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Archive 2016 · Pentax K-1 as a wedding camera

  
 
ksutton
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Pentax K-1 as a wedding camera


While it certainly hasn't been mainstream at all, this year Pentax had a bit of buzz surrounding the release of a much-anticipated full-frame body. On paper, this body looked extraordinarily capable - and I had owned some Pentax gear in the past and was really impressed, but I thought it fell a bit short for professional use.

I finally justified buying one when I purchased my ticket to Burning Man this year. I needed a weather-sealed, beefy camera to brave the playa dust and after watching a guy just trash a couple Pentax bodies while deployed in Afghanistan and see them work just fine, I pulled the trigger.

The problem was, when I actually got the K-1 in hand, I loved it. I started using it for pro jobs right and left. The 77mm Limited was extraordinary for portraits, and I actually rather liked the 31mm as well. Their pro-level zooms were unwieldy, but got the job done. The AF was good, but not blazing fast.

But the files. Oh man, the files! They were as good as or better than my D810, and somehow smaller, and also natively DNG format for quicker importing. Check DxO - if this camera had a lower base ISO, it would be simply one of the best FF bodies out there right now.

So I wimped out. I bought an OM-D EM-1 kit to take to The Burn, which performed spectacularly. (you can check my Instagram for shots from The Playa if you're interested - my Insta handle is at the end of this post) I decided to get the Pentax system a "real" shot. Purchased even more kit, two of Pentax's newest flashes, a couple more lenses. Then finally, a backup body. The K-1 hadn't left me wanting for much in the professional realm, but this was mostly with slow-moving commercial/studio work, and on-location portrait stuff. I was apprehensive at using it at a wedding, but enthusiastic at the same time. I upgrade the firmware in both bodies, customized to my liking....

...and packed my bags for Mexico. This wedding in particular was on location in Playa Mujeres, Cancun. I was slated to shoot a boat trip, candids and lifestyle around the resort we were staying in, and the ceremony/reception itself.



Apologies for the random assortment of photos, but wanted to have a spectrum of different shots to display here. This is what I found about the camera.





In high dynamic range situations, this camera just crushes it. It's so easy to recover shadows (and even highlights, to an extent) and the files don't bog down my MacBook Pro like a D810 file would. I don't know why, but that's the case. On the boat, the camera was particularly awesome in broad daylight with harsh direct sunlight. However, I found myself being frustrated with the AF system, even early on the first day. It just wasn't intuitive, and didn't catch focus very quickly. Another frustration was the camera would enter "standby mode" periodically (I had it set to the longest possible delay going to sleep) and when it woke up, it would take a considerable amount of time. In a fast moving situation, this was just unacceptable and beyond annoying.





In a dark(er) hotel room, I tried my hand at using the DA* 55mm f/1.4 that I'd grown rather fond of for portraits. (I also adore the Nikon 58mm f/1.4G so this was a no-brainer to acquire). The 55mm was essentially worthless in low light. It'd hunt, miss focus, and was just too cumbersome to use. The Limited glass (31mm and 77mm) were indispensable in these situations. However, I began to notice a major annoyance that didn't strike me in slower-paced situations - even though the Limited glass is beautiful in rendering, relatively quick to focus, and all around gorgeous in general - it is 20-30 year old tech and uses the camera's screw-drive mechanism. This is infuriating when shooting quickly on-the-fly with the grip, because occasionally your hand will be against the barrel of the lens and will either hinder the AF itself or tweak the camera in your hands when you activate AF. I became excruciatingly aware of how bothersome this was early on in the wedding day.







The wedding was on the beach that day, with the sun low in the sky - forgiving shadows and beautiful tones. I was excited to be able to dual-wield two K-1's and really capture every moment as it happened.



It's a good thing I had two cameras. The K-1s proved to be subpar in their buffer size and frame rate - to the point of sheer frustration. With fast UHS-1 memory cards, writing was still slow and I'd get 4 frames before the camera locked up and wouldn't take a photo. There were one or two occasions with posed wedding guests that were just straight-up embarrassing as I switched bodies or fiddled with the camera. I blame myself here for not really exploring this prior. I guess I've just been spoiled by Nikon.



