local magazine on K-7 with DA 60-250 only shows up to 2 stops and a little bit more protection, which is rather disappointing actually). The SR system is just poor man's system of the type, but it is not performing very well, nor it is an ideal system performance wise. What I could conclude in short about the SR system is that "Least is Better than None"!

12. The new video function is of more limitations than others in the competition. The LiveView is not recommended to do more than five minutes before it will need to be stopped for cooling down. There is an overheat warning symbol to be displayed when the sensor is too hot. There is no compression option (H.264/AVCHD) for the video files. There is no Full HD standard resolution in 1920 x 1080 but just a strange 1536 x 1024 (in 3:2 AR, not common 4:3 neither => Not video editing friendly). Many new K-7 users have said that there is no AF function during Video (but still some others said Yes, but most of them still said it's just so slow and noisy to be usable - just imagine how one uses body screw driven AF to do the CDAF in LV). There is no manual control of anything like ISO speed, Av and Tv for the Movie mode (unlike the latest Canon 5D2 update which allow the user to do so). After all, the video function of the K-7 seems like a half-baked one which is not much usable, or, at least not even as useful/updated as those current entry-level offerings by C and N, namely, the 500D and D5000 (which has an articulated mon for better movie shooting anyway).

Well, if you are an old Pentaxians who have supported the brand for years and own so many old excellent Pentax film glass, my 200% humble advice is: It would be better off to forget all our old Pentax glass in the meantime although many of them are excellent. Further investing in the current Pentax system is just a dead end, very frankly, IMVHO. With all the new money wasted in the current Pentax system, I would rather better to start off to build a better C or N system. I repeat once again THAT IS my humble advice to all those old Pentaxians which have faced the same difficulties as mine for these years since Pentax have gone digital. But now the situation is actually deteriorating. The K-7 once gave me hopes and much excitement but all those were just my wishful thinkings which have now been proven to be not realised! :-((

Having decided to cancel my K-7 pre-order these days, after all my objective researches and reviews done which I have stated above, all my hopes with Pentax have finally gone after waiting for them for more than five years now!

In fact, my unsensible sentiments with Pentax and my old glass let me withhold many of my purchase plan with my Canon glass during these two years. Those Canon modern glass are actually with more updated technologies and best performance when used with and can cope much better with my Canon 5D body, which I have been totally satisfied with - in terms of IQ, accuracy and performance - the three most important factors for a camera and system - money is actually not a real concern for me, but value for money and reliability of the system and gear are!

Whilst totally and completely desparated with Pentax now, the good thing is that I have finally made up my mind and have started to buy more new Canon lenses and would buy also a new 500D or 40D body to supplement my 5D for just a P&S DSLR with built-in flash or for long range shootings like birds and concerts. In the last weekend, I have used my reserved K-7 Kit + DA 15 funds to buy two Canon L Zooms (the 17-40/4L and the 70-200/4L IS) but still have had some money left and thus I have ordered a new EF 35/2 prime and there is still a little bit saving!! Ridiculous enough? The EF 35/2 is in fact now priced 25% cheaper than the FA 35/2. And, my this practical real case just shows that how and why it is so not sensible to further invest in Pentax, even for just a K-7 Kit and an additional simple DA 15 F4 lens, which is just a slow 24mm prime lens film equivalent (and they ask for that high price worldwide? The performance of this lens is just mediocre, also - you find out the test reviews online yourself if unconvinced).

I am now considering to change the name of my this blog to "RiceHigh's Photographic Gear Blog" in the near future and I shall write in general brand regardless for all the latest digital gear news instead of concentrating more on Pentax alone which I think is a brand which I should forget in the meantime! I am sure I have something much better to share for stuff on other brands - even the Micro 4/3 Oly and Pana. I shall continue to report news about Pentax, though but I don't think there will be more good things to share in the near future..

Sad but that is what I am seriously thinking now.. And I think this would mark a full stop to my love and endless and unexplainable enthusiasm to the brand Pentax for these few decades and the editing direction of my blog would (be) change(d). I just realise that I have not been able to change them much and help them to improve even though I have meant to be for years..