Pentax K-r

[Snaps]

I have been deliberating what DSLR to buy and have considered in turn Nikon D5100 or D90,Sony A580 and Canon 550D. I am now coming around to the view that the Pentax K-r is better than all of those and as it is now selling for about £400 with kit lense has got to be the bargain of the century. Has anyone on this Forum bought one of these? If so, how do you find it?

[jglarkin]

I was in the same perdicament on which camera to choose. So i read all of the reviews and the pentax k-r look pretty good out all of them. This is a very good mid range cameraand allrounded So i brought one, I brought it with twin lens for £479 at jessops online on offer. im very happy with the camrea. hope this helps.

[canismajor]

I have been deliberating what DSLR to buy and have considered in turn Nikon D5100 or D90,Sony A580 and Canon 550D. I am now coming around to the view that the Pentax K-r is better than all of those and as it is now selling for about £400 with kit lense has got to be the bargain of the century. Has anyone on this Forum bought one of these? If so, how do you find it?

Hi Snaps. You're not the first forum user to discover this Pentax camera to be good value for money. I've heard that the kit lens may not be as good as you would prefer but please go into a camera shop and fire off some frames using your own SD card and then make some comparisons. There's nothing like having a 'hands on' experience. No decent camera shop could object to that, could they?. All the best.

[John Hendry]

I have been wondering about the very same camera myself so await any responses

_____________________________________
[Commercial URL Removed]

[graham_c]

Hi Snaps & John
At the moment you can buy a pentax KR with a 18-55mm & a 50- 200 for about £480 Which is well worth a good look, on top of this Ricoh have just bought pentax so it all looks good for pentax ...graham

[wave]

Hi I always give this advice when you buy a DSLR you buy into a system so check what lenses are available to you. Get a short list and go and try them see how they feel is everything in the right place for you, dont think I will get used to it, buy what is right for you. What seems cheap may not be the right way to go. Good luck

[Snaps]

Thanks for all your replies, all very helpfull. I had difficulty getting back into the forum for some reason so I apologise for my late response. I've handled the Pentax K-r camera several times in Jessops in The Mall just outside Bristol (brilliant "hands on" shop), along with it's competitors. Not as sturdy/heavy as the Nikon D90, but a lot more solid feeling than the Nikon D5100/31000 or the Canon 550/600D. The Sony A580 just feels awkward. The only one I'm tempted to is the D90, but at nearly £700 with it's kit lens I feel it's over-priced for a fairly low-spec ageing camera. So I'm going for the K-r twin lens kit. It's really got a spec far above it's asking price. Incidentally, if anyone is interested, September's issue of WDC pits the Pentax K-r against the Nikon D3100 and Canon 1100D and beats them. No surprise really as it is really meant to compete against those cameras bigger brothers and matches/beats them in everything but at a much lower price. Thanks again for all your replies.