Pentax Pentax KP

Quick walk around old town after work with the DA 21 Limited. The light was good, nearly golden hour, so I must shoot!

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DNG files processed lightly in LR6 to taste. Some of them have one of Samuel Streetlife's Positive Color (Ricoh GR approximations) presets applied. Interestingly, while his presets 01 and 02 are modeled more closely towards the GR II (which some people like better) I found the preset 03 (modeled on the GR III) to look better with these RAW files. There must be a reason Ricoh designers changed the Positive Film output on the GR III.
 
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Here's something I instantly appreciate about the KP, Pentax in general, and the DA 21 limited: colors are fantastic. I've come to realize that color rendition can make or break a digital camera (unless you shoot B&W), there are few things less exciting than a digital file with flat and boring colors. It takes little to nothing to make the KP's files sing. I suspected that might be the case, since it's so closely related to the GR III.

I'm pleased, since, when I decided to move on from my GX9, one of the other options I considered was a Sigma DP2 or DP3, mainly of course for the fantastic colors. But by most reports, you need to nail a very narrow exposure range to get the most out of that sensor. Pentax is giving me a lot for a lot less work...
 
agentlossing said:
Here's something I instantly appreciate about the KP, Pentax in general, and the DA 21 limited: colors are fantastic. I've come to realize that color rendition can make or break a digital camera (unless you shoot B&W), there are few things less exciting than a digital file with flat and boring colors. It takes little to nothing to make the KP's files sing. I suspected that might be the case, since it's so closely related to the GR III.

I'm pleased, since, when I decided to move on from my GX9, one of the other options I considered was a Sigma DP2 or DP3, mainly of course for the fantastic colors. But by most reports, you need to nail a very narrow exposure range to get the most out of that sensor. Pentax is giving me a lot for a lot less work...
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Thanks for posting, it is noteable from your images the similarity with the GRIII's files.
 
Okay, back to this thread with some samples from the Sigma 17-50mm f2.8. I've only had gloomy weather and gloomier weather to pick from lately, so these are low-light shots and I really like the way the KP handles both lower light conditions and high ISO. It loses some of the edge from the sharpness, but has an organic, textured way of handling fine detail, with very good color representation. The lens is quite nice, I really can't find anything to complain about other than maybe some fairly heavy purple fringing in some high-contrast areas, but LR took care of those very easily. These are edited from the DNGs.

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mike3996 said:
I am friendly inquiring about a "status report" from those who acquired and happily used a Pentax KP camera before. Do you still use it, happily, unhappily? @MiguelATF, @Biro, @agentlossing and who else? :)
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I don't have the KP anymore, but not because it wasn't a great camera. I needed to downsize a bit. I'd still recommend it though, it made a versatile kit with the Sigma 17-50/2.8, and there's a 17-70/2.8-4 that would probably be really nice as well - or the Pentax 20-40 which is a limited lens. Had I the money to bulk up on Limited primes I probably would have done so... But in the end I like a lightweight camera and the KP isn't exactly that, despite being compact.

It had very similar IQ to my GR III/x but not quite the same colors, if you know Pentax colors you kind of know what to expect. They're quite nice, really.
 
rayvonn said:
Unless I'm mistaken, same sensor as the Ricoh GR III, so similar or same rendering, albeit far more flexibility with the selection of lenses (happy to be corrected).
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I suspect that it was the same, but tuned a bit differently. The KP max ISO is a ridiculous 819,200 which is three stops higher than the GR III. Both cameras have a pre-processor for noise reduction, but at 6400 the results seem to diverge (looking at the DPR samples) where the KP looks a bit softer and smoother, especially at 6400-25,600, while the GR retains a bit more detail with toothier grain.
 
mike3996 said:
I am friendly inquiring about a "status report" from those who acquired and happily used a Pentax KP camera before. Do you still use it, happily, unhappily? @MiguelATF, @Biro, @agentlossing and who else? :)
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I no longer have it, Mike - but during the time I did have and use it, it was and is a phenomenal camera - both in terms of build, of feel - and also the quality of some of the Pentax DA Limited lenses. In terms of my subjective ratings of 'build quality', it is and was one of the two best-built modern digital cameras I have ever shot with, the other being my (current) Ricoh X-Pro3. For me (as a long-term Pentaxian over decades) the quality and lineup of Pentax lenses (both the newer DA Limiteds, primes and zooms, and a number of the older ones, especially the FA Ltds) was a huge part the attraction as well. In my (admittedly limited) experience, some of the Pentax glass was both relatively affordable - and rivaled some Leitz and Zeiss optics in both unadulterated quality, ability to render colors, and the oft-mentioned (but so hard to truly define) area of microcontrast.

Weirdly, the only thing I didn't love about it, was the OVF or optical viewfinder. I'm afraid I have been 'spoiled' by one or two great (in my opinion, at least) EVF's - including that of my former GX8, and that of my XPro3 (which doesn't seem all that great on paper, but in use is satisfying). I'm pretty sure that the EVF's of G9, as well as its FF Panasonic cousin the S1 (not to mention that of the Leica SL) are even better; but I finally had to admit to myself that I like (and liked) a good EVF better than the KP's very good OVF.

But, in retrospect, it (the KP) was a real pleasure to shoot with.
 
MiguelATF said:
Weirdly, the only thing I didn't love about it, was the OVF or optical viewfinder. I'm afraid I have been 'spoiled' by one or two great (in my opinion, at least) EVF's - including that of my former GX8, and that of my XPro3 (which doesn't seem all that great on paper, but in use is satisfying). I'm pretty sure that the EVF's of G9, as well as its FF Panasonic cousin the S1 (not to mention that of the Leica SL) are even better; but I finally had to admit to myself that I like (and liked) a good EVF better than the KP's very good OVF.
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You know, Miguel, that goes for me as well, though I forgot to mention it. I know the KP was marketed as having a true pentaprism, instead of just mirrors, making for a brighter and clearer OVF experience, but it's still rather dim. I think it's just the physics of an APS-C pentaprism setup, but you lose a lot of light (especially with the Limited primes, of which, the DA variety for APS-C are usually kind of small max aperture). I think good EVFs have maybe spoiled me as well, but when I moved on from the KP I thought I might be interested in another Pentax, but it would probably have to be full frame - and the current K1 models are too big for me. To another user, maybe this wouldn't even register, but it was something I noticed as all my other cameras are either EVF, LCD only, or fairly bright non-SLR type finders (oh, and one 35mm film SLR).
 
mike3996 said:
I am friendly inquiring about a "status report" from those who acquired and happily used a Pentax KP camera before. Do you still use it, happily, unhappily? @MiguelATF, @Biro, @agentlossing and who else? :)
Click to expand...
I still have the KP but it doesn't get much use anymore. I suspect it'll go soon (along with the rest of my Pentax gear) as I continue a major downsizing of my camera gear. The KP is a great camera but it was simply time to move on. Pentax autofocus isn't as terrible as many make it out to be. But, after shooting Pentax for a long time, my needs were ultimately better served by mirrorless cameras.
 

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