Pentax K-r Review

Overview

Pentax K-r Overview

Review by Mike Tomkins, Zig Weidelich, and Shawn Barnett
Hands-on Preview Posted: 9/9/2010
Full Review Posted: 07/07/2011

With a 12-megapixel sensor, a high-res 3-inch LCD, and a six frame per second burst rate, the Pentax K-r takes up the middle spot between the K-7 and the K-x. The Pentax K-r sports a number of improvements over the K-x, most notable of which is the addition of autofocus indicators in the viewfinder, something missing from both the previous K-2000 / K-m and the followup K-x.

Like the K-x, the Pentax K-r comes in three body colors in the US market: black, red, and white. Pentax says that for the K-x, the non-traditional colors have been very popular, and they're expecting the same for the K-r.

But the Pentax K-r doesn't seem to be just about fun and fashion. There's more to this model, including a 921,000-dot, 3-inch LCD, ISO sensitivity ranging from 100 to 25,600, in-camera HDR and Night Scene HDR mode, and 720p HD video recording at 25 fps.

A unique touch on the Pentax K-r is a dual-power system that lets users choose their preferred battery type. By default, the K-r ships with a proprietary lithium-ion battery that provides the maximum energy density, but courtesy of an optional battery holder, it can also accept four standard AA batteries -- great when you've nowhere to charge your batteries, or if your other gadgets accepts AAs and you don't want to carry multiple charger types on a trip.

Also unique is an infrared data transfer method compatible with the IrSimple / IrSS data transmission systems, allowing wireless image transfer at high speed either from camera to camera, or to certain devices such as cell phones, printers or computers. Couple the K-r with a compatible smartphone, and you can upload images to the web or send them by email near-instantly after capture, without the need for cables, computers, or third-party hardware.

The Pentax K-r includes a sensor-shift Shake Reduction system to compensate for camera movement during exposure. The system also serves as a dust-reduction system, shaking the sensor to remove dust that might have attached to the sensor.

Autofocus is done via the SAFOX IX sensor, which features 11 autofocus points, nine of them cross-type sensors. A spotbeam projector throws out an AF-assist beam to help with autofocus on nearby objects in low ambient light, and as we already mentioned, the Pentax K-r's optical viewfinder includes illuminated AF points.

The Pentax K-r uses SD or SDHC memory cards for storage, and a firmware update provided shortly after the camera shipped enables compatibility with SDXC cards as well.

Available since October 2010, the Pentax K-r comes body-only and in several kits. Body only pricing is set at US$799.95. Kit prices are US$849.95 with only an 18-55mm lens, US$899.95 for the 18-55mm and 50-200mm kit, or US$999.95 for a kit including the 18-55mm and 55-300mm optics.

Pentax K-r User Report

by Mike Tomkins and Shawn Barnett

Something of a cross between 2009's flagship K-7 and entry-level K-x models, the Pentax K-r has the basic body elements of the K-x, but mimics the styling and incorporates some of the more advanced features of the K-7. Based around a slightly tweaked version of the sensor that debuted in the K-x, the K-r has identical sensor resolution and pixel density, and yields similar image quality -- great news, because the K-x's 12.4-megapixel sensor beat the 14.6-megapixel sensor in the K-7 hands down, although the company's current flagship K-5 has since made a significant step forward in image quality, and now rules the roost. Even if it doesn't quite match up to the K-5's sensor in terms of resolution and noise performance, though, the K-r provides Pentax fans with a more affordable alternative to the company's flagship model, while still retaining very good image quality, and a number of important benefits over the K-x, key among these being the autofocus indicators in the optical viewfinder.

Walkaround. The Pentax K-r is physically a little larger than the K-x and a little smaller than the K-7. Its weight with lithium-ion battery and Secure Digital card loaded--but with no lens mounted--is 21.1 ounces (598g), a little heavier than the K-x, but still a fair way below that of the K-7 and K-5. If you prefer to use AA batteries, the K-r falls closer to the middle ground. AA battery weight will obviously vary depending on the type selected, but by way of comparison, a set of Sanyo's Eneloop batteries weigh somewhere in the region of 3.8 ounces (108g), plus about another 0.6 ounces (16g) for the battery holder. Combined, that's well over double the weight of Pentax's proprietary pack.

