If you want a Pentax DSLR camera and on a budget, here are some options!

Ricoh Pentax might be the last company to offer DSLRs if their official statements are any indication. At least for now they are 1 of 3 companies still offering new Digital SLRs. I take a look at their equipment available new as well as used. I made a mistake and said "the K-3 Mark III" instead of saying the Mark II when talking about used options. I was referring to the used Mark II on screen.

Pentax used gear on KEH:
New Pentax Cameras:
New Pentax Lenses:
Pentax cameras on ebay:
Pentax lenses on ebay:
As an affiliate of these shops, I earn from qualifying purchases!

My Pentax video playlist:
Ricoh Pentax official website:
Digital Single Lens Reflex Camera on Wikipedia:
Flange Focal Distance on Wikipedia:

[ScottJWaldron]

I made a mistake and said "the K-3 Mark III" instead of saying the Mark II when talking about used options. I was referring to the used Mark II on screen.

Pentax used gear on KEH:
New Pentax Cameras:
New Pentax Lenses:
Pentax cameras on ebay:
Pentax lenses on ebay:
As an affiliate of these shops, I earn from qualifying purchases!

[Shiftg]

Thanks for the video! I hope Pentax continues to exist. I appreciate them for sticking with what they are good at and not just chasing me too'ism. Everyone who has jumped to mirrorless (outside of professional needs or videographers) seems to have jumped simply because it was new or the expected technical progression and not because something about their DSLR was stifling their photographic capability. That seems to be the topic nobody talks about as a consideration...do you NEED what mirrorless can give you, and if you don't there is nothing wrong with that. It's almost like people can't comprehend liking something simply because you like it or it still works for you.

[highestsprings]

Love the Pentax system. Have tried ML but there is something really rugged, engaging and intuitive about using a Pentax camera. Good to see some love for the brand, I am glad they are sticking with OVF also.

[KelvinSchwartzGrunlicht]

6:12 correct, K-3 and K-3 II are the only APSC with dual card slots
7:33 10:09 never seen the flat 40mm before, wow!

[paulm]

Quality post w/lots of info, first hand comments, and perspectives, Scott. Cut-away diagrams and your own footage a plus. Lens AF sound effects perfect😊.
Some prefer SLR mirrored design for the bright optical viewfinder.
Suggestion: IMO, it would help viewers if you could zoom in some on the product monograph web pages.
My first SLR was a Pentax Spotmatic, screw mount, film model. Moved up to Pentax MX for bayonet mount. Back then Pentax had a broad range of good (not great) lenses and lots of quality accessories. When I switched to mirrorless digital I was disappointed in the bulk and heft of Pentax offerings. They just did not keep up w/other brands. Now they are a part of Ricoh and, like Olympus, might not survive in the long term.

[scrptwic]

I have a number of Pentax cameras my first which i still use and works fine with no problem Pentax *istDL 6 megapixel camera from 2005, Pentax K100D 2006 6 megapixel first IBIS camera, K70 2018, K3-11 like the build quality and the K3 Mark iii best autofocus of any Pentax camera

[lev_anni]

I'm curious how prices are still pretry high despite how far mirrorless market moved forward.

[jimcabezola]

I have so many K-mount lenses. My *ist DL camera's special, little battery that keeps its internal settings died in the years since I bought it in 2006. I've not gone mirrorless, because I don't want to buy yet another set of lenses. Besides, I adore my Pentax "pancake" 40mm lens, too. Thanks for showing me that I can STILL replace my old Pentax machine.

[namenloserflo]

I got my K-70 in a kit with a 18-55 for about 450€. I love the camera for its ruggedness and for the many features Pentax put into an entry level camera, but now for 800€ there are better (newer) options

[lioneldm]

The DC version of the 55-300 is kaf4 mount, so doesn't work with older cameras.

[Mostlyphotography]

Hello, Scott. I like Pentax, I really do. I own a K5iis with several lenses. The image quality is there, for sure. But for the prices shown on your video, I would think twice pay that much for a crop sensor when nowadays Nikons D810 or Canon 5D MK III, etc, sells for $550 on average. Nothing against Pentax, is pondering the sensor size/price ratio. Best regards!