The reception continued to be frustrating, as the only lenses that seemed somewhat reliable again were the Limiteds - 31/77mm. The TTL flash performance was also strange, every 30-40 frames I'd get a totally blown out frame when the flash dumped all its power for no apparent reason. I fumbled through the reception and got decent content, but it wasn't effortless like it was with a Nikon system.





In conclusion, (and also before you rip me a new one ) I'm dubious to recommend the K-1 for real wedding work. This was a relatively low-pressure wedding, and I'm not by trade a wedding photographer (I shoot perhaps 3-5 a year for the last half dozen years) so please take what I say with a grain of salt.





That said, it is a beautiful system that really would excel in many categories. The weathersealed body instills confidence every time you pick it up, it makes the D750 feel like a toy. The level of customization is absolutely fantastic. The dedicated dial is a godsend, especially since you can assign them on the fly. There were a few occasions where the Shake Reduction allowed me to shoot still scenes at an ISO that was just ridiculous given the light, shutter speeds of less than 1/30 of a second with sharp files (at 36mp!)

While I couldn't sing the praises of the Pentax system to anyone who, I'm not sure I'd ever count on it again for fast-paced, gotta-get-the-shot situations. I hope that this is helpful or at least amusing to anyone interested in the system.

This was my kit:

Pentax K-1 with D-BG6 (x2)
Pentax AF 360 FGZ II (x2)
Pentax 31mm f/1.8 Limited
Pentax 77mm f/1.8 Limited
Pentax DA* 55mm f/1.4
Pentax DA* 200mm f/2.8
Pentax D-FA 24-70mm f/2.8 WR
Pentax D-FA 28-105mm f/3.5-5.6 WR
Rokinon 24mm f/3.5 Tilt-Shift

Please feel free to fire me any questions you have an know that although I may seem critical, just wanted to be transparent with how everything performed.

If you'd like to follow my work or support me, I post to instagram regularly with updates on gear and travels @kevinmsutton






Edited on Nov 24, 2016 at 07:55 PM · View previous versions



Nov 24, 2016 at 11:03 AM
Mark_L
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Pentax K-1 as a wedding camera


I think your camera is broken, the top and bottom of the frame on the first pic are all blurry


Nov 24, 2016 at 01:51 PM
LeeSimms
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Pentax K-1 as a wedding camera


How's the wireless flash system?


Nov 24, 2016 at 02:59 PM
FrancisK7
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Pentax K-1 as a wedding camera


I shot my very first wedding with a K10D and K5. Even back then the K5 had amazing DR. The AF was not up to snuff, nor was the high ISO performance, but for the price, it even had weather sealing. Their limited lenses are also legendary. The FA77 and 31 have IQ that beat any Nikkor 1.4G. Zooms were lacking. The 50-135 had great IQ but abysmal AF performance. The 70-200 VR2 is galaxies ahead.

I am not surprised to hear the DR is still amazing. How is AF in low light? How are the files at ISO 10,000? The D750 and D810 perform remarkably well in those areas.

Happy to see Pentax finally tackling the FF market though.



Nov 24, 2016 at 03:55 PM
ksutton
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Pentax K-1 as a wedding camera


Mark_L wrote:
I think your camera is broken, the top and bottom of the frame on the first pic are all blurry


haha, that's the tilt shift lens of course.

LeeSimms wrote:
How's the wireless flash system?


I didn't use that, so I couldn't comment unfortunately.

FrancisK7 wrote:
I am not surprised to hear the DR is still amazing. How is AF in low light? How are the files at ISO 10,000? The D750 and D810 perform remarkably well in those areas

Happy to see Pentax finally tackling the FF market though


The AF is low light is...okay. It's not snappy, but it seems pretty accurate. The limited lenses performed the best here. The dynamic range is absolutely unreal...it's on par with the D750 and D810, I've owned both.