While the body of the Pentax K-r is sculpted to appear more like the K-7, it has no LCD on the top deck, thanks to the presence of the Mode dial on its right side. A nice indent on the grip helps the middle finger find its place quickly, and there are rubber panels on both the right and left side of the body, as well as slight lip at the front edge of the K-r's left side which provides some extra purchase for your fingers while chimping. Two modern strap lugs bookend the top panel, and are recessed to prevent them catching on anything. We find these far preferable to the neckstrap D-rings used on the company's flagship K-5 model, as they avoid the metal-on-metal interface that results in unwanted noise during video capture.

From the front you can see the infrared receiver / self timer lamp in the hand grip, and the spotbeam projector autofocus-assist beam borrowed from the K-5 / K-7 design. This brightly illuminates in green as the camera feels it to be needed, and although you can disable it altogether, you can't force the camera to use it for any given shot. Since the K-r's body is quite a bit smaller than the flagship models, the lamp is of necessity even closer to the lens mount, and hence more likely to be blocked by larger lenses, especially if a lens hood is mounted. Of course, you're not likely to need a lens hood in conditions where AF assist is needed, but if your hood stores reversed on the lens, you'll likely want to remove it. The only front-panel control is the lens release button, positioned just below and to the left of the lens mount in the picture above.

The top view shows only a few elements, and other than styling differences, is basically identical to that of the K-x. Two speaker holes are on the left of the pentaprism housing. The diopter correction slider appears just behind the hot shoe, accessible through a cutout in the top of the rubber eyepiece. Unlike the K-7 and K-5, there is no Front e-dial in front of the shutter release button; only one e-dial on the rear of the body is used to make adjustments to aperture or shutter speed, as well as menu selections. In Manual exposure mode, this e-dial changes the shutter speed, and you have to press and hold the Av button on the top deck to adjust aperture. This button also serves to access Exposure Compensation. Just right of the EV button is the Green button, which re-centers exposure and metering settings depending on the mode.

Rather than the sloping shoulders of the K-x, we find an even flatter plateau than that of the K-5 / K-7 design. Control layout, though, is all K-x, with all the same positions. The Flash Up/ Delete button is positioned at upper left of the LCD. The e-dial to the right of the viewfinder eyepiece is well positioned for easy thumb operation. Below that are the Playback, Live View, Info, and Menu buttons. A card access lamp window is just to the right of the Live View button, and below that is a very small four-way navigator with an OK button in the center. I have large hands, and found this a little close to the edge of the camera to be very comfortable, but it's a necessary compromise to achieve the K-r's relatively compact size. Those with smaller hands likely won't have any issue. The upper right corner has the AF-activation and AE-Lock button. You can see the outline of the SD card door, which is opened with a pull to the rear, then it swings out toward the right.

The left-side view of the Pentax K-r shows the 18-55mm kit lens and the no-nonsense profile. Behind the lens mount is the Focus mode switch, and on the left-hand end of the body, there's a new IrSimple / IrSS infrared port for high-speed wireless data transfer, just above a small rubber flap that conceals the combined USB / standard definition video output port.

Sensor. The Pentax K-r is based around a 12.4-megapixel, APS-C sized (23.6 x 15.8mm), RGB CMOS image sensor, with a total resolution of 12.9 megapixels. While the resolution and size are identical to that of the chip used in the previous K-x model, it's actually a newly designed chip.

Shake Reduction. As in the K-x, the sensor assembly is mounted on a moving platter, used to provide for both in-body shake reduction and dust removal. The shake reduction system in the Pentax K-r provides the same claimed 4-stop improvement as that of the K-x, and as with that camera, doesn't include the rotational correction ability of the system used in the company's flagship K-7 and K-5 models.

