Pentax K-1 review: The Pentax K-1 delivers a fine full-frame value for the photo-focused

Pentax's full-frame dSLR debut, the K-1, hits at an opportune time. Canon hasn't updated its 6D or 5D Mark III in at least a couple of years, nor has Nikon done so with its D750 or D610. That makes a new model at an aggressive price a welcome option. The K-1 offers a ton of features with excellent photo quality and a great shooting design, but it also has one of the least-sophisticated autofocus systems and occasionally sluggish performance.

8.2

Pentax K-1

The Good

The Pentax K-1 delivers excellent photo quality and a ton of features in a sturdy, well-designed body.

The Bad

The autofocus is inconsistent and the image stabilization isn't as good as competitors'.

The Bottom Line

For photographers who want great photo quality for less than $2,000, the Pentax K-1 hits the bullseye.

The K-1 costs $1,800 (£1,600, AU$2,900) for the body. Pentax recently released two lenses optimized for the camera: the company's K mount works for both APS-C and full frame, but the older lenses aren't designed for the K-1's high-resolution, 36-megapixel sensor. There's the fast, wide-angle HD Pentax-D FA 15-30mm F2.8ED SDM WR ($1,450, £1,550, AU$1,350) and a more consumer-focused, less-expensive HD Pentax-D FA 28-105mm F3.5-5.6ED DC WR ($500, £580 and AU$850).

I tested it with the 28-105mm. While it's nice that Pentax offers a relatively inexpensive lens for the K-1, I really didn't like it much. It feels very much like an APS-C kit lens: I do recommend it for Pentax's other cameras, but it just doesn't do the K-1 justice.

Great photos, at its own pace

The camera's photo quality is generally excellent. I don't like the default Bright image setting, which overdoes contrast and saturation, but Pentax gives you plenty of options to fine-tune the options to your taste, and the camera can produce quite accurate colors. I'm a Natural girl.

JPEGs look clean through ISO 1600 and depending upon the image, remain usable at least up through ISO 12800. The JPEG processing is pretty good, too; while you can get a little more detail shooting raw, out-of-the-camera JPEGs will suit a lot of people.

The camera retains color well as sensitivity rises, too, though the raw files show a lot of hot pixels in dark images. That said, between the high resolution and solid dynamic range, I was able to get decent results cropping way into photos where I had to bring the exposure up five stops because the flash didn't fire (not Pentax's fault). I wouldn't count on photos beyond ISO 51200, though. Blown out highlights are more hit-and-miss when it comes to recoverability.

Pentax K-1 full-resolution photo samples

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I didn't see much moire in stills; there was a bit in video, though. The video quality is OK. You'll need to play with the settings to retain highlights (there's a flat image profile), and it's just not very sharp.

Analysis samples

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The camera tests competitively fast, and when it's slow it's because of the slow-driving lens and file operations bogged down by the amount of data it has to process. I also experienced problems with the autofocus locking -- or more accurately, not locking -- even in good light. And its shake reduction just doesn't seem to be as effective as other systems.

Featurama

The K-1 isn't the prettiest camera, and it's on the heavy side, but for the most part the dust-and-weather-sealed body has an excellent shooting design and is packed with features for prosumer and working photographers.

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The camera has some useful design novelties. The function dial with its dedicated settings dial provides direct access to nine frequently used options, such as ISO sensitivity, exposure compensation and Wi-Fi. That means you don't have individual controls taking up space on the body, and if (like me) you're constantly changing one setting -- in my case, ISO sensitivity -- it's the fastest way to do it. Even faster than the dedicated ISO button. The one drawback is that you have to look at the dial to change the function; it doesn't appear in the viewfinder.

The variable-angle display is also very nice -- being able to tilt left and right is a handy perk -- and Pentax puts quick access to display brightness on one of the navigation buttons. There are also lights on the back of the display to illuminate the side controls in the dark, along with lights on the lens mount and card slots.

Those are in addition to a broad set of features, including a built-in GPS, interval shooting, five saved User-mode settings slots on the mode dial (with the ability to name the user modes), dual SD card slots and Pentax's sensitivity-priority mode (which floats ISO sensitivity for a fixed shutter speed and aperture combination).

The feature set is also deep in important places as well. For instance, there are a ton of white balance options, including the ability to set color temperature in mireds, a scale optimized for color perception rather than wavelength.

I'm not crazy about some aspects of the design, though. Notably, you record video via the shutter button rather than a soft, direct control.

Conclusion

For predominantly shooting stills without fast action, the Pentax K-1 is a great full-frame option for less than $2,000, though the more expensive Nikon D750 still outclasses it with better performance and a better selection of lenses. The K-1's not quite as appealing in the UK and Australia, where the more well-rounded D750 can be found for significantly less.

Comparative specifications