Pentax K-x Digital Camera Review

Speed and Timing

There are two settings for continuous shooting, Hi promises 4.7 shots per second up to 17 frames in a row, and came very close. There's also Lo, which shoots at about 2 frames per second, but can continue at that rate until you've filled up the SD card. RAW shooting is also speedy, but you can only shoot 5 shots continuously in high-speed mode before giving the buffer time to clear.

Pentax promises a high burst rate of approximately 4.7 fps, and our testing proved they're not far off the mark. Shooting full-resolution, large JPEGs, we clocked the camera at 4.22 shots per second, the fastest speed in our comparison group.

There are two self-timer modes: 2 second and 12 second. An optional wireless remote control is available, which can be used to trigger the shutter immediately or after a 3-second delay.

Focus Speed

The K-x incorporates a significant autofocus system improvement over the K2000 introduced earlier this year. The camera now uses 11 autofocus points (versus 5 for the K2000) and offers four AF point selection modes: the camera can choose from 5 or 11 points, the user can select one of 11 points manually, or the center point can be set in spot mode.

Autofocus speed isn't lightning-fast, but it's not bad — certainly up to the task for day-to-day shooting, and even sports photography works reasonably well, particularly when using continuous focus mode.

If you're trying to snag a sharp shot of a moving subject, catch-in focus is available. You set the focus on a point that the subject will pass and hold the shutter button halfway. When your quarry appears and is in focus, the shutter trips automatically.

The camera doesn't have a dedicated autofocus assist lamp, relying instead on a brief burst of light from the pop-up flash to help achieve focus in dark environments. Fortunately, the system works quickly enough in most low-light conditions even without the flash assist, so you'll be able to take your indoor candids without being branded a flasher.

When focusing manually, the viewfinder focus confirmation indicator lights when the subject comes into focus. However, the focus ring on the kit lens has very little friction, making manual focusing a chore, and hitting the precise point where that indicator light blinks on is awfully tricky.