Pentax K-500 Review

September 17, 2013 | Mark Goldstein | Rating star Rating star Rating star Rating star Half rating star

Introduction

The Pentax K-500 is a new entry-level DSLR camera. Key features include an ISO range of 100-51200, Full HD 1080p video at 30, 25 and 24fps, 6fps continuous shooting, 11-point SAFOX IX+ AF system, High Dynamic Range mode, and a range of in-built digital filter effects. The K-500 also offers a shutter designed for 100,000 releases, top shutter speed of 1/6000th second, optical viewfinder with nearly 100% frame coverage, 77-segment matrix meter, 3-inch LCD monitor with 920k dots, built-in dust removal and shake-reduction systems, Live View with Face Recognition AF, automatic compensation of lens distortion and lateral chromatic aberrations with DA and DFA lenses, Eye-Fi card support for wireless transmission of images, and a choice of lithium-ion or AA batteries. The Pentax K-500 is available in black, priced at £449.99 / $599.95 for the kit with the 18-55mm DA-L lens. In the US the K-500 will also be available in a dual lens kit including the DA-L 18-55mm and DA-L 50-200mm lenses for $699.95.

Ease of Use

The Pentax K-50 is essentially the same camera as the more expensive K-50 model, sacrificing the weather-proofness of that camera and its accompanying kit lens to hit a lower price point. Therefore a lot of the comments that we made about the K-50 apply equally to the cheaper K-500.

The Pentax K-500's control layout is very similar to its older big brother, the K-30, although the more "extreme" styling of that camera has been replaced with a more traditional look and feel. The Pentax K-500 is identical in size - 96.5(H) x 129(W) x 70(D) - and weight - 590g without the battery or memory card fitted. Despite its all-plastic construction the K-500 feels pretty solid. The smc PENTAX-DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL kit lens is better built than the kits lenses of its rivals, although it's a rather slow lens at both ends of the focal length (f3.5-5.6).

The K-500 is quite a complex camera in terms of functionality and the number of external controls that it offers, with 19 in total and a lot of them having more than one function. Despite the presence of so many buttons and switches, the Pentax K-500 doesn't feel too cluttered or intimidating, although it will certainly take some time to adapt to for people moving up from a simpler entry-level SLR.

Departing from the recent trend of ultra-compact SLR models, the K-500 is definitely designed for "normal" hands. The camera has a deep, contoured handgrip on the right-hand side, coated in a rubberized compound to aid grip, that enabled us to use three fingers to hold it and a right forefinger to operate the shutter button. There is a generous contoured area where your right thumb sits, although disappointingly it's not covered in the same coating as the front handgrip. Curiously the left-hand side (viewed from the rear) and the remote control port on the right also have a rubber covering, with the rest of the body finished in a shiny black.

On the front of the camera body is the RAW / FX button, which instantly sets the image quality to the RAW format, useful if you are shooting in JPEG and want to quickly switch to RAW mode for a particular image. This button can also be customised to optionally control either Exposure Bracketing, Optical Preview, Digital Preview, Composition Adjustment or AF Active Area. Located underneath is the Autofocus Mode switch, with three available modes, and above a small button for opening the pop-up flash, which extends quite high above the lens to help minimise red-eye.

On the bottom of the K-500 is the battery compartment, interestingly housing either the supplied rechargeable 1050mAh lithium-ion battery or 4 AA batteries. You get the versatility of choosing between two different power sources, but the low power lithium-on battery only offers a rather mediocre performance of around 480 shots before being depleted. There's also a metal tripod mount that's perfectly in-line with the centre of the lens mount.

On the right-hand side of the K-500 is the SD / SDHC memory card slot, and located below is the remote cable release connector. On the left-hand side is a vertical flap covering the PC port. Note that the Pentax K-500 still doesn't have an HDMI port, a disappointing omission.

The Pentax K-500 has a shooting mode dial on the top-right of the camera which allows you to select either one of the advanced mode like Aperture-priority, Shutter-Priority and Manual, or the more point-and-shoot Auto and Program modes. There are also a range of 19 scene modes, signaling its intent as a camera that's equally suited to more casual users. You'll instantly notice that the K-500 has a couple of unusual shooting modes that you won't have seen before on any other camera (apart from older Pentax DSLR models). These are the Sensitivity-Priority and Shutter & Aperture-Priority modes, and they are genuinely useful additions.

Pentax K-500 Pentax K-500
Front Rear

Sensitivity-Priority automatically selects the best combination of aperture and shutter speed for your chosen ISO speed. The sensitivity can be shifted instantly (in 1/2 or 1/3 steps) by turning the rear control dial. This allows you to quickly select an ISO speed, without having to access the menu system, which is very useful in rapidly changing light conditions. In Shutter & Aperture-Priority mode the camera selects the most appropriate ISO speed for a shutter speed and aperture combination, allowing you to use ISO sensitivity as a third factor in determining the correct exposure. As digital cameras have always offered the unique ability to instantly change the sensitivity, it's surprising that Pentax are still the only manufacturer to allow you to use ISO in this way.

Also on the right hand side of the top of the K-500 is the small shutter button, surrounded by the on/off switch. Located in front of the shutter button is one of the e-dials, predominately used to change the shutter speed, while behind it are the Exposure Compensation button and a rather innocuous looking button with a small green dot that's unique to Pentax DSLRs. It has two uses - firstly, when shooting in Manual mode, a single push of the green button allows you to instantly set the correct exposure for the subject, as calculated by the camera, useful if you need a starting point for your own exposure. Secondly, the K-500 offers a Hyper Program function which instantly switches to either the Shutter-Priority or Aperture-Priority mode from the Program mode, simply by turning either of the control dials on the grip. Pressing the Green button then returns to the Program mode.

