Pentax K-70 Weather-Sealed DSLR Camera with 18-135mm Lens (Black)

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I purchased this camera mainly for astrophotography, but it takes great daytime pictures as well. I also have an Olympus Micro four thirds camera as well. This camera has much less noise than the Olympus, but it is quite a bit heavier. It is worth the trade-off when doing astrophotography. The Pentax cameras are even very low noise even with ISO 1600 3 minute shots. The Pentax is also great at picking up Hydrogen Alpha in nebulae. This has certainly allowed me to get better pictures than my Olympus. I was going to buy a dedicated astronomy camera, but it would have been more than double the price for the same size sensor and this camera can still be used for regular photography. What I like: 1. It is easy to use. 2. Low noise in low light. 3. It is amazing for astrophotography. 4. There are a large selection of lenses available at a decent price. 5. It is water resistant. 6. The 18-135 mm lens is a great all around lens and it is water resistant as well. 7. You get greater quality and features for the money when compared to Canon or Nikon equivalents. What could be improved? 1. I wish there was better computer control available. I would like to be able to use tethering during my astrophotography sessions. 2. Dual memory cards would be nice. 3. USB tethering and shooting at the same time. The camera does not take pictures while tethered, but you can take pictures with a wireless app. 4. It would be nice if the GPs were built into the camera so the Astro-tracer feature could be used without purchasing an external GPS sensor. I’m really enjoying this camera and I’m happy with the purchase. I’m really surprised Pentax does not market more towards the night photography crowd. Ive included shots that I have taken of the Double Star Cluster, Fireworks Galaxy, Helix Nebula, Pacman Nebula, and Triangulum Galaxy. All were shot on a Celstron AVX equatorial tracking mount with a Celestron 6" SCT telescope and the Pentax K-70 with a T- adapter.

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Initial Preview: Upgraded from a 5 year old Pentax K-5. Realized I was stepping down from flag ship series to high end enthusiast camera. But I was looking to using some new features, save money, and keep the K-5 for backup. On arrival I immediately upgraded Firmware to 1.10. At first glance the image quality seems similar to the K-5, but I havent gotten around to looking closely at images in comparison. Also I look forward to trying the new features. Likes: * Looks like it will work fine in place of my old K-5 for all my normal shooting. * The articulating back display * larger ISO range * more settings are saved in user settings (compared to k-5 which had some big limitations - such as could not be used with interval shooting) * fast charge - from depleted to mostly charged in an hour Miss: * larger battery capacity of K-5 (bought two Wasabi batteries since I have had good look with them in the past). Also ordering AC power supply for use in remote shooting * focus confirmation in viewfinder when doing manual focus Dislike: * WI-FI - when it works, its nice but limited. The remote control is very flaky. Have used the remote "Image Sync" app with both iPhone and Android tablet with similar results. It will hang at times. And sometimes after a long delay will report that it has lost communication with camera. Sometimes killing the "Image Sync" app and restarting it will start it working again. Other times need to switch the camera off and on again (not very convenient with remote shooting). It seems to work better for me if I switch off live view (save battery life) or use it for short intervals, set raw+ (instead of raw) or JPEG, and change focus to manual. At least get fewer hangs with this setup, and most of the time can recover by just killing the "Image Sync" app and restarting. Hope that this will be improved over time with updates to camera firmware or fixes to mobile app, but from past experience it may take a long time or may never happen. Also the app is limited. It only works in single shot mode and doesnt allow you to change shooting mode. Might be nice to have bracketing support, as well as video and interval shooting. Note: * Lightroom is not recognizing the PEF raw format, but after switching to DNG it works. Will update this as I get more used to the camera.

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I ordered this camera as gift for my girlfriend who was looking for her first "nice" camera. She primarily wanted a camera for nature photography when were hiking and camping, so the weather sealing and rugged reputation of Pentax is was initially drew me in; however, upon further research, I was impressed with the rest of the specs, especially for the price. The K-S2 probably would have sufficed, but I spent a bit more in order to get the Pixel Shift, accelerator processing unit, seemingly better low light performance, and 14-bit RAW (vs. 12-bit). I also liked how the K-70 has more megapixels and a seemingly better kit lens. Anyway, weve both been using this camera over the last month-and-a-half, and we LOVE it. Even with the kit lens, weve gotten some great photos. Weve been very pleased that already the camera has performed perfectly in a variety of adverse conditions including the following: snowing, resting in snow, about 20 degrees F, and close to a waterfall. I cant really think of anything that I dont like about this camera (though, admittedly, I dont really have much to compare it to); however, due to the short battery life, well need an extra battery or two when we go camping. In fact, I love this camera so much that I just ordered my own so we dont have to keep switching off when were in the field :)

