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Posted 6 days ago
Pentax K70 Noir + 18-55 WR Black
Free ·
Shared by
ElGofre
Joined in 2012
14
1,490
About this deal
One of the last DSLR holdouts in an increasingly mirrorless world, the K70 offers a lot of camera for under £500 for those that don't mind the larger size compared to it's mirrorless competition, with build quality and features you rarely find in cameras at this price point including weather sealing, in-body image stabilisation and ISO that can stretch north of 100,000. Add on other desirable features like the articulating touch screen and 6fps continuous shooting, and it feels like a remarkably competitive camera despite its age. Given what feels like a steadily creeping starting cost of interchangeable lens cameras over the last couple of years with fewer entry level models being produced at this price point, this feels like more of a pretty compelling workhorse of a camera in the current market.
Full specs here:
ricoh-imaging.co.jp/eng…ec/
Having a brief look at competing options in the £450-500 bracket with a kit lens on camerapricebuster and a handful of the big camera retailers, here's how I see the K70 stacking up against what can currently be bought new on the market today:
* Canon 2000D: The only other DSLR I could find being widely sold new and there really is no competition, the K70 is superior in pretty much every metric besides shots per battery charge. Really only recommended if you have Canon lenses available to use from a friend or family member.
* Canon R100: Canon's entry level mirrorless option is a lot more competitive than it's DSLR cousin and does have a couple of advantages like offering a similar class of APS-C sensor in a body almost half the weight, 4k video (as well as 120fps shooting at 720p), but its entry level status is on show in other areas like the fixed screen, lack of IBIS and weather sealing, and significantly slower 3.5fps continuous shooting that can only draw up equal to the K70 by turning off autofocus
* Panasonic G7: Probably the most similar featureset of any camera available for sub-£500 new, with comparable continuous shooting speeds of 7fps, an articulating screen and control layouts alongside advantages like far superior video recording and the wealth of lenses available to the Micro 4 thirds system. This is also it's biggest downside though, with a significantly smaller sensor of a similar age that can't match the image quality and low light performance the K70 is capable of, as well as the inferior build quality and lack of IBIS
And that's about it in terms of competition I can find that can be bought new! Stock of entry level options from Fuji, Nikon, Olympus and Sony seem to have dried up recently, here's hoping they have new offerings on the way to keep this segment of the market liveky. The other major competitor in the used market, which is a can of worms I won't open here but needless to say you can get more for your money buying second hand!
Full specs here:
ricoh-imaging.co.jp/eng…ec/
Having a brief look at competing options in the £450-500 bracket with a kit lens on camerapricebuster and a handful of the big camera retailers, here's how I see the K70 stacking up against what can currently be bought new on the market today:
* Canon 2000D: The only other DSLR I could find being widely sold new and there really is no competition, the K70 is superior in pretty much every metric besides shots per battery charge. Really only recommended if you have Canon lenses available to use from a friend or family member.
* Canon R100: Canon's entry level mirrorless option is a lot more competitive than it's DSLR cousin and does have a couple of advantages like offering a similar class of APS-C sensor in a body almost half the weight, 4k video (as well as 120fps shooting at 720p), but its entry level status is on show in other areas like the fixed screen, lack of IBIS and weather sealing, and significantly slower 3.5fps continuous shooting that can only draw up equal to the K70 by turning off autofocus
* Panasonic G7: Probably the most similar featureset of any camera available for sub-£500 new, with comparable continuous shooting speeds of 7fps, an articulating screen and control layouts alongside advantages like far superior video recording and the wealth of lenses available to the Micro 4 thirds system. This is also it's biggest downside though, with a significantly smaller sensor of a similar age that can't match the image quality and low light performance the K70 is capable of, as well as the inferior build quality and lack of IBIS
And that's about it in terms of competition I can find that can be bought new! Stock of entry level options from Fuji, Nikon, Olympus and Sony seem to have dried up recently, here's hoping they have new offerings on the way to keep this segment of the market liveky. The other major competitor in the used market, which is a can of worms I won't open here but needless to say you can get more for your money buying second hand!
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Edited by a community support team member, 6 days ago
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32 Comments
sorted byWhilst I loved the camera, there's no way I'm risking 500+ smackers on pentax again. Read about it here.
pentaxforums.com/for…tml
I had the problem with a K-50, bought an old Pentax with two Japanese solenoids, did my first ever bit of (bad) soldering and managed to fix it, only to drop the camera a couple of weeks later.
EDIT: Your link says they stopped using the bad solenoid in January 2021 so as this is new it should be OK. (edited)
Alas, they've become the BlackBerry of the camera world. Refusing to align with what the majority of consumers expect from their cameras. Add on to the blind Pentax purist fanboys who bully anyone who questions the Pentax/Ricoh strategy, made it an easy decision for me to switch to the Nikon Z-mount.
Pentax's latest product is a half-frame film camera. Tells you pretty much everything about what their priorities are.
You can get a full-frame Nikon Z6 in Excellent condition at MPB for £649. I'd push to go for that over this.
Edit: looks like the auto focus may have the same performance as my k100
jbradfordphoto.com/pho…23/ (edited)