The Pentax K-500 has a traditional eye-level optical TTL viewfinder which offers an impressive 100% scene coverage. Being able to see exactly what will be captured means that you can only blame yourself for poor composition and unwanted details creeping into the frame. The viewfinder is bright and free of any distortions or aberrations, making it suitable for both auto and manual focusing. It also features an interchangeable Natural-Bright-Matte III focusing screen to improve focusing accuracy during manual-focus operation. The in-finder status LCD runs horizontally along the bottom and it shows most of the camera's key settings.

The rear of the camera is dominated by the large 3 inch LCD screen. The K-500's LCD screen has a very high resolution of 920K dots, wide viewing angle and it remains visible outdoors in all but the brightest of conditions, making it one of the better LCD screens that we've seen on a DSLR. The colour temperature of the screen can be modified if you think it doesn't match that of your calibrated computer monitor, but the contrast and gamma cannot be altered. The rear screen also doubles as a comprehensive status display, which can be called up by pressing the OK or Info buttons in record mode. If you then press the Info button again, you can also change all the settings right on the screen using a combination of the navigation pad and the rear e-dial. This ingenious solution spares you the pain of having to enter the menu, and makes most setting changes very simple.

Located above the LCD screen and to the left of the viewfinder is the shared Live View / Delete button. You can use the Live View mode to hold the K-500 at arm's length or mount the camera on a tripod, with a single press of the LV button on the rear displaying the current scene on the LCD screen. Focusing is achieved by pressing the small AF button on the rear of the camera or by half-pressing the shutter-button. Alternatively you can use manual focus in Live View mode, with up to 10x magnification available via the Info button to help you fine-tune the focus (you can also use the Info button to magnify the subject by up to 6x when Auto Focus is on). Most of the main camera settings are displayed in Live View, although a histogram is conspicuous by its absence. You can change the aperture, shutter speed, exposure compensation, ISO speed and a number of other settings when Live View is activated.

Live View is fine for use with stationary subjects, but forget it if you want to track a moving subject. The AF system in Live View mode takes a couple of seconds to lock onto the subject, making it much better suited to subjects that don't move. The Face Recognition AF mode works quite well, as promised quickly identifying up to 16 people in the frame, but again it takes a couple of seconds to lock onto a non-moving subject. More impressively Live View can be used in the continuous shooting mode with no restrictions on the 6fps rate, as the K-500 sets the mirror to the lock-up position.

Live View is also used for the feature that will generate a lot of interest in the Pentax K-500: its movie mode. The K-500 can record Full 1080p HD footage, recording high-definition video at either 1920 x 1280 pixels, 1280 x 720 pixels or 640 x 480 pixel at 30fps, 25fps or 24fps in the MOV format. The maximum size of a single video clip is either 4 gigabytes or 25 minutes. There's a built-in microphone for mono recording. You can only connect the K-500 to a standard TV set via NTSC/PAL - there's no HDMI port.

Pentax K-500 Pentax K-500
Pop-up Flash

Top

There are some notable drawbacks to the Pentax K-500's video mode. It's quite difficult to actually start recording one. You have to set the Mode Dial to the Movie mode, then press the AF-On or half-press shutter button to set the focus, then press the shutter button to begin recording (with the same button ending the movie). It's not on a par with the one-button system that some rivals offer, and you can't take a still shot during recording either. As with most modern DSLR cameras that offer a video mode, you can autofocus during movie recording, although it's pretty slow and loud to do so with the standard kit lens. Unfortunately you still can't set the camera to continually autofocus when shooting video, something that several newer DSLRs can now do.

To the right of the viewfinder is the rear e-dial, mainly used for changing the aperture, and the AF/AE-L button, handily placed for autofocusing and locking the exposure. Underneath is the traditional 4-way navigation pad which is split into separate buttons, providing instant access to the ISO speed, drive mode/self-timer, white balance and flash settings, with the OK button confirming actions.

The Menu button accesses all of the different menu options that the camera offers, reflecting the fact that this is quite a complex and customisable DSLR. Thankfully you will only have to set about half of the settings once and can then forget about them. The menu system has a fairly logical tabbed system with five main tabs, Record, Movie, Playback, Setup and Custom, each divided into several sub-pages, and it's easily readable with a bright display and a large font size making it perfectly visible even in low light.

The Pentax K-500 features a built-in Shake Reduction system. Turn it on via the main menu option and the K-500 automatically compensates for camera shake, which is a slight blurring of the image that typically occurs at slow shutter speeds, providing approximately 2.5 to 4 shutter steps of compensation. As this system is built-into the camera body, it works with almost any lens that you attach to the K-500, providing a significant cost advantage over DSLRs from Canon and Nikon, which use a lens-based image stabilisation system (compatible lenses are the PENTAX K-, KA-, KAF-, KAF2- and KAF3-mount lenses; screw-mounted lenses (with an adapter); and 645- and 67-system lenses (with an adapter)).

In practice we found that it does make a noticeable difference, as shown in the examples on the Image Quality page. You don't notice that the camera is actually doing anything different when Shake Reduction is turned on, just that you can use slower shutter speeds than normal and still take sharp photos. The K-500 also displays a blur icon in the viewfinder to warn you that camera-shake may occur, regardless of whether or not Shake Reduction is on.