The sensor-shift mechanism is also used as part of Pentax's dust removal system, shaking the sensor assembly to remove dust particles from the low-pass filter that's overlaid on the CMOS sensor. (Unlike the K-7, the Pentax K-r doesn't include a piezoelectric element, which can vibrate the low-pass filter at a higher frequency than is possible with the sensor shift mechanism). Although we don't have an objective way to measure dust removal efficacy, we've subjectively found systems that rely on shaking the sensor assembly are generally somewhat less effective than those based around piezoelectric systems.

Processor. Output from the Pentax K-r's new image sensor is processed by the same PRIME II (PENTAX Real Image Engine II) imaging engine as in the K-x, but the combination offers worthwhile improvements over that camera in terms of both sensitivity and burst shooting. The K-x was no slouch when it came to high ISO shooting, but its expanded maximum sensitivity limit of ISO 12,800 has been moved into the Pentax K-r's standard range, with the new body offering an extremely wide standard range of ISO 200 to 12,800 equivalents. The Pentax K-r's sensitivity range can be expanded to encompass ISO 100 to 25,600 equivalents.

Burst speed. The Pentax K-r's burst performance is even more impressive, beating not only the K-x, but also Pentax's previous flagship K-7 model in terms of outright speed. Where the K-x was capable of shooting at 4.3-4.6 frames per second, and the K-7 was limited to 5.2 frames per second, our in-house testing found the Pentax K-r's Continuous Hi drive mode to be capable of a full 5.6-5.7 frames per second -- a speed that the company notes makes it the fastest of any entry-level digital SLR, and not far behind the 6.4-6.5 frames per second of the current flagship K-5 model.

At 30 full-resolution JPEG, 13 Raw, or 10 Raw+JPEG frames using our hard-to-compress test target, burst depth is also handily improved from the K-x's 25 JPEG, 5 Raw, or 4 Raw+JPEG frames. In JPEG mode it almost matches the 31-frame burst capability of the K-5, although for Raw shooters the flagship model offers much better depths of 23 Raw or 22 Raw+JPEG frames. For subjects where a little less speed is required, the K-r's Continuous Lo mode captures JPEG images at a sedate two frames per second for as long as there's available card space, and is rated by Pentax as capable of 36 Raw frames in a burst.

Autofocus. Pentax has also upgraded the K-r's autofocus system to its latest SAFOX IX system, a designation which had only previously been applied to the company's medium format 645D model. Compared to the previous-generation SAFOX VIII system used in the K-x and K-r, SAFOX IX has the same point count and arrangement, but several important differences. There are a total of eleven points, of which all but two are cross-type, sensitive to both horizontal and vertical detail. The cross-type points are arranged in a three by three grid towards the center of the image frame, while on either side of this grid there's one linear sensor.

The SAFOX IX AF module's optics have improved transparency, which Pentax claims translates to improved performance in low light. The AF module's optics also have better controlled aberration, said to further improve autofocus accuracy. Ambient temperature, says Pentax, also has less of an impact on the SAFOX IX module. Sharp-eyed readers will note that the K-r's SAFOX module lacks the "+" designation of the modules featured in the 645D, K-5, and K-7, and this hints at one omission in the Pentax K-r's AF system. Where the flagship APS-C and medium format cameras all include a secondary light color sensor dedicated to determining the light source type, which is then taken into account when determining focus, the Pentax K-r lacks this function.

Beyond the AF module itself, the Pentax K-r includes a couple of other significant features that are present in the flagship K-5 and K-7 models, but not in the K-x -- and one of these answers one of our main criticisms with its entry-level sibling. The Pentax K-r adds a dedicated autofocus assist lamp, where the K-x depended on either an external flash strobe, or rapid, low-power strobing of its internal flash to provide assist illumination. Perhaps more importantly, though, the Pentax K-r now includes an indication of the active autofocus point(s) in its optical viewfinder -- a feature that was conspicuously absent in both the K-x, and the preceding K2000 (aka K-m). This should not only make manual AF point selection more natural, negating the need to remove your eye from the viewfinder while making point selections, but also makes it easier to confirm that the correct subject has been selected for focusing when using automatic point selection. The pentamirror viewfinder is otherwise unchanged from that of the K-x, with the Pentax K-r providing the same 96% viewfinder coverage, 0.85x magnification, and -2.5 to +1.5 diopter adjustment.

