Pentax K5 shocker!!!!

mmacleodbrown

Regular
Location
London
OK, I was in Jessops to pick up a couple of filters, and like any Pentax owner, I 'drifted' over to the Pentax shelves and they had a K5, so I picked it up for a look.
I really didn't like how it felt in my hands :eek:
In particular it was my left hand, it felt like it had no-where to go, on my K20D, I have that little bit extra on the left and my hand just rests comfortably.
I was a bit gutted, Im already in love with the pics from the K5 and just assumed that it would be love at first touch.
Wondering if it was a size thing, I picked up a Panny GH2, and that felt fine. Like the K20D, it too has a little bit extra on the LHS for grip and it just sat right in my hands.

Im shocked! I very much doubt it will stop me upgrading at some point, as I love the IQ of the K5, but I just presumed in fluffy cloud land that it would be a match made in heaven. Im sure I will get used to it, maybe Im just too used to my current Pentax, but it was the last thing I expected to feel about the K5 when I picked it up for the first time..

Maybe I have to wait for the K3..
It's no big deal and might actually be a good thing as it kills GAS for a while, as I really don't need anything, the K20D is way ahead of my ability, it is just the size of it that bugs me a bit..
 
I wonder if thats part of why I hardly ever pick mine up when I go out these days. I haven't shot anything with the K-5 for a month, and since I got it, only go out with it every 3 weeks or so. My K200 was with me all the time no matter what.
 
A sad account Martin.

Alas I had the opposite experience and immediately clicked with the K-r in my hand after some time fumbling about with the K20D. And like you I asked whether it has anything to do with size, but still to this day my favourite camera in hand was the old Olympus E-1 - a camera that will never be considered a Serious Compact....well maybe unless you are used to taking photos with a rhinoceros pressed to your eye and cupped between your hands!

Although now that you make me think of it, I believe the E-1 was also lacking in the LHS department. So it might be that I need some chunk under my RH and like my left unencumbered to adjust the lens, or other parts of my gear or self, while shooting. I just picked up the K-r and I naturally put my left hand under and around the lens. Hmmm...Odd.

So maybe it's more your shooting style mate? I'm not saying anything against it, it's just different. But the bad news is I can't see Pentax going back to the K20D style chassis any time soon. Granted some like a bigger camera, but they normally opt for an after-market battery grip. So maybe a K-5 with grip is in your future? If the vertical grip doesn't suit, maybe contact Richard Franiec and see if he can't mould you something for the left of the K. He certainly made the ergonomics of little compacts - like my S95 - simply perfect...albeit by adding a little more on the RHS!

Thought-provoking, thanks Martin...and best of luck. You should feel comfortable with your move beyond the K20D. The feel in hand is as important as the results at the other end.
 
I wonder if thats part of why I hardly ever pick mine up when I go out these days. I haven't shot anything with the K-5 for a month, and since I got it, only go out with it every 3 weeks or so. My K200 was with me all the time no matter what.

That just won't do! We can't have that K-5 languishing on the shelf. Look send it my way and I'll promise you, and it, a daily work out. I could offer the K-r to satisfy your infrequent needs, but I know you were already there before the K-5.

How sad, I might start up a sanctuary for these deformed cameras....I have a vision of them grazing free on my acreage, albeit eating down the grass in circular patterns; as they go around and around in tight clockwise circles unable to compensate for the lack of weight on the left handside. How sad, please herd her into a crate and send her over at once!

:clapping:
 
Stillshunter

You might be right about the shooting style, from my first attempts at macro I need to change something, I was nearly seasick watching my focus point!
Im not to worried, Im not ready to upgrade and when I do, Im sure I will I will get used to it, I just expected it to be love at first touch...
 
That just won't do! We can't have that K-5 languishing on the shelf. Look send it my way and I'll promise you, and it, a daily work out. I could offer the K-r to satisfy your infrequent needs, but I know you were already there before the K-5.

How sad, I might start up a sanctuary for these deformed cameras....I have a vision of them grazing free on my acreage, albeit eating down the grass in circular patterns; as they go around and around in tight clockwise circles unable to compensate for the lack of weight on the left handside. How sad, please herd her into a crate and send her over at once!

:clapping:

ROFL!

Now here's the thing... I didn't have the K-r for long, but I used it as much (relatively speaking) as I did the K200D... There's a lot about the K-5 I would miss if I sent her down to you, so I rather think she will have to remain with me, languishing, but knowing that sooner or later (maybe today even) she will come out with me. Its bucketing down here at the moment, and the K-5 is the only WR camera I have. There will be no G11/GRD3 shots today.
 
You had me do a little more hunting around Martin, just to see if there was some orthodoxy around camera holding....and the Internet - as usual - didn't let me down. I thought this was the funniest quote - because we all carry a dSLR to look like a pro!
For starters, holding a camera at both sides of the body like the picture below is usually a dead give away that you don’t know what you are doing.
Light Stalking » Do You Look Like an Amateur When You Hold Your SLR?
2096372899_a2e3fe2a5f.jpg


Wow I break a few rules according to this article.

Thanks Martin, very eye-opening and entertaining. Again as I never was mindful of my grip....though I remember spending a few hundred dollars in my younger days getting this right for golf :blush:

Not sure how to improve the macro work. I do most of mine on a tripod....if not I make a tripod of my limbs or myself against an inanimate object - pole, ground, etc. But with that razor-thin D0F you got to get it spot on....and I need my left hand around the lens for MF - the only way with macro IMHO.
 
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