If you've had a bad experience with DSLRs and dust in the past, then the K-500 offers a Dust Removal mechanism. This automatically shifts the low-pass filter located in front of the CMOS image sensor at very high speed, shaking the dust off the low-pass filter. If you do still notice any dust, there's a neat feature called Dust Alert which is designed to show exactly where the dust is on the image sensor. A vertically and laterally correct image of the sensor shot at f/16 is shown on the LCD screen, indicate exactly where any stubborn dust particles may be lurking. While this feature won't prevent dust from getting onto the sensor, it does provide a quick and easy way of checking for it. In addition Dust Removal can be set to activate whenever the camera is turned on, and you can also use the built-in Sensor Cleaning function to lift the mirror and clean the image sensor with a blower brush or third-party cleaning solution.

The Pentax K-500's High Dynamic Range (HDR) Capture option (only available for JPEGs) takes three images with different exposures, with 4 different strengths on offer, and then records a single image that combines the properly exposed parts of each one, expanding its dynamic range. It's important to always use a tripod to prevent camera shake from blurring the HDR image, and it doesn't work very well for moving subjects.

Pentax K-500 Pentax K-500
Memory Card Slot Battery Compartment

Similar to Nikon's D-lighting, Sony's DRO, and Olympus' Shadow Adjustment Technology, Pentax's D-Range allows you to correct the highlights (On or Off) and/or the shadows (3 different levels) before taking a JPEG or RAW image. Although this option is always at your disposal, remember that it is meant to be used in strong, contrasty lighting at base ISO. The Pentax K-500 also has a multi exposure mode that allows you to combine between two and nine different JPEG or RAW images into a single photo.

Pentax's Custom Images, similar to Nikon's Picture Styles and Canon's Picture Controls, are preset combinations of different sharpness, contrast, saturation and colour tone settings. You can change the saturation, hue, high/low key, contrast and sharpness for each of the eleven options”. The Pentax K-500 additionally offers seven different Digital Filters, which allow you to quickly apply an artistic effect to a photo before taking it (JPEG images only). Note that applying the Digital Filters slows the camera down somewhat, as it has to process the image for a few seconds after it's taken. The K-500 can also be set to automatically compensate for both distortion and lateral chromatic aberration of any DA- and DFA-series lenses.

The rather innocuous-sounding AF Fine Adjustment custom function will be of particular interest to current Pentax owners. If you have a collection of older Pentax lenses and you've never been quite sure how accurate they focus when mounted on a DSLR, this is the function for you. Essentially it allows you to alter the focus of each Fine Adjustment option, then test again until perfect focus is achieved. With most other DSLR systems you'd have to send the camera and lens off for calibration (and maybe even have to pay for it), but with the K-500, you can calibrate all of your lenses in the comfort of your own home.

The start-up time of the Pentax K-500, from turning the camera on to being ready to take a photo, is very quick at around 1 second. Focusing is also quick and consistent in good light with the standard 18-55mm kit lens, with the 11 point SAFOX IXi+ AF system offering generous scene coverage and 9 cross-type sensors, and the camera happily achieves focus indoors and in low-light situations. Note that the 18-55mm lens has an annoyingly loud focusing mechanism though. The powerful AF Assist lamp can be used even if the built-in flash isn't raised, and there's a very handy peaking function that's great for manual focus users (although annoyingly it doesn't work for video as well as stills).

It takes about 1 second to store a JPEG image at the highest quality setting with no discernible lockup between taking shots, allowing you to keep shooting as they are being recorded onto the memory card. For RAW images the Pentax K-500 takes about 2 seconds to store an image and again there is no lockup between shots. In the continuous shooting mode you can hold down the shutter button and take 6 shots per second for up to 30 JPEG or 8 RAW files. The camera does lock up for a few seconds once the maximum number of shots is reached, although you can continue to shoot continuously, just at a much slower rate.

Once you have captured a photo, the Pentax K-500 has a good range of options for playing, reviewing and managing your images. You can instantly scroll through the images that you have taken, view 9 thumbnails, zoom in and out up to a magnification of 16x, and see very detailed information about each image by pressing the Info button. You can also delete, rotate, resize, protect and crop an an image, view a slideshow and set various printing options. There are an expanded range of 19 digital effects available which can be applied to JPEGs plus a Custom option to create your own unique effect. The camera shows you a preview of what the effect will look like when applied, and the effect is applied to a copy of your image, thus preserving the original intact.

The Index option creates an index print from up to 36 images, Save as Manual WB sets the camera's Manual White Balance setting to the colour balance of the current image, and RAW Development converts a RAW file into a JPEG or TIFF with various conversion parameters available. Movie Editing lets you divide or extract segments from your movies. Importantly the Pentax K-500 offers a histogram after taking a photo which is a great help in evaluating the exposure, plus any areas that are over-exposed flash on and off in the LCD preview to show you want you should be compensating for with your next attempt. If you have never used a digital camera before, or you're upgrading from a more basic model, reading the comprehensive but relatively easy-to-follow manual before you start is a good idea. Thankfully Pentax have chosen to supply it in printed format, rather than as a PDF on a CD, so you can also carry it with you for easy reference.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 16.3 megapixel Best JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 6.5Mb.

The Pentax K-500 produced photos of excellent quality. Noise is well controlled by the Pentax K-500, first starting to appear at ISO 1600 and becoming more easily detectable at the faster settings of ISO 3200 and 6400 when viewing images at 100% magnification on screen (particularly in the RAW files). The fastest settings of 12800 and especially 25600 look much better on paper than in reality, while the new highest setting of 51200 isn't really worth using. Colour saturation is commendably maintained throughout the ISO range.

The 16.3 megapixel JPEG images were a little soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpening setting and ideally require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera setting. Image stabilisation via the camera body is a great feature that works very well when hand-holding the camera in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the zoom range. An added bonus is that it works with any lens that you attach to the K-500.

