Pentax is carving out a substantial niche for itself by focusing many of its products on the outdoor and adventure market. Today the Ricoh-owned camera maker introduced two new flavors of its top line camera, the Pentax K-5 II and Pentax K-5 IIs, both of which will be available soon from Adorama. Both cameras feature a rugged body construction that is water-, cold- and dust-resistant, and are built around the same 16MP APS CMOS sensor. The main difference is that the K-5IIs (shown above) comes without an anti-aliasing filter, making it better suited for commercial and studio photography, while the K-5 II, which costs $100 less, is designed to be taken to places where the photographer may not necessarily have control over lighting.
Pentax K-5 II/K-5 IIs Key Features:
- 16MP CMOS sensor
- ISO range 100-12,800 native, expandable to 80-51,200
- 3-inch, 921k dot LCD monitor
- Weather-resistant
- Shake Reduction
- Optical Viewfinder with 100% field of view
- 7fps burst rate up to 30 consecutive images in JPEG
- 18 digital filters
- RAW or JPEG format
A closer look
The Pentax K-5 II’s magnesium alloy exterior and highly rigid stainless steel chassis is sturdy and lightweight, with 77 seals to keep out dust and rain. The camera is claimed to offer reliable operation down to 14 degrees F, and has a shutter release with a top shutter speed of 1/8000 second, rated to last up to 100,000 shots.
The glass Pentaprism viewfinder offers a full 100% field of view, with a Natural-Bright Matte II focusing screen for easier manual focusing. The camera has a Shake Reduction mechanism that can compensate for up to three stops worth of shakiness, according to Pentax; helpful features include an electric level function with a vertical level scale, automated compensation for distortion and lateral chromatic aberration when using Pentax’s DA, D, FA and FA limited lenses (all of which are available at Adorama). You have a choice of three grid patterns while in live view mode.
Two New Lenses Announced
Pentax also expanded its lens line, announcing an 18-270mm f/3.5-5.6 ED SDM 15x superzoom and a 560mm f/5.6 ED AW super telephoto lens. The Pentax 18-270mm f/3.5-5.6 ED SDM zoom lens is the longest-range zoom in the Pentax lineup, and has a 35mm equivalent focal range of 27.5-414mm. Features include a built-in supersonic motor two extra-low dispersion (ED) optics, minimum focus to 1.6 feet over the entire zoom range, and rounded diaphragm leaves for smooth bokeh. The Pentax 560mm f/5.6 ED AW is a pro-level lens with an 859mm (35mm equivalent) field of view, and features HD multi-layer coating that Pentax says produces higher light transmission and reduced reflections, resulting in no flare or ghosting. Both lenses have 29 seals to prevent dust and water from entering the lens, matching them well with the Pentax K-5 and K-5 II cameras.
The new smc PENTAX DA 18-270mm F3.5-5.6 ED SDM zoom lens will be available at Adorama in November 2012 with a suggested retail price of $799.95. The new HD PENTAX DA 560mm F5.6 ED AW will be available at Adorama in December 2012 with a suggested retail price of $6,999.95.
Pricing and Availability
The new PENTAX K-5 II will be available at Adorama in October 2012 with a suggested retail price of $1,199.95 for body only, $1,349.95 for the K-5 II kit including the DA 18-55mm WR zoom lens and $1,549.95 for the K-5 II kit including the DA 18-135mm WR zoom lens. The K-5 IIs will also be available at Adorama in October with a suggested retail price of $1,299.95 for body only.
