PENTAX K-70 Black, w/ 18-55mm All Weather DSLR Camera: 24.2MP High-Performance Image Sensor, Optical viewfinder with 100%, 4.5 Steps Shake…

I have tested a few cameras so far and decided on the Pentax k-70. Mainly for price and because I was tired of having canon, Sony, and Nikon’s constantly appearing everywhere as if they were the only cameras on the planet. Money spent marketing is money not spent on the product. This Pentax proves it. What an awesome camera! Easy to use, has features of cameras twice this price, and a helpful OS that guides you through the dozens of settings! If you choose setting that are incompatible with a Sony, it does not tell you and keeps the annoying alert hand on the screen. If you still take the picture it’s blurry and you have no idea why. The Pentax camera tells you a setting conflict exists, why it’s a conflict, and even turns one off so you still get an amazing picture. The cost savings over the big 3 brands allowed me to purchase a Pentax 50mm 1.4 Star line lens and I’m still under the cost of just the other 3 cameras body only. And the pictures are incredible with the combo k-70 and star 50mm lens! The pix are incredibly life like and so vivid it’s unbelievable! Looking forward to shooting more all next week. The camera and incredible lens under $1200 and so worth it! I’m a proud fan of Pentax and Ricoh now. Always bet the underdog!

I was super stoked when camera arrived. I also ordered 2 lenses at the same time. Sadly, I had to return it because the images were blurry. I tried everything including 3 lenses but I could not get a sharp image. The photos had excellent color and contrast but they all had the look of motion blur. As if the camera was moved during a slow exposure. It’s too bad because the camera is nicely built and packed with great features. Loved the tilting screen and the manual controls.

I purchased the K70 more or less knowing what I would be getting myself into. I have over 15 Pentax lenses, even lenses from 1980 that can be used with this camera mount, and at this point, it would not make sense for me to switch brands, because my glass collection is extensive. With that being said, I dont want to come off sounding like a brand ambassador, which although I love Pentax, my last camera was a K50, and I experienced the dead aperture block, which Pentax is surely aware of, but had no interest in helping me fix it, even though it only had 1800 shutter count on it, I still feel a little salty about that. With that being said, I always tell people to make the comparison with features that fit your needs……Being a hotly contested market for the 650 dollar price range, you cant really go wrong with any of the major manufacturers. However there are a lot of features that I feel always push me towards Pentax, that the other manufacturers do not offer such as weatherproofing………… that def helps from a durability standpoint. Not having to worry about weather really sets this camera apart from every other competitor in this price range. No other manufacturer offers weather sealing at this price point………Period. The next REALLY important feature that you have to use to compare, is the fact that the body of the camera has image stabilization BUILT IN! I cannot overstate how important that one feature alone is…….It allows you to use film era lenses, and manual lenses, without the need to buy EXPENSIVE lenses with Image Stabilization built into them. Ergonomics………………… Idk what it is, but whenever I go into Best Buy, I hold a Can, or Nikon and they just feel like a big chunk of plastic, but not of the solid variety. Very hollow is my best feeling of those two brands. In my opinion they could afford to make the body smaller or more compact. The K70 has no such issues. It is a very solid body that is well crafted, and feels substantial in the hands, not hollow feeling. All of the buttons and dials are within a quick reach to access all of the functions that need to be used on a daily basis. A lot of thought goes into the ergonomics of Pentax cameras, and you can tell once your holding it, that this is a great feeling camera in the hands. The menus have been uplifted, and simplified over previous bodies, making it very easy to understand. Another feature that cannot be overlooked, is the two dial system……one in front of the shutter for F stops, and another behind the shutter for other functions, as it is customizable. Too many new cameras only have one dial, which really doesnt help when you need to reach certain functions…..with the K70, you can reach them without looking. Nice little touches, like night mode, which makes the screen red, so its easy on the eyes, is really nice. As far as image quality goes, I have not looked at other brands, however I can tell you by reactions of my photography from other people………the usual reaction is…….. WOW. The pictures REALLY pop and have intense detail……..doesnt matter what the subject is, the pictures always come out pleasant, and have excellent colors and saturation. The move to an articulating screen which was new on the KS2 ( previous model) is a nice touch. I always thought to myself……Why would I use a tilting screen? But since I have it on this camera, I have been using it ALOT! It really is a god send, when you are trying to take pictures in awkward positions……..The focus in live view has also been improved extensively from older Pentax models, and there is no delay when taking pictures anymore……it just WORKS! Another unique feature, is a mode in camera called Pixel Shift, where when taking the picture, the sensor moves to the right and to the left snapping off 3 frames, only increasing the quality of the image ( with a tripod of course) I thought it to be gimmiky when reading about it, but wow, it really works well! And then there is the penta prism that is used for the optical viewfinder. Yes, you may think its a pretty small deal, but when you look through the K70s view finder, compared the other brands mentioned before, I feel like their viewfinders are DARK. Not terrible, but not clear like the Pentax Penta Prism is. Its bright, clear, and provides a 95% view of what you are taking a picture of…..where other brands are a lower %…..making it unpredictable, of what is going to fit in the frame when the picture is processed. The last advantage over other brands, is the shutter speed. 1/6000 shutter speed really does make a difference. You will see that other brands possess a 1/4000 max shutter speed, which in 2017 is unacceptable…..especially when you need to freeze the action, the shutter speed really makes a difference!
Now the Bad.
Not all bad news, but there are things that must be pointed out that I didnt cover in the Pros, because they deserve to be in the Cons section.
Movie mode. MEH, is the best description of movie mode. Its there, and it has video autofocusing, but the movie mode is not very well hashed out.
When moving the camera around, the movie becomes jittery, and wobbles………but when you stop it goes back into focus…….but in all honesty, people do not buy Pentax for Video mode. It is something that has plagued Pentax from the very first camera body that made use of video….they are woefully behind, but it doesnt really bother me…… I buy Pentax for its still imaging prowess……if you want a video camera, buy a video camera!
Next is WiFI Yes, it has Wifi, however its a little difficult to pair with your device, and a little hard to get it to work properly. On top of that the pictures take over a minute to arrive at your phone or device…..IMO they need to improve upon this. Its great in a pinch, when you want to send it to your phone, but it is in no way as seamless as it couldve been……..You can use your phone to control almost all of the features, which is definitely a nice feature, but is a little slow……….
The last thing, and I dont like to bring this up, because it does not hinder my photography ability whatsoever, but it could be a problem for people that rely on autofocus, that do not use manual settings. It only has 11 focus points. Is it fast? I think it is. I never EVER have an issue with it. It usually decides on the focus pretty darn fast, and decisively, which is great. Its just that other manufacturers cameras in this segment have 18-35 focus points. Not a con for me, but may be for others. I feel as though it does not have a lot of focus points, it still is really good with the 11 it has.