One final autofocus-related change is to be found in the Pentax K-r's Live View mode. The contrast detection algorithms used while Live View is active have been overhauled, and in concert with the newly developed image sensor, offer significant improvements in both accuracy and speed over those of the K-x.

LCD. The Pentax K-r's restyled body is just slightly taller and a touch wider than that of the previous K-x, and likely part of the reason for this is down to a change in the camera's LCD display. Where the K-x offered up a 2.7-inch panel with modest 230,000 dot resolution, the Pentax K-r now has the same 3.0-inch LCD diagonal as the flagship K-5 and K-7 models. It also shares the same 921,000 dot resolution, which roughly corresponds to a 640 x 480 pixel array, with each pixel comprising separate red, green, and blue dots. Although it's not articulated like those of some competing DSLRs, the K-r's LCD has a wide 170-degree viewing angle in both horizontal and vertical axes, which helps somewhat when shooting over a crowd, from the hip, or low to the ground, as well as when chimping your images with friends.

Connectivity. Like the entry-level K-x, the Pentax K-r lacks an HDMI high-definition video output, instead providing only a standard-definition NTSC / PAL composite video output. Note that Pentax doesn't include the necessary cable in the product bundle, so if you want to connect your camera to a TV, you'll need to purchase the cable yourself. Of course, it also includes a USB 2.0 High-speed connection, providing for data transfer to a computer. It does add one connectivity option that's a first for a Pentax DSLR -- and in fact, we believe it's a first for any DSLR model. The Pentax K-r includes IrSimple / IrSS support -- the latest generation IrDA standard for wireless data transfer using an infrared transceiver. IrSimple and IrSS are both based on the Fast IrDA physical layer, but with tweaks made to reduce latency, resulting in the Infrared Data Association claiming 4-11x throughput improvements over its previous IrDA-4M protocol. The difference between the two protocols is that IrSimple is bi-directional, while IrSS is a one-way protocol which doesn't provide for the receiving camera to acknowledge data reception or request retransmission.

Although I don't have access to any IrSimple devices for in-house testing, I understand that in the real world, IrSimple transfers should manage around one megabyte every two seconds -- rather too slow for transferring large quantities of data, but perfectly acceptable for sending downsampled copies of images to another K-r body, as well as compatible devices such as cell phones and printers -- and if you've the appropriate hardware in your computer and aren't in a rush, it could potentially save you connecting cables or moving flash cards to transfer a few images between camera and computer. The K-r allows transfer of downsampled images at 0.3 or 2.0 megapixel resolution, as well as full-resolution images, but movies can't be transferred via infrared. An interesting possibility raised by the K-r's unusual IR transfer function is the ability to send images to your cellphone and then immediately upload them to social network sites, or share them via email. This will doubtless prove popular with the younger generation, who thrive on such immediacy, and while it's possible to achieve the same thing with some other DSLRs using cables or wifi-capable flash cards, the K-r is unique in being able to provide the capability without any third-party hardware, so long as your cell phone is compatible with IrSimple.

Perhaps slightly more unusual is an IrSimple "matching game," in which characteristics of images can be compared between cameras, and unspecified algorithms used to rate which image the cameras consider to be the "best" -- sort of a modern equivalent of Top Trumps, for those familiar with the once popular card game from the 70's and 80's. Each camera keeps a score count of wins, losses, and draws, which can be reset if you find yourself embarrassed by a particularly low score. There's basically no information on what criterion merit a winning result on any metric though, and they certainly don't appear to relate to image quality in any way. Although I didn't have access to two camera bodies so as to perform challenges, the K-r also lets you see the score for all three criterion while you're selecting the image with which to present (or answer) a challenge, and I noted that for example, an image that was radically underexposed outscored a better-exposed image on all three gauges.

