Movie/Video Mode

Pentax K-r review – Movie/Video Mode

Pentax K-r review: Movie/Video Quality

The Pentax K-r is able to record at a maximum resolution of 720p at 25fps, with a further option to record VGA (640 x 480) movies at either 25 or 30fps. Movie files are recorded in the Motion-JPEG format, which offers quality reproduction and near universal media player support, but comes at the price of much larger file sizes than the alternative AVCHD format. It’s worth noting that there’s no HDMI output on the K-r either.

Pentax K-r review: Movie/Video Record Time

Pentax claims a top continuous recording time of 25 minutes or 4GB, whichever is reached first. In our tests, we found the K-r to record HD movie files at the rate of 270MB per minute, meaning a top continuous recording time of about 15 minutes. This will vary depending on what you’re shooting, as compression will differ based on content.

Pentax K-r review: Movie/Video Focusing Modes

While it’s possible to focus on a subject prior to recording movies, continuous autofocus is disabled once recording starts. This means that you must use the manual focus ring on the attached lens. On the 18-55mm kit lens this proved to be somewhat clunky owing to the resistance of the focus ring. Furthermore, it also generated audible noise that the built-in microphone can pick up (see below). Although autofocus on many other DSLR systems in movie mode is available it can often be disappointing, but for Pentax to continue to entirely omit this feature is a shame.

Pentax K-r review: Movie/Video Sound

The K-r’s buil

t-in microphone only records in mono and sadly there’s no socket in which to plug a stereo microphone either. While using the camera to record movies in a quiet location we found that the built-in microphone picked up the internal whirring of the manual focus ring as we adjusted it.