The night photograph was excellent, with the maximum shutter speed of 30 seconds and Bulb mode allowing you to capture enough light in all situations. The built-in pop-up flash worked well indoors, with no red-eye and adequate overall exposure.

The Digital Filters quickly produce special effects that would otherwise require you to spend a lot of time in the digital darkroom, although some of them are less useful than others. The D-Range options help make the most out of both the shadows and highlights in a high-contrast scene (and it works for both JPEG and RAW files), while the HDR mode greatly expands the dynamic range of a JPEG by combining three differently exposed images in-camera. The multi exposure mode combines between two and nine different JPEG or RAW images into a single photo.

Noise

There are 9 ISO settings available on the Pentax K-500. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting, with JPEG on the left and the RAW equivalent on the right:

JPEG

RAW

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

iso100.jpg iso100raw.jpg
   

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

iso200.jpg iso200raw.jpg
   

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

iso400.jpg iso400raw.jpg
   

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

iso800.jpg iso800raw.jpg
   

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

iso1600.jpg iso1600raw.jpg
   

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

iso3200.jpg iso3200raw.jpg
   

ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

iso6400.jpg iso6400raw.jpg
   

ISO 12800 (100% Crop)

ISO 12800 (100% Crop)

iso12800.jpg iso12800raw.jpg
   

ISO 25600 (100% Crop)

ISO 25600 (100% Crop)

iso25600.jpg iso25600raw.jpg

File Quality

The Pentax K-500 has 3 different JPEG file quality settings available, with Best being the highest quality option, and it also supports RAW (Adobe DNG format). Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.

Best (6.20Mb) (100% Crop)

Better (3.84Mb) (100% Crop)

quality_3star.jpg quality_2star.jpg
   

Good (1.87Mb) (100% Crop)

RAW (12.9Mb) (100% Crop)

quality_1star.jpg quality_raw.jpg

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a little soft at the default sharpening setting and benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. You can also change the in-camera sharpening level to suit your tastes.

Original (100% Crop)

Sharpened (100% Crop)

sharpen1.jpg sharpen1a.jpg
   
sharpen2.jpg sharpen2a.jpg

Flash

The flash modes include Auto, manual (on/off), red eye reduction, slow-speed sync, rear curtain sync, high-speed sync and wireless sync. These shots of a white ceiling were taken at a distance of 1.5 metres.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (27mm)

Flash On - Wide Angle (27mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64
   

Flash Off - Telephoto (82mm)

Flash On - Telephoto (82mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64

And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Flash On setting or the Red-eye Reduction option caused any amount of red-eye.

Flash On

Flash On (100% Crop)
flash_on.jpg flash_on1.jpg
   

Red-eye Reduction

Red-eye Reduction (100% Crop)

flash_redeye.jpg flash_redeye1.jpg

Night

The Pentax K-500 lets you dial in shutter speeds of up to 30 seconds and has a Bulb mode as well, which is very good news if you are seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 30 seconds at ISO 100. We've included a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like.

Night

Night (100% Crop)

night1.jpg night1a.jpg

Shake Reduction

The Pentax K-500 has a Shake Reduction mechanism built into the camera body, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the same settings. The first shot was taken with Shake Reduction turned off, the second with it turned on. Here is a 100% crop of the image to show the results. As you can see, with Shake Reduction turned on, the images are sharper than when it's turned off. This feature really does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing a successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length

Shake Reduction Off (100% Crop)

Shake Reduction On (100% Crop)

1/8th / 27mm antishake1.jpg antishake1a.jpg
     
1/13th / 82mm antishake2.jpg antishake2a.jpg

D-Range

Similar to Nikon's D-lighting, Sony's DRO, and Olympus' Shadow Adjustment Technology, Pentax's D-Range allows you to correct the highlights (On or Off) and/or the shadows (3 different levels) before taking a JPEG or RAW image. Although this option is always at your disposal, remember that it is meant to be used in strong, contrasty lighting at base ISO. Below you can see a comparison between Off and both highlight and shadow correction set to on/full strength; the difference is mainly noticeable in the shadowed areas on the left and right sides of the photo.

Off

On

drange1.jpg drange2.jpg

HDR Capture

The Pentax K-500's HDR Capture option (only available for JPEGs) takes three images with different exposures, and then records a single image that combines the properly exposed parts of each one, expanding its dynamic range. Here is an example which was shot with the five different modes (Off, Auto, 1, 2 and 3). Although the K-500 can microalign images before combining them, allowing hand-held HDR shots to be taken, for best results it's important to always use a tripod to prevent camera shake from blurring the HDR image, and it doesn't work very well for moving subjects.

Off

Auto

hdr_off.jpg hdr_auto.jpg
   
HDR1 HDR2
hdr_1.jpg hdr_2.jpg
   
HDR3  
hdr_3.jpg  

Custom Image

Pentax's Custom Images, similar to Nikon's Picture Styles and Canon's Picture Controls, are preset combinations of different sharpness, contrast, saturation and colour tone settings. You can change the saturation, hue, high/low key, contrast and sharpness for each of the eleven options”. They are shown below in the following series, which demonstrates the differences.

Bright

Natural

custom_image_01.jpg custom_image_02.jpg
   

Portrait

Landscape

custom_image_03.jpg custom_image_04.jpg
   

Vibrant

Radiant

custom_image_05.jpg custom_image_06.jpg
   

Muted

Bleach Bypass
custom_image_07.jpg custom_image_08.jpg
   

Reversal Film

Monochrome

custom_image_09.jpg custom_image_10.jpg
   

Cross Processing

 
custom_image_11.jpg  

Digital Filters

The Pentax K-500 offers seven different Digital Filters, which allow you to quickly apply an artistic effect to a photo before taking it (JPEG images only). They are shown below in the following series, which demonstrates the differences. Note that applying the Digital Filters slows the camera down somewhat, as it has to process the image for a few seconds after it's taken.

