Educate me on the Pentax K-r

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p.1 #1 · Educate me on the Pentax K-r

I've been offered this body with a kit lens (18-55) and a Tamron 90mm Macro in a trade. It incluces a macro ring light, a pile of filters, a tripod, and a nice large camera backpack. Also a light meter and some other accessories.

My questions:

What are the body and lenses worth?

How does it perform and are there any issues or common problems/complaints with this body\kit lens

What is the marco lens worth and is it a good performer.

I'm trying to decide if this setup is worth what the owner is trying to trade me for, not camera related.

I've never had or used a Pentax camera and would like feedback from people that have used this setup in the real world. I've read some online reviews and done some google research most of what I found seems positive, but I can't seem to find much information on what they bring on the used market.

If I take the trade I would probably sell the body and lenses or try to trade them towards canon gear since that is what I have always shot with. I am somewhat interested in the macro lens just because I've shot with a true 1:1 and might keep the system for awhile just to play with that aspect of it.

I'm also curious about its performance as I might let my girlfriend shoot with it for awhile. I have an older rebel body that she uses from time to time but we often times want to use the same lens and this would eliminate most of that problem.

Any advice or input is appreciated as I'd never even held a Pentax until 24hrs ago when the owner showed up offering it as a trade. Thanks in advance.

Feb 13, 2013 at 02:42 PM

deadwolfbones
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p.1 #2 · Educate me on the Pentax K-r

The K-r is probably my least favorite Pentax camera of the past few years. The biggest problem is that the AF is often unreliable under artificial light. I went through three copies trying to find a good one for my friend, and all had horrible AF issues. Sent the first one for repair three times and they never got it right.

Manual focus was inaccurate, too. Viewfinder didn't correspond to reality, especially at wide apertures.

The K-30 and K-5 II are completely fixed in this regard, but the K-r is a lemon in my book.

Feb 13, 2013 at 04:19 PM

deadwolfbones
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p.1 #3 · Educate me on the Pentax K-r

Oh, and the Tamron lens is great. If it's the current AF version, it goes for about $300-350 used. Easily the equal (optically) of the Pentax DA 100/2.8 WR Macro.

Feb 13, 2013 at 04:20 PM

Dudewithoutape
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p.1 #4 · Educate me on the Pentax K-r

I suggest checking pentax forums or ebay. The k-r was a budget model afaik, it completed well due to the amount of features it had compared to other intro models. I think it was as cheap as 300 with kit lens at one point. It shared a sensor with one of the nikon bodies too.

Feb 13, 2013 at 04:35 PM

Mescalamba
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p.1 #5 · Educate me on the Pentax K-r

I dont see point in buying Pentax today. Maybe 6x7 one.

Only thing worth considering is K-5 IIs without AA. For rest I would take regular Canikon choice or Sony.

Feb 13, 2013 at 04:40 PM

deadwolfbones
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p.1 #6 · Educate me on the Pentax K-r

Mescalamba wrote:
I dont see point in buying Pentax today. Maybe 6x7 one.

Only thing worth considering is K-5 IIs without AA. For rest I would take regular Canikon choice or Sony.

K-30 is indubitably the best value in a current model entry-level dSLR right now.

Feb 13, 2013 at 05:13 PM

Mescalamba
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p.1 #7 · Educate me on the Pentax K-r

deadwolfbones wrote:
Mescalamba wrote:
I dont see point in buying Pentax today. Maybe 6x7 one.

Only thing worth considering is K-5 IIs without AA. For rest I would take regular Canikon choice or Sony.

K-30 is indubitably the best value in a current model entry-level dSLR right now.

Feb 13, 2013 at 08:52 PM

mawz
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p.1 #8 · Educate me on the Pentax K-r

Great sensor & processing, mediocre body. It was a budget camera with remarkable performance for the dollar but somewhat problematic AF, an IBIS system of dubious effectiveness and the worst OVF Pentax has shipped in a DSLR. The K-x shares the same set of problems as does the K-m/k2000 except the K-m/K2000 lacks the great sensor.

Given these were selling new around $500 with the kit lens it's not going to be worth all that much. Good kit for someone starting .

And I agree, the K-30 is just about the best DSLR available under $1K right now. Of course there's better cameras in that price range, but they're Mirrorless.

Pentax retains the best APS-C lens lineup overall. It's missing a good fast lens in the 28-35 range and is little weak at the wide end, but that's pretty common, Sony and Nikon share that issue (Sony more than the others, the 11-18's long past its prime) and Canon isn't solely because the 10-22's a much better lens than any Canon APS-C sensor can handle. Pentax's 12-24 is a solid lens but outdated while the DA 14 and DA 15 Limited are both excellent (hint: The 14's better)

Feb 14, 2013 at 02:20 AM

deadwolfbones
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p.1 #9 · Educate me on the Pentax K-r

Mescalamba wrote:
deadwolfbones wrote:
Mescalamba wrote:
I dont see point in buying Pentax today. Maybe 6x7 one.

Only thing worth considering is K-5 IIs without AA. For rest I would take regular Canikon choice or Sony.

K-30 is indubitably the best value in a current model entry-level dSLR right now.

If for some reason you want to have least lens options while being very expensive. For alt shooting its probably fine. But if I wanted 16 mpix from Sony for alt use, there is NEX, which is probably as good and as easy for alt shooting as possible.

If I wanted body with this sensor for AF, then I dont know what I would do. Probably rather bought old D700 instead. Tho in A57 it works reasonably well.

As I think about it, market really does miss D400 with this sensor..

Pentax today might aswell not exist. Only K-5 IIs and 645D are products worth something. And that first mentioned is "alt super-lens only". I imagine it might work rather nicely with some top end Leica R lens.

Pentax needs serious rewamp of lens and FF. Which is what they need pretty much since they started digital.

Well, you're welcome to your opinion.

As for "least lens options," maybe if you don't count the thousands of K-mount legacy lenses. Their modern selection certainly isn't as vast as Canon or Nikon's, but it covers all the major bases.

IMO the Pentax Limiteds justify all of their bodies alone. But even beyond that, the Pentax DSLRs' combination of compactness, build quality, ergonomics, and weather sealing put them ahead of the pack in the APS-C market for me.

Feb 14, 2013 at 05:46 AM

treebeard
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p.1 #10 · Educate me on the Pentax K-r

Mescalamba wrote:
deadwolfbones wrote:
Mescalamba wrote:
I dont see point in buying Pentax today. Maybe 6x7 one.

Only thing worth considering is K-5 IIs without AA. For rest I would take regular Canikon choice or Sony.

K-30 is indubitably the best value in a current model entry-level dSLR right now.

Why do you say they might as well not exist? Have you ever even used a K-5 or even seen a Limited lens? Probably not.

Feb 14, 2013 at 10:45 PM

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