TL;DR: I've owned this camera for almost 3 months now and highly recommend it. Canon and Nikon are great, but this camera is unbeatable at this price point, particularly with its weather resistance and great photography features. Plus who doesn't love underdogs?
This is a great first time digital SLR. I was originally planning on getting something for under $500, be it used or new. A friend who shoots a Canon 7D recommended the Canon T3i which I was almost completely settled on, but then I started reading reviews online and found this camera. I simply couldn't ignore the incredible feature set of camera at this price point, namely:
1) Weather resistance
2) Pentaprism viewfinder with 100% coverage
3) Image stabilization built into the body
4) Dual control dials (front and rear)
5) 1/6000 sec. max shutter speed
6) 6 frames per second (FPS) continuous shooting
To get these features from Canon or Nikon, you need to spend a few hundred more typically. But for me, the weather sealing was the biggest selling point.
WEATHER RESISTANCE
I took this camera to the beach a few weeks ago. Holding it in hand, I double-checked to make sure all the rubber port covers were closed, then walked out into the surf and snapped a bunch of great shots of my wife and kids playing in the water. My only concern was not actually dropping it into the water which due to the pressure of depth might get water past the seals. Fortunately, hand-holding this camera is easy because it has a great handgrip, deep and rubberized. The camera was splashed with seawater and had sand blown on it which stuck due to it being wet, but I wasn't worried, it kept on working. After returning home, I rinsed it off in the shower, dried it with a towel, and it looked good as new. Incredible if you ask me!
Update 2015-01-09: If anyone was wondering, my K-50 is still working fine and still looks as good as new! This is by far my favorite feature of this camera that I can't live without. I love never having to worry about dust and moisture when using this camera!
PENTAPRISM VIEWFINDER
The viewfinder is nice and bright with a pentaprism finder vs the pentamirror you'll find in comparable Canon/Nikon SLRs. It's got 100% coverage, so what you see in the viewfinder is what you'll see in your shot, just the way it should be. I try to frame my shots perfectly in the camera and avoid cropping later. Your autofocus points and confirmation are shown in the viewfinder along with your light meter and the most important controls. With practice, you can change settings to get the shot you want without taking your eye out of the viewfinder very much.
IMAGE STABILIZATION
This is primarily intended to reduce handshake, allowing you to use slower shutter speeds during handheld shooting. The bonus of this feature is that no matter what lens you use, you will benefit from the image stabilization (unlike Canon and Nikon who integrate IS/VR into the lenses, adding to their cost). However, unlike IS built into the lenses, this in-camera image stabilization (called Shake Reduction by Pentax) doesn't actually show its effect through your viewfinder, due to the fact that it moves the camera's image sensor to compensate for movement. With it enabled, I seem to be able to get steady shots with a shutter speed 2 stops slower than 1/(focal length x 1.5). I haven't tested it by turning it off and comparing the results, so I just trust that it's working. Another bonus of this feature is that it allows you to adjust composition before shooting. If you use live view, you can move the image up/down, left/right, or tilt it a bit. I've never actually taken photos using this, but I imagine it might be useful by allowing for minute adjustments when shooting from a tripod to set up the perfect shot.
DUAL CONTROL DIALS
Dual control dials are great when shooting in manual or one of the "priority" modes. You can quickly adjust your aperture, shutter speed, and ISO while staying in the camera's viewfinder. They're also fully configurable, so you can change them to work however you like. Update 8/28/2014: One thing I've found is that it's not possible to reverse the direction that the dials work in.
18-55mm WR LENS
It also happens that this kit lens has very good optical quality. I compared it to an original SMC Pentax 50mm F1.4 prime lens I bought off of Craigslist, which is considered to be a very sharp prime. I can hardly tell any difference between the image quality these 2 lenses produce. This speaks very well for the 18-55. And it's weather sealed. It is a bit noisy during autofocusing, but if that's a concern you can buy lenses for this camera with quieter internal focusing motors; however, they are a bit more expensive. For a kit lens, this thing is great.
1/6000 MAX SHUTTER SPEED
1/6000 is half a stop faster than the 1/4000 offered on comparable Canon/Nikon DSLRs. $6k pro camera bodies typically go up to 1/8000. You'll rarely use it, but if you need it (say, to use a really wide aperture for shallow depth of field on a bright day), it's there for you.
