The Legendary Pentax K-5iis

Take a camera that already had incredible image quality, ergonomics and features and remove one controversial piece: You get the Pentax K5iis. A very special camera to me, and I finally have the chance to own one. Hear my thoughts about it here in this video.

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#pentax

[snappiness]

Whole slew of Pentax videos coming to the channel in the next month. Cool stuff. Stay tuned. 👍

-james

[NismoDJ]

Just ordered one for $285. Quite excited to get back into photography.

[lioneldm]

The k5iis is a famous camera for astrophotography. Noise is very low in low iso long exposure shots. It's sensor was still sold few years ago in specific astro cameras that weren't cheap. One guy explains it verx well on the french speaking forum chasseur d'images, with datas.

[HusbandnWifeDuo]

Love from Ontario, Canada! Thank you for putting a video on K-5 iis. My wife and I watched this video earlier in the morning and I came here to leave this comment on behalf of both of us. I have a K-5iis since 2013. It acted as my prime camera till 2019 when I got KP. We are hikers and take shots while on the go. My wife and I carry the two cameras in pairing with Pentax 15 mm, 18-135 mm, and 55-300 mm PLM. We cover a wide range of photography genres while on the go.

Thank you again!

[PabloCoronel]

I've had this camera for 10 years, still produces great images!

[thissidetowardscreen]

Great video! We Pentaxians enjoy our quirky cameras, but know the quality of the images we can get paired with the right lens. So happy to see these gems get some love. I owned a MX4, K10D, I-10, Q and now a KP....just love them for all their weirdness, but great images! Looking forward to more Pentax related video! Thanks for sharing your passion!

[thierrygillard]

I have one since a long time now, and although I moved to K1, I always keep it as a very gifted backup for fast action photography. The case is a bit too small, my pinky litterally hangs, but with an extra battery grip, the problem is fixed. I've had long happy hours with it, and these times are still not over.

[Bishnu_Deb]

*Pentax* was my love and I have used almost every model of *Pentax* in film's days. After the transition to digital I had to switch over to Canon. But deep down in my heart I still have lots of love for *Pentax* and wish it comes up with some superior model in Mirrorless segment so that many like me will come back to its love again.

[Toad_Hugger]

I got a K-5 as my first digital camera back in 2018. It's been through it all! I can't imagine not having it.

[daveslastchance]

I started out in 1970 with my first Pentax, a Spotmatic. Then, before digital, I switched to Nikon where I stayed into the digital era. But, always had a soft spot for Pentax and picked up a K-5. Loved it so much that now I have two K-1 bodies, a K-3, K-5iis, K-7, K-r, and K-x and a K-S2. Had and sold a K-70 and KP, not sure why I got rid of them. All great cameras.

[TheSquirrelMafia]

It's a very nice camera. I'll usually recommend it to those that want the best image quality that they can get out of an older Pentax body & for those that are not too concerned with getting the latest KAF4 lenses. This camera with a set of DA Limited primes that have been AF fine tuned will get you lots of nice photos. It's definitely not a camera for action, but you can shoot some if you anticipate where the action will be. This camera is meant for "slowly take your time" photography.

[RobertLeeAtYT]

The removal of the anti-aliasing filter I think was really enabled by imager resolution increase (decreased sensor site area). The moire is caused by scene detail, projected onto the imager at over half of the linear sensor site density. It's really the same physics as why CD sampling rate is at 44.1kHz, because human hearing is limited to about half that at 20kHz. This is also why CD players (any audio player actually) is fronted by anti-aliasing filters as well.

I suspect also that for photography now, the sensor resolution (linear sensor site density) is sufficiently high that with most lenses the imaging pipeline is diffraction limited at f5.6 and wider. For practical purposes, the lens on the camera itself is the AA filter.

[dxmeister]

Autofocus is much improved from the K5 to K5ii, especially in low light😊

[coeurdepatatecraft]

I have the regular k5ii, and it's still fantastic. Ive shot more recent cameras as well, and in my opinion the only noticeable difference is video and low light performance.
This thing is a tank, never really took much care of it but this thing just will never break.

[danigonzalez]

James I was about to ask you for the AF capabilities but you ended up with it.
I was so so so told to buy one of those for my motorsport photography but those cameras as were rare, were expensive. So never bought one. And even in the past years I was wondering if trying to find one, I never did that. I guess i'm quite happy with my K3 and K3-II and whenever a K3-III will appear at a special price, then maybe i'll move there. But, since then, my K3's will keep going and if any of them prone to fail i still have my K5 original for holidays or special days. The lower Iso it has and the way it works with shadows is something I miss in newer bodies.

Thanks for the vid! I had doubts with this camera you just solved.

[jbp]

So glad you made another K-5 (yes, a different model this time, the IIs) video. Lovely camera. 😍

[lephotographinc]

Great video. I am a professional photographer and I have used a plethora of camera systems for assignment work. Without a doubt the K5IIs is phenomenal. I like the ergonomics and the colors (straight out of camera JPGs) are just perfect. Grab one if you can find one with a low shutter count. It’s in the same league as the Nikon D700. It has that “special something” that you have to feel, see, and experience for yourself.

[carlgarrard]

You're favorite Pentax is the K3, mine is the K5II/s (both of them). K3 is my second favorite Pentax. There is something special about that 16mp sensor, quite a few cameras used it, and all of them blew me away. Nikon's D7000 is another gem, although I actually prefer the K5II more. The draw with Nikon are it's lenses, more AF lenses to choose from, while still offering just as many MF lenses as Pentax from back in the day. The K5II also has a gapless LCD screen, a big improvement over previous Pentax DSLR's, and its autofocus is superb, even compared to the K3 Mark III (for every subject that isn't moving, its very much comparable). My second favorite Pentax is the K3, much like the K5 series but slightly larger with a bit different handling points, yet the sensor isn't quite as good as the K5II/s when pushing the raws around in post. To me that 16mp sensor was the pinnacle of APS-C sensors and still hold's its own against the newest- of any brand.

[sdhute]

Great watching your video to realize I’ve watched and commented previously.

[LeGaT]

watchin this while holdin my k-5ii that is still my backup cam for the case if something is wrong with my k-1. beautiful cam, built like a tank, reliable like a workhorse.