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I was out after a new camera with more mega pixels than the 16.9 MP cameras in my current inventory. This camera had 24.24 mega pixels at a price point that was not totally expensive. The cameras build quality is awesome, Pentax heavy and solid. The camera uses the vaunted Pentax K mount system so your glass works here. The camera has a fold out video viewfinder and the standard pentax through the lens viewer. The camera is easy to use and great for the person who wants to step up to a more professional grade camera without paying the huge professional grade money. The camera is not just a poor mans Nikon or Cannon. This camera has some really nifty entry level to basic professional level features. The camera is highly scalable so you can learn real photography using this equipment. Buy a few good cheap lenses to account for the range of photographic experiences and needs and you would be set. Best of all once you learn the Pentax way of designing its cameras the process of learning how to use your camera gets to be great fun. This is one of the best values in the Pentax Camera lineup. I just brought a Pentax K1 camera for my best work but, this will be my go to camera for pure knock around fun!

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I purchased this camera because it is so dust and weather-resistant and has excellent reviews. I can confirm that it produces exceptional images at every ISO settings from 100 through 6400; so far, I havent need to shoot at more sensitive settings. I wanted to get the Pentax KP but I just couldnt justify (at least to myself) the additional cost for a full-frame DSLR. As it turns out, the K-70 is all I will probably ever need. I only bought the body and Im matching it with a Pentax SMC DA Series 50-135mm f/2.8 ED IF SDM Telephoto Lens. My next lens (my birthday present) will be the Pentax HD D FA 24-70mm F2.8 ED SDM WR.

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For the price, even though this is not the newest Pentax body I am glad I chose this over the others. The grip feels more like a full size dslr than the KP and better features than all but the flagship K1. This replaces a k20 body, and is much lighter and smaller but still handles well even with large lenses. The interface is logical and easy to use without looking much when in manual. The screen articulation is perfect and feels sturdy. The live view button and video switches are easy to get to also. I have so far only done stills and have yet to use pixel shift, but I have no doubt it will be easy to get used to also. The general feel and function of dials and menus is as logical and easy to figure out as the k20 was too. I would like to see more detailed wifi settings and ability for a battery grip. Im not super impressed so far with autofocus, but not an big deal for me doing mostly still subjects. This is a very accurate camera with few faults and uses my old lens collection like a champ.

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So in love so far. Only cons to consider: ergonomics and connectivity options. The hand grip feels a bit undersized, and the rough texture of the lens tends to rub rough on the same-hand fingers. As for connectivity, the camera is limited to Wi-Fi only. That is, the camera only has a function is which it broadcasts its own Wi-Fi signal. On your mobile device, disconnect from your current connection and connect to the cameras. Make sure you download the obsolete, unfriendly app though. The app is your only way to view and transfer files. Edit: Another small thing I dont like about the camera is the lack of aspect ratio adjustment. 4:3 is the only setting. Otherwise great camera. Amazing photos. Huge fan of the lens, 135 is my new favorite.

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This is my first "real" DSLR. Ive had a few other cameras that were full auto non-auto like the Nikon B500, the Pentax K70 beats all my previous cameras by a mile. Great quality. Feels good in the hands. A bit heavier than some other cameras, but I actually prefer it as its more stable and the quality feels more solid. Ive bought several different lenses, both Pentax, Rokinon, and others and all of them work flawlessly with this camera. The AF is okay, not the greatest, but if youre just starting into photography, highly recommend this camera as it fits the bill as a good starter without having to fork out $3k for a Canon/Nikon/Sony. Ive used this for night shots, action sports shots, nature shots, portraits, and everything in between. Definitely a worthy purchase that will last me quite a long time. 5***** Love this camera!