6 FPS CONTINUOUS SHOOTING
The higher FPS you have, the more shots your camera will take in action sequences. If you want to take photos of your kids or pets frolicking around or playing sports, you want as many FPS as you can get. Pros shooting sports for a living use beastly 3 lb., $6k cameras like the Nikon D4s and Canon EOS 1D X which shoot at 10+ FPS. But we're spending less than $500 here, so 6 FPS is pretty darn good. Canon and Nikon's comparable models come in at 5 FPS. The more shots you have of an action sequence, the more options you'll have to choose from, and thus the greater the likelihood will be of having a keeper of your kid smashing his/her first home run or of Fido's priceless tongue-flapping-to-the-side expression.
AUTOFOCUS IN LOW LIGHT
I wanted to add a note about autofocus in low light in response to the criticism of what is considered the most helpful review on this site as of this writing. This reviewer stated that his camera hunts for focus in "med room lighting situations". While I don't own any Canon or Nikon cameras and thus can't compare the autofocus of the K-50 to them like he can, I can tell you that I do not have any autofocus problems in any lighting situations. The only time my camera hunts for focus is in very dim lighting situations. I'm talking indoors at night where my subject is in a shadow of a room lit only by a small tabletop lamp (with lampshade) 20 ft away. Otherwise it focuses every time. Note that this is WITHOUT using the camera's AF Assist lamp, a toggle-able feature which shines a very bright green light towards the subject during autofocus. With this lamp, you should be able to focus in any situation. I turned mine off but if I ever need it, it's there and it works.
Update 2015-01-09: I've been pondering this, so I decided to geek out and compare the AF sensitivity specs of the K-50 with its competitors. These specs are quoted from each respective manufacturer's product webpage:
Pentax K-50: EV-1 to 18 (ISO 100)
Canon T5i: EV -0.5 - 18 (at room temperature and ISO 100, based on Canon's testing standards)
Nikon D3300: -1 to +19 EV (ISO 100, 20°C/68°F)
So Pentax and Nikon are equal in low light AF sensitivity, with Canon a slight step behind.
SUMMARY
I highly recommend the Pentax K-50 to anyone, new or experienced in photography, looking for a solid digital SLR. The weather resistance sealed the deal for me. Maybe someday I'll "upgrade" to a high-end weather-resistant Canon or Nikon full-frame camera, but for now, and for around $500, this camera is a winner.
Also, if you're willing to wait a couple of months, you can order a custom-colored K-50 from Pentax's website which I think is pretty cool. I just wanted it to be all black so was fine with this stock model.
Pentax K-50 16MP Digital SLR Camera with 3-Inch LCD - Body Only (Black)
4 | 465 ratings
Price: 219.99
Last update: 02-02-2025
About this item
16 MP APS C CMOS Sensor. A high performance 16 megapixel APS C CMOS image sensor strikes the perfect balance between resolution and image quality
ISO Speeds up to 51200. High sensitivity shooting up to 51200 ISO range improves noise performance throughout, even in low lighting
Eye Fi Card Compatibility with Eye Fi wireless SD cards, the user can send images to a smartphone. Users can enable automatic transmission of images to a smartphone for sharing. Users can even select favorite images and resize before transmission
Innovative In body Shake Reduction (SR) Mechanism. The PENTAX in body, sensor shift Shake and Dust Reduction technology ensures sharp, image stabilized, auto leveled, and dust free imaging with any mounted lens
Full 1080p h.264 HD video recording. Full 1080p HD video capture at 30 frames per second (60 FPS for 720p) features efficient h.264 compression, flexible exposure control, and HDR finishing options for stunning video quality
ISO Speeds up to 51200. High sensitivity shooting up to 51200 ISO range improves noise performance throughout, even in low lighting
Eye Fi Card Compatibility with Eye Fi wireless SD cards, the user can send images to a smartphone. Users can enable automatic transmission of images to a smartphone for sharing. Users can even select favorite images and resize before transmission
Innovative In body Shake Reduction (SR) Mechanism. The PENTAX in body, sensor shift Shake and Dust Reduction technology ensures sharp, image stabilized, auto leveled, and dust free imaging with any mounted lens
Full 1080p h.264 HD video recording. Full 1080p HD video capture at 30 frames per second (60 FPS for 720p) features efficient h.264 compression, flexible exposure control, and HDR finishing options for stunning video quality
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