[mamumonkan]

could you do a video on how to shoot the K1 in SILENT ELECTRONIC SHUTTER MODE - please :)

[semperfi-]

Scored a used k-50 for 100. The issue with dark screen was simply aperture amd other adjustments. Amd the lense it came with ehh i got others im goona use with it. Love the fact lenses are interchangeable. Will go hand in hand with my k1000.

[nachohernandez]

I need an every day perfect lens for my k5iis please need input.

[NOTLeavingLV]

No disrespect but using old manual k mount lenses on a DSLR makes no sense when you can mount anything to a mirroless and get a better system.

[allanredford]

glad pentad still sround, good luck to them, doing their own thing. thanks for another good video. very serious, I think an occasional smile, joke even, might lighten your vids, which are also a fun thing, right?recommend your *ist D vid. its thew creative eye that makes great photos, not the camera.

[xmeda]

Whatever reason somebody has to go into Pentax K mount now, there is no reason to buy junk like K70 or renamed KF version now. Who wants cheap Pentax, just get some nice 2nd hand Pentax K5 or K5II. Who has a bit more, get K3 (mk1) and who has even more, get K3III. Other cameras make no sense. K30/50/70 all have aperture solenoid issues, low-end shutter and small battery. Km/Kx/Kr are obsolete now, at least Kr can do some lens AF fine tuning while Km or Kx cannot. They can run on 4xAA like K100D which might be interesting for some ppl. K7 might do the job too, but it still has K20D sensor, but a bit weaker output as they did some sensor modifications to be able to take video. But yes it is one of first Pentax DSLRs that were able to capture video. Kx was the other one. But that video is HD only and very basic. K5 can do FHD and also live-viev is much better. And K5 sensor was top league when it was introduced and still does not lag too much. It can still outperform various modern M4/3 cameras today while being more than 13 years old.

And bargain would be K20D, which I have since 2008, served me for 4 years almost daily doing 60k shots and now it is resting in my cabinet with time to time short use. I replaced it with K5 in 2011 which was my main workhorse untill 2020 when I replaced it by K3 which I still use as main camera now. KP was very stupid experiment by Ricoh and K3III has no sense as it is 2015 XT-3 era hardware with more than XT-5 price and it will probably stay in portfolio until bitter end..

Older cameras than K20D make little sense. K20D was first one with CMOS, Live-view and proper AF fine tuning. K100D and K200D have no option for lens AF fine tuing, so usability is affected by this. And K10D only can do this in service menu for one lens, which again is stupid. K20D live-view is also very nice for manual focusing especially with various M42 lenses, because you can see something. While trying to focus manually through viewfinder is pure hell. There is AF manual focusing confirmation or catch-in-focus feature, but... it does not work properly.


DA40/2.8 XS is discontinued and to be honest horrible lens mechanically. Just get proper DA40/2.8 instead. SMC versions on 2nd hand market are cheap now. Sometimes I take this lens with 18-135WR as small combo. 18-135 covers general stuff and 40/2.8 is small backup for bad light. (or FA35/2 sometimes)


Lenses to buy for K mount cameras are:

Sigma 8-16 (wide? wide! DA12-24/4 is also good, but not as wide)
Sigma 17-50/2.8 (for any serious work)
Sigma 17-70/2.8-4.0 (excellent universal lens, I have both older 17-70/2.8-4.5 and new 17-70/2.8-4.0)
Sigma 18-35/1.8A (for any low-light and shallow DOF, also astro, resolution is brutal)
Pentax SMC DA18-135WR (general usage, all weather, hiking etc)
Sigma 35/1.4A (brutal close portrait lens, excelent image)
Pentax HD DA55-300PLM (small portable telephoto, older 55-300 are also ok if on budget, PLM offers just better AF. Be careful with PLM as it does not support bodies older than K3, so for K20D, K7, K5 the SMC-DA55-300/4-5.8 is better.)
Tamron or Sigma 70-200/2.8 (Tamron is camera driven and tiny bit more resolution, Sigma has faster quiet HSM, I like them both)
Sigma 100-300/4 EX DG (this lens has no competitors, best telephoto for Pentax ever, period. Perfectly usable with F4.5 and covers 24Mpix easily, also fine for any film camera, AF is reliable camera driven and accurate, lens still has aperture ring even for old film bodies.)