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I bought the Pentax K-70 primarily for video purposes. I already had several vintage lens that belonged to my K-1000 that fit perfectly being they both used the same K mount design. This camera has been very reliable in the 5 months Ive had it. The video quality on the camera is standard 1080p, and when using the right settings looks great for any videography and film work. I will admit there are better cameras out there for the use of video recording. However if you are looking for a camera that is at least equal in video quality, you will most likely spend a couple 100 dollars more. The price is a real winner here. Concerning Photography. Photographs are exceptional. The 24 megapixal quality is amazing and brings in a high dynamic range. When shooting in dark environments it really captures dark areas well. Burst photography is also very good. I have done time lapse photography on a couple occasions and the 4k videos are stunning. The in body shake reduction allows you to use slower shutter speeds than you would normally be able to use without a tripod. The ISO settings are most effective between 100-3200. After 3200 you will get a high noise level. The camera will go up to an ISO of about 16,400 I believe. After working with the camera a lot I would say the ISO is most effective at 400. The camera will also allow you to create custom white balances and plug in the exact color temperature in Kelvins. The pixel shift function also greatly enhances photographs. That function must be used on a tripod however. Concerning Video I was happy that most of setting optimization that pertains to photography also is allowed in the video section. Many of the cheaper DSLR cameras only allow auto functions for the video and I find that a great dis-service on those cameras. The camera allows you to set it to 24, 25, 20, 50i, and 60i for the frame rates. Keep in mind that if you are editing and using timecode that these translate translate to the electric interpretation for example, 24 frames per second is really 23.978 fps. One thing that does disappoint me is that when shooting video you have to really play with the settings when filming white walls. White walls tend to get noisy and sometimes you get a color fluctuation in out of focus areas. The best way to avoid this is to really expose the room with lights and adjust the f stop, shutter speed and ISO accordingly. When the ISO is set correctly dark spaces are captured quite nicely and without too much noise. Otherwise the video quality is great in the 1080p format class when compared to other cameras. One thing you should know is to turn off Shake Reduction when using the camera on a tripod. The camera sensor will move with head turning and people standing up our of chairs. Only use Shake Reduction when going hand held. The shake reduction works awesome when used hand held. Keep in mind most DSLR cameras (including this one) will only let you record for 30 minutes at a time, regardless of SD card size. So this is not a good choice if you are needing to do extended recording such as a basketball game or a ceremony. Concerning Camera Software. The software that comes with the camera is a little slow but it processes DNG images excellently. The Pentax K-70 allows you to shoot in DNG or their Proprietary format DNG+. The DNG+ is better and if you can handle working with the camera software it will produce slightly better images. Trouble Shooting The only issue I have had with the camera is on one occasion the camera began to save very slowly. If if I took a photo, it would take 10 seconds to save. Video was taking 5-10 minutes to save. I solved this issue by using a different SD card. The normal save times resumed. Durability and Ergonomics. This camera feels solid in your hand. It gives you a good grip as well. Despite being a compact camera it is definitely made for people with big hands (not a problem for me). Button feel is good. My last point and shoot camera (a FujiFilm HS-10) had very cheap buttons that always felt like they were gonna fall off. All of your important functions such as Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO, PHOTO/VIDEO Mode, White Balance, ISO, Timed Photo, flash, and Auto Focus versus Manuel Focus are all given physical buttons rather than being buried in menus. The Shutter speed, Aperture, AF vs MF, and PHOTO versus Video are made to be dials or switches which is quite handy. The camera is rated to be water resistant (not water proof). I have not gone out of my way to test this but I have shot in rain and it performed fine. To be water resistant however you must use a water resistant lens. If you buy a lens that comes with the camera it will have an o ring around the lens mount that services this feature. Cons If you are looking for a camera that has good autofocus, then this is probably not a good choice for you. For photos the autofocus works pretty good. For Video it hardly adjusts. I bought this camera knowing this. If you dont trust your ability to manually focus then this is not the camera for you.

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im not a professional. i love photography and have had many cameras. started with nikon, switched to canon. last 2 cameras are pentax. buying a camera is a big deal to me, i do not have money to burn. decided on the k70 and i could not be happier. the camera is pretty intuitive, first time out of the box, it felt like an old friend in my hands. i will not get into features, you can read that for yourself. but i will say if you want to put it on auto, or play around with the settings, there are enough bells and whistles to keep you happy. feels like quality in your hands. only negatives, and its not really that big of a deal, no usb cord, full manual is on pdf form on line.

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