Weatherproof Pentax K-5 DSLR with 1080p

[Joe Ogiba]

YouTube - First practical video test of PENTAX K5 Part II - now in Full-HD

[Bill Koehler]

As an old Pentax owner I looked at the new Pentax K-r and K-5 cameras. The fact I live in the U.S.A. (NTSC 30p/60i land) and these cameras shoot 25p limits my interest in them.

I think Canon got it right in providing all the frame rate options so no matter where you live or your target application (NTSC TV, PAL TV, Cinema) their cameras (60D, 7D, 5DM2) just work. Pentax, on the other hand, from a video frame rate point of view it's like the K-7 is NTSC (30p), the K-x is Cinema (24p) and the K-5 & K-r are PAL (25p). Not to bright a decision IMO. That frame rate needs to be a menu option, Pentax.

Bottom line, my K-x is not going to be getting company any time real soon.

[Graham Hickling]

Plus ... no manual control of shutter speed. So no-one is going to take it seriously as a vDSLR ... what a wasted opportunity!

[Bill Koehler]

Originally Posted by Graham Hickling

... what a wasted opportunity!

I think that's a Pentax specialty. When both the K-7 and K-x came out, Pentax USA put up some marketing videos of them on their Youtube channel. Right off the bat I asked 'Was that shot with the camera being released'. The answer was that they hadn't gotten a camera enough in advance to know how to do that. All I could think then, and now, was how stunningly brain-dead stupid an oversight, and admission, to make. Here's an opportunity to showcase your camera and you threw it away....

And last I checked, Vincent Laforet got a pre-production Canon 5D Mark II like surprise! It's here for what, 48 hours!, and he turns out a jaw dropping demo piece. Talk about opposite ends of the talent spectrum...

The only rational explanation I can come up with for Pentax's behavior is that they see DSLR video as nothing more than something finally migrating up from the P&S world, so what's the big deal....<shrug>