Extract Colour

Toy Camera

digital_filter_01.jpg digital_filter_02.jpg
   

Retro

High Contrast

digital_filter_03.jpg digital_filter_04.jpg
   

Shading

Invert Color

digital_filter_05.jpg digital_filter_06.jpg
   

Color

 
digital_filter_07.jpg  

Multi Exposure

The Pentax K-500 has a multi exposure mode that allows you to combine between two and nine different JPEG or RAW images into a single photo. Here is an example that combines two images together.

Multi Exposure

multi_exposure_1.jpg

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Pentax K-500 camera, which were all taken using the 16 megapixel Best JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample RAW Images

The Pentax K-500 enables users to capture RAW and JPEG format files in the DNG format. We've provided some Pentax RAW (DNG) samples for you to download (thumbnail images shown below are not 100% representative).

Sample Movie & Video

The Pentax K-500 can record Full 1080p HD video in the MOV format. This is a sample movie at the highest quality setting of 1920x1080 pixels at 30 frames per second. Please note that this 20 second movie is 55.9Mb in size.

Product Images

Pentax K-500

Front of the Pentax K-500

 
Pentax K-500

Front of the Pentax K-500

 
Pentax K-500

Front of the Pentax K-500 / Pop-Up Flash

 
Pentax K-500

Side of the Pentax K-500

 
Pentax K-500

Side of the Pentax K-500

 
Pentax K-500

Side of the Pentax K-500

 
Pentax K-500

Side of the Pentax K-500

 
Pentax K-500

Rear of the Pentax K-500

 
Pentax K-500

Rear of the Pentax K-500 / Live View

 

Pentax K-500

Rear of the Pentax K-500 / Info Screen

 
Pentax K-500

Rear of the Pentax K-500 / Info Screen

 
Pentax K-500

Rear of the Pentax K-500 / Virtual Horizon

 
Pentax K-500

Rear of the Pentax K-500 / Main Menu

 
Pentax K-500

Top of the Pentax K-500

 
Pentax K-500

Bottom of the Pentax K-500

 
Pentax K-500

Side of the Pentax K-500

 
Pentax K-500

Side of the Pentax K-500

 
Pentax K-500

Front of the Pentax K-500

 
Pentax K-500

Front of the Pentax K-500

 
Pentax K-500

Memory Card Slot

 
Pentax K-500

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The Pentax K-500 is identical to the K-50 that we reviewed yesterday, just without that camera's (and kit lens') weather-proofing, which actually makes the K-500 a bit of a bargain if you never intend to shoot regularly in the rain or more extreme environments. Oh, and it doesn't have an electronic level and only comes in black, rather than the 120 different colours that the K-50 can be configured in.

The K-500 is a very minor refresh of 2012's K-30 DSLR camera, additionally offering support for Eye-Fi wireless cards, an extra ISO 51200 setting, and more sober styling than the "aggressive" K-30. In all other respects the new K-500 is identical to the old K-30, so perhaps the biggest attraction of the K-500 is its very affordable price-tag on launch.

By not deviating from the K-30 in any great way, Pentax have delivered another excellent DSLR camera that delivers a lot of features and performance without breaking the bank. We've always had a soft spot for Pentax DSLRs and the new K-500 is no different. This is an appealingly well-specified, intuitive and customisable DSLR with few real drawbacks. The combination of near 100% viewfinder coverage and the large, high-res LCD screen make the K-500 a joy to use in terms of image composition, and the fast 6fps continuous shooting rate and responsive AF system make it quick to use.

The only real negative points in terms of handling are the rather slow contrast AF system which detracts from using the Live View mode, while shooting video is still a rather cumbersome affair that suffers from the lack of a one-touch record button, a socket for an external mic, an HDMI port for easy connection to your HDTV, and continuous AF during recording. Compared to a cutting-edge DSLR like the Canon EOS 70D or the new breed of compact system cameras, Pentax's Live View and movie recording systems are beginning to feel a little antiquated, although we can excuse that on what is after all an entry-level camera.

The K-500's still image quality remains excellent though, producing noise-free images all the way from from ISO 100-1600. Noise starts to become apparent at ISO 3200, with a little more noise and smearing of fine detail at the higher settings of 6400 and 12800, while 25600 is only really suitable for smaller prints and the new fastest setting of 51200 is best ignored altogether. Exposures were generally 1/3rd EV stop under-exposed, perfect for retaining detail in the highlight areas without sacrificing the shadow areas too much, and colours were accurate using the default Bright setting.

We can't think of any other similarly priced DSLR that offers so many features, so if you can live with the lack of weatherproofing that the more expensive K-50 offers, the new Pentax K-500 makes the perfect first DSLR for stills shooters.

4.5 stars

Ratings (out of 5)
Design 4
Features 4
Ease-of-use 4.5
Image quality 4.5
Value for money 5

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Pentax K-500.

Canon EOS 100D

The Canon EOS 100D (called the Canon EOS Rebel SL1 in North America) is the smallest and lightest DSLR in the World. The tiny new Canon 100D / SL1 boasts 18-megapixels, full 1080p high-definition videos with continuous auto-focusing, and a touch-screen interface. Other key features of the 100D / SL1 include burst shooting at 4fps, a 3-inch LCD screen with 1,040k dot resolution, ISO range of 100-25,600, 14-bit image processing and Canon's Digic 5 processor. Is the Canon EOS 100D / SL1 just too small for its own good? Read our expert review to find out...