So in the end, would I recommend the K70? Absolutely 100% You simply cannot go wrong with owning this camera…….Its 24 MP sensor is crazy good……it takes wonderful pictures, and really has a wow factor with the colors and saturation that it renders, as long as the camera is shooting in RAW mode. (Which is 14 Bit BTW!) JPEGs are good, but the RAW pictures are incredibly detailed. If you have even a little photography skill, this camera will do wonders for you. I have owned over 10 Pentax cameras, and every one of them has been great for me over the years, except for the K50! I had a film era K1000 body, and even then, I thought it took more pleasing pictures than the Minoltas, and Canons that I have owned in the film era, and even after a 30 year journey of photography personally, Pentax still offers that value that stands out from the other brands.

18 months in, nothing but black frames. Internet check for similar problems indicated aperture block failure. Similar to other pentax models. That failure went unresolved. Seems to have reappeared in this newer model. SUCKs an otherwise great camera ….NO PICTURES..!.!…Still trying to get a reply from pentax authorized repair shop.

Do not buy until the class action has been resolved. Extremely disappointed they have to fix the problem. K-70 has a a fault producing dark photos with this model esp after the warranty expires.
Update: The fault in some of these cameras is a ‘green solenoid’ that has to be replaced. This has been done and the camera is working again. Stays one star until Pentax reach out to those affected and compensate.

I don’t have the luxury of time. I can’t wait on “perfect” lighting or weather conditions. Travel and vacation usually means I have to live with the weather I get, rain, snow, clouds, or sun. I needed a camera that can handle it all and that’s just what I got in the Pentax K-70.
To start with, I find that the K-70 gives me the biggest bang for the buck of any DSLR. It’s loaded! For $649 (body only) the K-70 offers a 24 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, in-camera image stabilization that is also used to simulate anti-alias filtering that can be adjusted or turned off, a fully articulated LCD screen (no touch), an ISO range that is a mind boggling 100 – 102400, auto focus fine tuning, a pentaprism viewfinder with 100% coverage, and Wi-Fi. It’s a comfortable camera in hand and easy to operate right out of the box. It has the best ergonomics of any DSLR I have held. There are two customizable control dails at my finger tips that I use to control apature and shutter speed while shooting manual but you can set them up to control a multitude of settings on the fly – and the settings can be saved. It has a fast shutter speed (1/6000 sec), and a fast burst rate at six frames per second while shooting in RAW format. Image quality is outstanding especially in RAW format and takes excellent low light (low noise) photos. On top of all that it’s weather and dust sealed, which is a must for me.
Not that everthing is perfect with the K-70. If letting your DSLR handle video capture is a desire of yours, then the K-70 might not be your best option. Not that it can’t do video, but it, apparently, is not a priority in ANY Pentax DSLR. Autofocus in video mode can have a hard time keeping up with a moving subject. Also, there is no dedicated button for video. The On/Off switch also serves as the video switch. Autofocus in DSLR mode seems slow as well, but that may be a more of a problem with the kit lens and not the camera. As I prefer to shoot landscapes, I’ve not had much of a problem with the autofocus. The K-70 is also a bit heavy compared to other DLSRs, and especially mirrorless cameras, but it is a tough camera that you don’t have to keep covered up and protected on a hike.
A recent trip to Shenandoah National Park had the camera out in the rain, getting bumped and smacked about by a few low hanging branches from trees and bushes with no ill effect. I just use a weathersealed lens and keep the lens cap and hood on for protection.