While it's certainly unusual, I can't help but feel that the money expended on creating this matching game could better have been invested in something more relevant to photography -- perhaps a help system that would make the camera friendlier and more educational for beginners, or the tethering capability whose absence since the K20D I've been bemoaning for a few years now...

Dual power. Another significant difference between the Pentax K-r and its siblings is found in its power source. The K-x continued Pentax's tradition of offering entry-level DSLRs with support for standard AA batteries -- something that makes the company unique in the current DSLR marketplace. The flagship K-5 and K-7, by contrast, accept only a proprietary lithium-ion battery pack in the camera body, although they can accept AA batteries in their optional portrait grip accessory. For the K-r, Pentax offers the best of both worlds: compatibility with both a proprietary lithium-ion pack, and with AA batteries, in-body. The lithium ion cell is provided in the camera bundle, and four AA batteries can be inserted using an optionally available D-BH109 battery adapter. When using the proprietary cell, the Pentax K-r is just 2% heavier than the K-x, despite a 5% increase in body-only weight thanks to the larger LCD panel and increased body size. For AA shooters, the battery adapter does add a little extra weight (with the combination weighing around 7% more than the K-x), but considering that this is due in part to the increased body size, it's not a difference you're likely to notice in the real world.

Battery life when using the new D-LI109 lithium-ion battery pack is rated at around 470 images to CIPA testing standards (with 50% flash usage), and playback time is rated at 300 minutes. When using rechargeable 1,900 mAh NiMH AA batteries, battery life falls to 400 shots with 50% flash usage, but playback time increases slightly to 330 minutes. The best battery life is achieved with lithium disposables, at some 1,000 images with 50% flash usage, or 620 minutes of playback, but obviously you have to factor in the cost (and environmental impact) of replacing the lithium batteries after the equivalent of just two charges of the proprietary cell. Finally, the ubiquitous AA alkaline disposables are usable in a snip if you can't find anything else, yielding around 120 shots with 50% flash usage, or 270 minutes of playback.

Storage. Like all the company's cameras launched since 2009, the Pentax K-r not only supports Secure Digital and SDHC memory cards out of the box, but will also support the latest generation SDXC cards courtesy of an available firmware update. Although their speed is unchanged, SDXC cards are already available in significantly higher capacities than their other SD brethren. Note, though, that as with all of Pentax's current SDXC-compatible cameras, the K-r provides no support for the higher-speed UHS-I cards, which will revert to standard speed operation.

Custom image modes. The majority of other differences between the Pentax K-r and its predecessor are to be found in its firmware functionality. Pentax has added an additional custom image mode to the existing eight found in previous models, emulating the look of Bleach Bypass images. Even if you've not previously heard the term, it's likely you're familiar with the effect, as bleach bypass has been a popular effect in the movie industry for many years. With film, the effect was achieved by skipping or abbreviating the bleaching stage of processing, leaving some silver in the emulsion alongside the color dyes. The effect is a grainy, high-contrast look with reduced saturation and exposure latitude.

Filters. There are also two new filter functions not found in the earlier K-x and K-7, whose effects are self-explanatory. The sketch filter mimics the look of a hand-drawn image, while the posterization filter causes abrupt transitions in tone. The color extraction filter has also been updated, and now allows two color ranges to be highlighted in an image, with colors outside these ranges desaturated.

The Pentax K-r also includes an updated version of the cross-process function that debuted in the K-x. In that camera, the function -- accessed through its own option in the record menu, rather than as a filter or custom image mode -- could only be switched on and off, and yielded a random effect that couldn't be previewed ahead of time. In the Pentax K-r, it's still possible to use the cross process function in this manner, but there are also three preset cross process modes that offer a consistent look from shot to shot. In addition, there's an adjustable user favorite preset, which allows the look to be tailored to the photographer's needs.