Nov 24, 2016 at 06:05 PM
wsu6
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Pentax K-1 as a wedding camera


Kevin,
I am not a wedding photographer (my hat is off to you, though!), but I do own the Pentax K1, and I pretty much agree with everything you said. The K1 is beautifully built, well thought out, has amazing image quality, is a pleasure to shoot in many situations, but would not be on my short list for run and gun, event, or wedding work for the reasons you list. It's not that it can't do those things in the hands of a talented photographer such as yourself, it's just that there are better options out there for that type of work. That said, in its comfort zone - slower paced work - it is truly excellent, IMO.

Thank you for sharing your experience.

-Bill



Nov 24, 2016 at 06:43 PM
ksutton
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Pentax K-1 as a wedding camera


wsu6 wrote:
Kevin,
I am not a wedding photographer (my hat is off to you, though!), but I do own the Pentax K1, and I pretty much agree with everything you said. The K1 is beautifully built, well thought out, has amazing image quality, is a pleasure to shoot in many situations, but would not be on my short list for run and gun, event, or wedding work for the reasons you list. It's not that it can't do those things in the hands of a talented photographer such as yourself, it's just that there are better options out there for that type
...Show more

Hey Bill! Thanks so much for the kind words. You rock.

This is definitely one of those situations in which I have to say, "I don't know what I expected" - as you stated so eloquently, this is an absolutely fantastic and capable tool - but in the particular case of weddings, it may not have the key features that are so necessary.

This camera, in my opinion, is purpose-built for the backcountry landscape or lifestyle photographer. Insane dynamic range, beautiful customizable interface, and gorgeous, malleable files. Add cool features like Astrotracer and you have a bonus to cameras that cost 30% more like the D810.

In any case, I hope this post at least amuses or helps anyone who's considered or wants to buy this camera. If it fits your criteria, it's extraordinary. But if it falls into that fast paced realm, it doesn't need re-iteration - it may not be your go-to.



Nov 24, 2016 at 07:54 PM
InSanE
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Pentax K-1 as a wedding camera


Pentax k5 was my first dslr and i loved its iq and build quality. Switched to Nikon because i also needed flash and infocus images. Half decade later Pentax still makes great natural light landscape cameras and old screw drive lenses are still legendary.


Nov 26, 2016 at 05:52 AM
Steve Tinetti
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Pentax K-1 as a wedding camera


I worked for Pentax for many years and their cameras always had some of the most innovative and well thought feature sets. Their pro glass was and still is very good indeed. When I first started shooting weddings in 1997, I shot the 645. Super great system IMO. I left Pentax just as digital was really kicking in and at the time, Pentax was lagging behind in a painful way. I still remember the plastic brick they showed under glass at PMA that was a prototype of a 6mp full frame CCD product that was slated to retail for 10K. The camera never came and it's probably a good thing...

From an insider's perspective, one of the biggest reasons I could not stay with the system (in any format) was the support. While there was a time when they had a full staff of in-house technicians, including several "pro equipment" technicians and a "pro rush" service, that all went away and they began farming everything out to a local independent. While they still have the 645 digital, I'm not sure what their level of support is for the professional. They've come a long ways for sure. I'd love to play with their current 645D and the K-1 looks to be a great system for their target market.



Nov 30, 2016 at 06:25 PM
LeeSimms
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Pentax K-1 as a wedding camera


Sad day when they left Denver. End of an era.


Nov 30, 2016 at 11:35 PM
maxwell1295
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Pentax K-1 as a wedding camera


Man, I used to love Pentax cameras. I shot with a K20D prior to getting into weddings. Fantastic camera that was very intuitive and ridiculously easy to use. It had this hyper auto mode which worked like shooting in Manual, where you could adjust shutter speed or aperture and the ISO would change accordingly. Hard to explain, but it worked like a charm. The lenses are top notch as well. I switched away from Pentax because I felt that I needed to shoot weddings with a full frame camera. Funny thing is I have since switched to Fuji mirrorless. So much for needing to shoot full frame....


Feb 12, 2017 at 02:18 PM





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