Fujifilm X-M1

The Fujifilm X-M1 is a new compact system camera that's designed to expand the appeal of the X-system. The retro-styled X-M1 offers the same image sensor and lens mount as the more expensive X-Pro1 and X-E1 cameras in a smaller, lighter body. The X-M1 has a built-in flash, new 16-50mm kit lens, wi-fi connectivity, tilting LCD screen and of course a more affordable price tag. Read our Fujifilm X-M1 review to find out if it succeeds in bringing Fujifilm's mirrorless range to the masses...

Nikon D3200

The Nikon D3200 is a new entry-level digital SLR camera with an attention-grabbing feature list. The D3200 has a massive 24 megapixels, full 1080p HD movies, 3 inch LCD screen, 4fps burst shooting and an ISO range of 100-12800. Find out if this is the best DSLR camera for beginners by reading our detailed Nikon D3200 review, complete with sample JPEG and raw photos, test shots, videos and more...

Olympus E-PM2

The brand new Olympus E-PM2 is one of the smallest compact system cameras on the market. Also known as the PEN Mini, the svelte EPM2 has exactly the same image sensor and processing engine as the flagship OM-D E-M5. It also boasts the World's fastest autofocus system, a 3 inch LCD touchscreen display, full 1080p HD movies, and an extensive range of creative filters. Read our Olympus E-PM2 review to find out if it's the perfect upgrade from a compact camera.

Panasonic Lumix GF6

The Panasonic Lumix GF6 is a new entry-level compact system camera that offers a lot of cutting-edge features for not a lot of money. The diminutive GF6 has a tilting LCD screen, built-in wireless and NFC connectivity, fast 0.09 second auto-focusing, a 16 megapixel Micro Four Thirds sensor, 1080i HD video, and a touchscreen interface. Read our Panasonic Lumix GF6 review, complete with full-size JPEG and RAW sample images...

Pentax K-50

The Pentax K-50 is a new mid-range DSLR camera that offers a lot of bang for your buck. The 16 megapixel K-50 is fully weatherproof, as is the kit zoom lens, and it also offers 6fps continuous shooting, an 11-point AF system, an optical viewfinder with nearly 100% frame coverage and an ISO range of 100-51200. Read our in-depth Pentax K-50 review to find out if there's still life in the DSLR...

Samsung NX2000

The Samsung NX2000 is a new entry-level compact system camera with a lot of bells and whistles. Featuring a 20 megapixel APS-C sensor, full 1080p video, ISO 100-25,600, a 3.7-inch touchscreen, 8.6fps continuous shooting and Wi-fi / NFC connectivity, is this the best budget mirrorless camera? Read our Samsung NX2000 review to find out...

Sony A37

The Sony A37 is a new entry-level SLT/DSLR camera, boasting a 16 megapixel sensor, 7fps burst shooting, 1080i Full HD movies, high-resolution viewfinder, tilting LCD screen and an ISO range of 100-16000, all for under £530 / $600 with a standard zoom lens. Read our in-depth Sony A37 review to find out if it's the best DSLR camera for beginners...

Sony A58

The Sony A58 is a new SLT / DSLR camera with a 20 megapixel sensor, 8fps burst shooting, 25pFull HD movies, high-resolution viewfinder, 2.7-inch tilting LCD screen, OLED viewfinder and an ISO range of 100-16000, all for under £400 / $600 with a standard zoom lens. Read our in-depth Sony A58 review to find out if this budget interchangeable lens camera is worth a look...

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Pentax K-500 from around the web.

trustedreviews.com »

The big two of Canon and Nikon currently dominate the entry-level DSLR market, although the other major manufacturers continue to compete in releasing impressive models. One such model is the new Pentax K-500. It features a strong specification at a price point that is sure to have entry-level purchasers taking a keener look. Let’s see if it manages to break the established duopoly.
Read the full review »

ephotozine.com »

The K-500 is one of new pair of twin DSLRs from Pentax, the other being the higher specified K-50. This entry level DSLR uses the same 16.28MP CMOS sensor, the same SAFOX IXi+ AF system and, remarkably at this price level, even has a proper glass pentaprism finder with 100% field of view. This is indeed a high level of spec and it seems there are only a few sacrifices made, none of which compromise either construction standards or image quality.
Read the full review »

whatdigitalcamera.com »

The Pentax K-500 looks to wrestle some on the market dominance in the entry-level DSLR section away from the 'big two' of Canon and Nikon, with an impressive looking specfication. We see if it succeeds in the What Digital Camera Pentax K-500 review.
Read the full review »

Specifications

Type
Camera Type TTL autofocus, auto-exposure SLR digital-still camera with built-in retractable P-TTL flash
Sensor
Type CMOS with primary color filter
Size 23.7 x 15.7mm
Total Pixels approx. 16.49MP
Effective Pixels approx. 16.28 MP
Still

JPEG:16M(4928x3264), 12M(4224x2816), 8M(3456x2304), 5M(2688x1792)
4 quality level of JPEG (★ good, ★★ better, ★★★ best)

RAW:16M(4928x3264)
RAW (12bit): DNG

RAW (DNG), JPEG (Exif 2.3), DCF2.0 compliant

RAW and JPEG simultaneously recordable

Movie

Full HD (1920x1080, 16:9, 30fps/25fps/24fps)

HD (1280x720, 16:9, 60fps/50fps/30fps/25fps/24fps)

VGA (640x480, 4:3, 30fps/25fps/24fps)

Quality levels ★★★(Best), ★★(Better), ★(Good)

