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-50 produced photos of excellent quality. Noise is well controlled by the Pentax K-50, 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-50.

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-50. 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)
ISO 200 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)
ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 400 (100% Crop)
ISO 800 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)
ISO 1600 (100% Crop)	ISO 1600 (100% Crop)
ISO 3200 (100% Crop)	ISO 3200 (100% Crop)
ISO 6400 (100% Crop)	ISO 6400 (100% Crop)
ISO 12800 (100% Crop)	ISO 12800 (100% Crop)
ISO 25600 (100% Crop)	ISO 25600 (100% Crop)

File Quality

The Pentax K-50 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)
Good (1.87Mb) (100% Crop)	RAW (12.9Mb) (100% Crop)

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)

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)
Flash Off - Telephoto (82mm)	Flash On - Telephoto (82mm)

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)
Red-eye Reduction	Red-eye Reduction (100% Crop)

Night

The Pentax K-50 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)

Shake Reduction

The Pentax K-50 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
1/13th / 82mm

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

HDR Capture

The Pentax K-50'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-50 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
HDR1	HDR2
HDR3

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
Portrait	Landscape
Vibrant	Radiant
Muted	Bleach Bypass
Reversal Film	Monochrome
Cross Processing

Digital Filters

The Pentax K-50 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
Retro	High Contrast
Shading	Invert Color
Color

Multi Exposure

The Pentax K-50 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

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Pentax K-50 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-50 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

Product Images

Front of the Pentax K-50

Front of the Pentax K-50

Front of the Pentax K-50 / Pop-Up Flash

Isometric View

Isometric View

Isometric View

Isometric View

Rear of the Pentax K-50

Rear of the Pentax K-50 / Live View

Rear of the Pentax K-50 / Info Screen

Rear of the Pentax K-50 / Info Screen

Rear of the Pentax K-50 / Virtual Horizon

Rear of the Pentax K-50 / Main Menu

Top of the Pentax K-50

Bottom of the Pentax K-50

Side of the Pentax K-50

Side of the Pentax K-50

Front of the Pentax K-50

Front of the Pentax K-50

Memory Card Slot

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The Pentax K-50 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, more sober styling than the "aggressive" K-30, and the option to uniquely customise the colour to one of 120 combinations. In all other respects the new K-50 is identical to the old K-30, making that camera a bargain if you can track one down. Perhaps the biggest attraction of the K-50 is its more affordable price-tag on launch, especially in the US.

So 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-50 is no different. This is an appealingly well-specified, intuitive, weatherproof and customisable DSLR with few real drawbacks. The combination of near 100% viewfinder coverage and the large, high-res LCD screen make the K-50 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.

The K-50'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.

While it won't win any awards for originality, the Pentax K-50 remains an excellent stills camera that offers decent weatherproofing and handling at a price that won't break the bank, making it a great introduction to the world of DSLR cameras.

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

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Pentax K-50.

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Pentax K-50 from around the web.

Specifications

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