Pentax K7 a good choice for Nature/Landscape at DVinfo.net

Trip Gould · August 13th, 2009, 02:59 AM

Was wondering what your thoughts were on the K7 for nature/landscape videography (not wildlife, necessarily). My reason for considering it is:

1. Price
2. I have a nice collection of SMC Takumars that I used to use with my Spotmatic
3. APS-C crop can give me some inexpensive telephotos
4. Nice stills with in-camera HDR
5. that odd native resolution setting supposedly makes for nice alias free video and can be upscaled/downscaled (?)
6. Top-notch weather sealing and protection against the elements
7. High bitrate

Anyway, I thought maybe the HM100 would be a good choice, as well, due to its size. I need a kit I can backpack with and take to some remote places to get those fantastic shots. VDSLR sounded like a no-brainer. I'm sure some of you will say 5DMKII. I agree that the image from the Canon is amazing. Much more expensive, too. Canon T1i was another thought. The GH1 gives 60p which would be good for slo-mo (if I were going to catch some wildlife in action), but not nearly as nice stills and none of the weather sealing, etc. Nikon D300s was another thought, but I haven't seen enough footage from it to really gauge its video capabilities. Excellent stills, for sure.

So, is the Pentax K7 a good choice (best choice) considering the points above? Or would you recommend one of the others I mentioned (except the 5D because if I had $3500+ it would be a no brainer)? I guess it really comes down to:

1. Pentax K7
2. Nikon D300s
3. Canon T1i

Any thoughts?

I guess I should wait a week or two and see what Canon and Nikon have to say about a 7D or D700x... but thoughts on the current offerings would be welcome.

Thanks.

Graham Hickling · August 14th, 2009, 12:54 AM

My understanding is that it does not offer manual shutter while in video mode - which could be very problematic depending on your style of shooting.

In most other respects it looked very promising..

Trip Gould · August 14th, 2009, 12:55 PM

I figured that wouldn't be much of an issue for the nature/landscape work. My understanding is that, while you can't set the shutter, you can lock it once the desired shutter us achieved. At any rate, we're talking about mostly static shots (mountains, vistas, trees, some macro work) with the only motion being the subtle sway of nature or cascading water off a fall, etc.

Luke Tingle · August 16th, 2009, 07:28 PM

Not sure about the k7, but I don't recommend the T1i for landscapes. I bought it for the same reason and could not see any details in trees etc. from a distance, it was just mush.

Philippe Jadin · August 25th, 2009, 05:50 AM

Look here for a small nature test (hand held with a macro lens)
The strongest will survive - pentax k7 on Vimeo

Yes exposure is automatic, but you can lock it.

It's a big problem under artificial light, because you can't define the shutter speed, and thus you may have a problem of flicker depending on the choosen shutter speed by the camera.

It's not an issue with sun light of course :-)

August 13th, 2009, 02:59 AM	#1
Trip Gould Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Pasadena, CA Posts: 40	Pentax K7 a good choice for Nature/Landscape? Was wondering what your thoughts were on the K7 for nature/landscape videography (not wildlife, necessarily). My reason for considering it is: 1. Price 2. I have a nice collection of SMC Takumars that I used to use with my Spotmatic 3. APS-C crop can give me some inexpensive telephotos 4. Nice stills with in-camera HDR 5. that odd native resolution setting supposedly makes for nice alias free video and can be upscaled/downscaled (?) 6. Top-notch weather sealing and protection against the elements 7. High bitrate Anyway, I thought maybe the HM100 would be a good choice, as well, due to its size. I need a kit I can backpack with and take to some remote places to get those fantastic shots. VDSLR sounded like a no-brainer. I'm sure some of you will say 5DMKII. I agree that the image from the Canon is amazing. Much more expensive, too. Canon T1i was another thought. The GH1 gives 60p which would be good for slo-mo (if I were going to catch some wildlife in action), but not nearly as nice stills and none of the weather sealing, etc. Nikon D300s was another thought, but I haven't seen enough footage from it to really gauge its video capabilities. Excellent stills, for sure. So, is the Pentax K7 a good choice (best choice) considering the points above? Or would you recommend one of the others I mentioned (except the 5D because if I had $3500+ it would be a no brainer)? I guess it really comes down to: 1. Pentax K7 2. Nikon D300s 3. Canon T1i Any thoughts? I guess I should wait a week or two and see what Canon and Nikon have to say about a 7D or D700x... but thoughts on the current offerings would be welcome. Thanks. Last edited by Trip Gould; August 13th, 2009 at 08:06 PM. Reason: made it a question

August 14th, 2009, 12:54 AM	#2
Graham Hickling Trustee Join Date: May 2004 Location: Knoxville, Tennessee Posts: 1,669	My understanding is that it does not offer manual shutter while in video mode - which could be very problematic depending on your style of shooting. In most other respects it looked very promising..

August 14th, 2009, 12:55 PM	#3
Trip Gould Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Pasadena, CA Posts: 40	I figured that wouldn't be much of an issue for the nature/landscape work. My understanding is that, while you can't set the shutter, you can lock it once the desired shutter us achieved. At any rate, we're talking about mostly static shots (mountains, vistas, trees, some macro work) with the only motion being the subtle sway of nature or cascading water off a fall, etc.

August 16th, 2009, 07:28 PM	#4
Luke Tingle Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 88	Not sure about the k7, but I don't recommend the T1i for landscapes. I bought it for the same reason and could not see any details in trees etc. from a distance, it was just mush.

August 25th, 2009, 05:50 AM	#5
Philippe Jadin New Boot Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Brussels, Belgium Posts: 9	Look here for a small nature test (hand held with a macro lens) The strongest will survive - pentax k7 on Vimeo Yes exposure is automatic, but you can lock it. It's a big problem under artificial light, because you can't define the shutter speed, and thus you may have a problem of flicker depending on the choosen shutter speed by the camera. It's not an issue with sun light of course :-)