Sensitivity AUTO/100 to 51200 (EV steps can be set to 1EV, 1/2EV, or 1/3EV)
Shake Reduction Sensor shift Shake Reduction
Sensor Cleaning Dust Removal: SP coating and CMOS sensor operations
Lens
Mount PENTAX KAF2 bayonet mount (AF coupler, lens information contacts, K-mount with power contacts)
Usable lenses KAF3, KAF2 (power zoom not compatible), KAF, KA mount lenses
Focusing System
Type SAFOX IXi+ with TTL, phase-matching autofocus
Functions

Auto: 5 points, Auto: 11 points, Select(Expanded Area AF available), Spot

Brightness Range: EV-1 to 18 (ISO 100)

AF Mode: 

Auto AF (AF.A), Single AF (AF.S), Continuous AF (AF.C)
Focus priority or shutter priority mode for AF.S
Focus priority or FPS priority mode for AF.C

AF assist Dedicated LED AF assist light
Viewfinder
Type

Pentaprism Finder

Field of View

Approx. 100%

Magnification

Approx. 0.92x (50mm F1.4 at infinity)

Focusing screen

Interchangeable Natural-Bright-Matte III focusing screen

Indication

Eye-Relief Length: Approx. 21.7mm (from the view window), Approx 24.5mm (from the center of lens)

Diopter adjustment

Approx. -2.5m to + 1.5m-1

Screen
Type

3’’ (7.6cm), TFT color LCD monitor, wide angle viewing,
With AR coating
Brightness and colors adjustable

Resolution Approx. 921k dots
Playback Single frame, Multi-image display (4/9/16/36/81 seg.), Display magnification (up to 16x, scrolling & quick magn.), histogram, bright/dark area warning, copyright display, calendar filmstrip, display, folder display, slideshow, Eye-Fi transfer
Liveview
LiveView

Type: TTL method using CMOS image sensor

Focusing Mechanism: Contrast detection + Face Detection, Tracking, Select, Spot

Display: Field of View approx. 100%, Magnified view (2x, 4x, 6x), Grid display (4x4 Grid, Golden Section, Scale display), Bright/dark area warning, Histogram

Shutter
Type Electronically controlled vertical-run focal plan shutter
Speed Auto: 1/6000 to 30 sec., Manual: 1/6000 to 30 sec. (1/3EV step or 1/2EV step), Bulb.
X-Synchronization Sync Speed : 1/180 sec.
Exposure system
Metering TTL open aperture, 77 segmented metering, center-weighted and spot metering
Exposure Modes

Program, Sensitivity Priority, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, Shutter & Aperture Priority, Manual, Bulb

Auto Picture mode: automatically selects from Standard, Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Moving Object, Night Scene Portrait, Night Scene, Blue Sky, Forest

Scene Mode: Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Moving Object, Night Scene Portrait, Sunset, Blue Sky, Forest, Night Scene, Night Scene HDR*, Night Snap, Food, Pet, Kids, Surf & Snow, Backlight Silhouette, Candlelight, Stage Lighting, Museum

*JPEG only

Metering Range EV0 to 22 (ISO100 at 50mm F1.4)
Auto Exposure Lock Can be assigned to the AF/AE-L button from the menu
Compensation ± 5EV (1/2EV step or 1/3EV can be selected)
Auto Bracketing 3 frames
Flash
Type

Built-in retractable P-TTL auto pop-up flash

Guide Number

approx. 12 (ISO 100/m)

Modes

P-TTL, Red-eye Reduction, Slow-speed Sync, Trailing Curtain Sync
High-Speed Sync and Wireless Sync are also available with PENTAX dedicated external flash

Angle of View Coverage

Angle of view: coverage: wide angle-lens, equ. to 28mm in 35mm format

Exposure Compensation –2.0 to +1.0 EV
Exposure Parameters
Modes

Drive Modes

Mode Selection:

Single frame, Continuous (Hi, Lo), Self-timer (12sec., 2sec.), Remote Control (0 sec., 3 sec.), Auto Bracketing (3 frames)

Continuous shooting :

Approx. 6 fps, JPEG (JPEG, Cont. Hi)
Approx. 3 fps, JPEG (JPEG, Cont. Lo)

Capture Functions

Custom Image: Bright, Natural, Portrait, Landscape, Vibrant, Radiant, Muted, Bleach Bypass, Reversal Film, Monochrome, Cross Processing

Noise Reduction: Slow Shutter Speed NR, High-ISO NR

Dynamic Range Setting: Highlight Correction, Shadow Correction

Lens Correction: Distortion Correction, Lateral Chromatic Aberration Correction

Digital Filter: Extract Color, Toy Camera, Retro, High Contrast, Shading, Invert Color, Color

HDR Capture:  Auto, HDR 1, HDR 2, HDR 3, Automatic composition correction function, Exposure Bracket Value: ±1EV, ±2EV, ±3EV

Multi-exposure: Number of shots: 2-9, Exposure adjusted automatically

Composition Adjustment: Adjustment range of ±1mm up, down, left or right (0.5mm when rotated), Rotating range of 1 degrees

Interval Shooting: Shooting interval: 3 sec. to 24 hr., Number of shots: up to 999 images, Start Interval setting: immediately, from the set time

White Balance

Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Fluorescent Light (D: Daylight Color, N:Daylight White, W: Cool White, L: Warm White), Tungsten, Flash, CTE, Manual, Color

Adjustable ±7 steps on A-B axis or G-M axis

Auto: Method using a combination of the CMOS image sensor and the light source detection sensor

Manual: Configuration using the display screen (up to 3 settings can be saved),
Color Temperature settings, Copying the white balance setting of a captured image

Digital Filter Monochrome, Extract Color, Toy Camera, Retro, High Contrast, Shading, Invert Color, Color, Tone Expansion, Sketch Filter, Water Color, Pastel, Posterization, Miniature, Soft, Starburst, Fish-eye, Slim, Base Parameter Adjustment
Movie
Recording

