Pentax K-5 Digital Camera First Impressions Review

Ease of Use

In our limited time with the K-5, we found it to be an intuitive and easy to use camera. It is a complex camera, though, and the number of buttons and features on offer may be off-putting for some users. However, the layout of these is logical and consistent, so it should not take long to learn the layout and find your way around without thinking about it. The on-screen menu is a little overcomplicated though, with the options there divided up into 5 tabs, each of which contains various sub-sections (there are 5 for the configuration tab). This often means quite a lot of scrolling around to reach the one you need.

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Size & Handling

The K-5 is a fairly hefty camera, but it fits well into the hand, with a natural feel and a good tight grip. The contoured plastic coating should ensure a firm grip with sweaty hands. And speaking of sweat: Pentax claims that the body of the K-5 is well sealed against dust and moisture with a large number of rubber seals. We were not able to verify this claim by getting the camera wet, but it certainly feels solid and well constructed, with the port covers snapping tightly into place and the whole camera body feeling robust.

When holding the camera, the index finger falls naturally onto the shutter, and the thumb of the right hand falls onto the control dial and AE-L (exposure lock) button. Additional buttons are in close reach, such as the live view and AF mode buttons. There are also a number of dials on the front of the camera close to the lens: a switch there controls the focus mode, and another button switches the camera between saving JPEG and RAW images.

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