FA50/2.8 Macro is great also. DFA100/2.8WR has a bit more pinky CA/PF unless stopped, then with F4+ it provides exceptional resolution
DA40/2.8 is not bad, DA70/2.8 also, mainly portraiture. The sad thing about DA70/2.4 is that the minimum focusing distance is a bit too long for my taste.

(Yes I have them all, not just paper talks :))



Another lenses to consider are DA16-85, DA60-250/4 and new DA16-50/2.8PLM, but I don't have these. Interested in that new 16-50 tho. But it is overpriced as hell..

Pentax FF consist of only one camera and few lenses, some of them just rebranded overpriced OEM Tamrons. That whole project was huge costly mistake that almost killed Pentax. Now we have results I predicted back in 2016. It only makes sense for guys who have many film era lenses and want some larger format camera. So lets put that aside and focus on APS-C only .)


Lenses I would not buy again (but still have) are:

FA*24/2, FA35/2 and FA50/1.4.. these were all killed when I bought Sig 17-50/2.8. I barely use them now. FA35/2 was my favourite low-light lens before I bought Sigma 35/1.4 Art and discovered how huge the difference is.. also hexagonal bokeh is nothing nice. Later 18-35/1.8 finished them completely. But FA*24/2 has very specific contrasty images. FA50/1.4 needs at least F2 to show something.

Sigma 18-250 OS .. this one can do a lot, but on hi-res body it struggles a bit with details, needs rather So only on good light. Stabiliser can do a lot, but also is lagging when panning. Interestingly it works even with 2xTC as it becomes "36-500 lens".. with F13

Sigma 50-500/4.5-6.3.. is a beast that can do interesting pics, but at the end I barely want to carry it, it needs a lot of light for some F9 and fast shutter.... and Sig100-300/4 has much more use at the end + I can slap 1.5x teleconverter on it.. and I have 150-450 instantly with still very good image output. But for airshows in good light it is hard to beat 50-500 ;)

Lenses to avoid completely:
Sigma 70-200/2.8, Sigma 100-300/4 and Sigma 50-500 NON-DG variants. Only get DG versions. Previous non-DG only in case they AF perfectly. Because any AF tuning in Sigma service is horrible mechanical job only. While DG versions have quite modern chip that contains AF tuning values and this can be adjusted easily in service without lens disassembly and installation of spacers and washers.
Sigma 24-135/2.8-4.5 - very universal range, very interesting aperture.. but very weak image below F9
Tamron 17-50/2.8 - they all disintegrates internally after some use and you'll end up with stuck zoom with broken helicoid inside.

[sdhute]

Pentax for the win 🏆 that 24mp sensor is amazing when shooting sunsets. I’ve had both Pentax apsc and Pentax K1. There is just something about those images straight out of camera. The Pentax 20-40mm apsc lens is the whole reason to shoot Pentax.

[tomsun]

Pentax on a budget, first the K70 is discontinued and REPLACED through a rebadged KF, second if ON A BUDGET i strongly recommand a used one from a reliable source with warranty and return policy, than you can make some great deals, third if used is NOT AN OPTION there are quite often rebatte actions by pentax and the dealers with significant discounts.
There is quite agood market on used lenses in good conditions (but like above mentioned "warranty and return policy)

Biggest advantage WR, IBIS, Pentaprism, ..., biggest disadvantage if video is your addiction there are really better options, and third party lens manufacturers turned their back on pentax, but e.g. Samyang has some lovely manual focus lenses.

For APS-C my recommandations is a 18-135 WR and the 55-300 PLM WR, and take into consideration even the KIT-Lenses already have a decent quality and are WR unlike other brands.

[sovu]

i had k70 for 2 years, then i bought k1 ii, never touched k70 since then.