Recorded pixels:
Full HD (1920x1080, 16:9, 30fps/25fps/24fps),
HD (1280x720, 16:9, 60fps/50fps/30fps/25fps/24fps),
VGA (640x480, 4:3, 30fps/25fps/24fps)

Quality levels: ★★★(Best), ★★(Better), ★(Good)

File Format: MPEG–4 AVC/H.264

Sound: Built-in monaural microphone, Recording Sound Level

Recording Time: Up to 25 minutes; automatically stops recording if the internal temperature of the camera becomes high

Custom Image: Bright, Natural, Portrait, Landscape, Vibrant, Radiant, Muted, Bleach Bypass, Reversal Film, Monochrome, Cross Processing

Digital Filter: Extract Color, Toy Camera, Retro, High Contrast, Invert Color, Color

Interval Movie: Recording interval: 3 sec., 5 sec., 10 sec., 30 sec., 1 min., 5min., 10 min., 30 min., 1 hr., Recording time: 4 sec. to 99 hr.,
Start Interval setting: immediately, from the set time

*The File format is Motion JPEG(AVI)

Editing Divide or delete selected frames, Capturing a JPEG still picture from a movie
Playback
Digital Filter Monochrome, Extract Color, Toy Camera, Retro, High Contrast, Shading, Invert Color, Color, Tone Expansion, Sketch Filter, Water Color, Pastel, Posterization, Miniature, Soft, Starburst, Fish-eye, Slim, Base Parameter Adjustment
Options

Delete: Delete single image, delete all images, select & delete, delete folder, delete instant review image

RAW Development: File Format (JPEG), Image Capture Settings(Aspect Ratio, Recorded Pixels, Quality Level, Color Space), Lens Correction(Distortion Correction, Lateral Chromatic Aberration Correction), Custom Image, White Balance, Sensitivity, High-ISO NR, Shadow Correction

Edit: Resize, Cropping (Aspect ratio and Slant adjustment available), Index, Movie Editing (Divide or delete selected frames), Capturing a JPEG still picture from a movie, Saving the RAW file data in the buffer memory

Storage
External

Compatible with SD, SDHC, and SDXC Memory Card (Eye-Fi card compatible)

File Format

RAW (DNG), JPEG (Exif 2.3), DCF2.0 compliant

Image sizes :

JPEG : 16M(4928x3264),12M(4224x2816),8M(3456x2304),5M

RAW :[3:2]16M(4928x3264)


Quality level RAW (12bit): DNG


JPEG: ★★★ (Best), ★★ (Better), ★ (Good)


Color space : sRGB, Adobe RGB

File Name

Date (100_1018, 100_1019...)/PENTX (100PENTX, 101PENTX...) PENTX can be changed by user

Special Features
Features

World time : 75 cities, 28 time zones

Digital Filters :  Monochrome, Extract Color, Toy Camera, Retro, High Contrast, Shading, Invert Color, Color, Tone Expansion, Sketch Filter, Water Color, Pastel, Posterization, Miniature, Soft, Starburst, Fish-eye, Slim, Base Parameter Adjustment

Custom Functions : 20 items

Mode Memory : 12 items

USER Mode: Up to 2 settings can be saved

Button/Dial Customization: 

RAW/Fx Button (One Push File Format, Exposure Bracketing, Optical preview, Digital Preview, Composition Adjustment, Select AF Point),
AF/AE-L button (Enable AF1, Enable AF2, Cancel AF, AE Lock)
Various settings for the action of the e-dials in each exposure mode can also be saved.

Text Size: Standard, Large

AF Fine Adjustment: ±10 step, Uniform adjustment, Individual adjustment (up to 20 can be saved)

Copyright Information: Names of "Photographer" and "Copyright Holder" are embedded to the image file.

Language English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Turkish, Greek, Russian, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese
Interface
Interface

USB2.0 (high-speed compatible) / AV output terminal, USB MSC/PTP, 

Video Output Format: NTSC/PAL

Power
Source

Rechargeable Lithium-ion Battery D-LI 109

With AA Battery Holder D-BH109 (optional), four AA batteries (Lithium, Ni-MH rechargeable, alkaline) can be used

AC Adapter Kit K-AC128 (optional)

Performance


Rechargeable Lithium-ion Battery D-LI109:

Number of recordable images: approx. 410 images (with 50% flash usage), approx. 480 images (without flash usage)

Playback time: approx. 270 minutes

* Using a new lithium-ion battery under the temperature at 23 °C, Tested in compliance with CIPA standard. Actual results may vary depending on the shooting conditions/circumstances.

AA Lithium batteries:

Number of recordable images:approx. 710 images (with 50% flash usage), approx. 1250 images (without flash usage)

Playback time: approx. 560 minutes

* Using 4x new Energizer Ultimate Lithium Batteries under the temperature at 23 °C, Tested in compliance with CIPA standard. Actual results may vary depending on the shooting conditions/circumstances.

Dimensions
Height 96.5mm
Width 129.0mm
Depth

70.0mm

Weight

Approx. 650 g (loaded and ready with the dedicated battery and SD Memory Card), Approx. 590 g (body only)

Compatibility
PC

Windows XP (SP3), Vista, 7 and 8

Mac 10.8 or above
Accessories
Included Software

SILKYPIX Developer Studio 3.0 LE

Kit Content

USB Cable I-USB7
Strap O-ST132
Li-ion battery D-Li109
Software (CDROM) S-SW133

Mounted on the camera:
Hot shoe cover FK
Body Mount Cover

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