HDR. The Pentax K-r also updates the high dynamic range function that debuted in its prosumer K-7 model, and was retained for the K-x. The function allows capture of images with greater dynamic range than the sensor is capable of detecting, by taking multiple images with varied exposure, and then combining them in-camera to produce a single shot with increased dynamic range -- and since it involves multiple exposures, it's only useful for relatively static subjects. At the time of the K-7's launch, the feature was unique in the digital SLR market, but it's since been mirrored -- and improved upon -- by rivals.

The Pentax K-r's updated HDR mode includes several changes. The most significant of these is that the K-r now microaligns images before combining them, making it possible to shoot handheld HDRs. (Previously, even a slight camera movement would cause artifacts throughout the image, rendering it unusable -- and hence HDR mode was limited to tripod use.) There's also a new Night Scene HDR mode, and further control over the strength of the HDR effect applied.

Movie mode. The Pentax K-r also has two changes to its Movie mode, compared to earlier Pentax DSLRs. Like the K-x, the K-r can record either standard definition VGA (640 x 480) or high definition 720p (1,280 x 720) movie clips using Motion JPEG compression, in an AVI container. Note, though, that it lacks the Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) mode found in the K-5. Where the K-x had a capture rate of 24 frames per second, the K-r now records movies at a rate of 25 frames per second. It also now allows use of a subset of Pentax's various filter functions when recording movies, as well as one additional filter that's specific to movie capture. Unlike some competing cameras, none of these filters causes any adverse effect on movie framerate or playback speed.

Colors. The Pentax K-r is available in the US market in three body colors -- black, white, and Pentax red. Compared to the red version of the K-x, this latter is less orange, and closer to a fire-engine red. The white-bodied version of the K-r is available with a matching white version of its 18-55mm kit lens, while all other kit lenses (both for the white K-r, and the other body colors) are provided only in the standard black color.

Pricing for the Pentax K-r is set at US$800, with availability since October 2010. In addition, three kit bundles are available, all of which will include a selection of Pentax's DA-L lenses. For US$850, the Pentax K-r comes bundled with an 18-55mm lens. For $900, the K-r is available with both the 18-55mm lens, and a 50-200mm model. Finally, for photographers looking for the most zoom reach, a US $1,000 bundle includes the 18-55mm lens, and a 55-300mm lens.

Pentax K-r Field Test

by Mike Tomkins

As I mentioned in our recent review of Pentax's flagship K-5 digital SLR, I'm very familiar with the company's cameras, having first purchased the previous K-7 model in late 2009, and recently upgraded to the Pentax K-5. Given that it features a very similar on-screen UI, as well as a number of controls and operating modes unique to Pentax, I felt quite at home with the K-r from day one. It's certainly a much friendlier camera for consumers, thanks to common features like Scene modes and a flash strobe that can deploy automatically, but compared to the preceding K-x model (which remains available at an entry-level price), the K-r feels like a more serious photographic tool. It even manages to best the company's previous-generation flagship in a number of important areas, although it does lack the rugged, weather-sealed design and some of the more advanced features of the K-7 and K-5 models. If you're willing to make that tradeoff, though, the K-r also offers a significantly more attractive price tag, as well as a worthwhile savings in both weight and size. Although the body design features plastic panels over a steel chassis, it feels sturdy and creak-free.

Note that my gallery photos captured on a walk around downtown Knoxville, Tennessee to accompany this shooter's report were taken using the smc PENTAX DA 17-70mm F4 AL (IF) SDM lens, as I didn't have access to the smc PENTAX-DA L 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL lens which comes in all K-r with-lens kits. The 17-70mm lens, which we've reviewed on our sister site SLRgear.com, offers a pretty good performance optically, although with some noticeable chromatic aberration towards the ends of the zoom range. We've not reviewed the 18-55mm DA L kit lens, but I understand it to be closely related to the DA version of the same lens, which we felt to be a fairly good performer when its pricing is considered. The DA L version includes some cost-saving features such as a plastic lens mount, and the removal of the quick shift focusing feature, but should perform similarly otherwise. It's certainly not in the same class as the significantly more expensive 17-70mm though, and so I'd caution readers not to expect quite the same levels of detail from the standard kit zoom.

Handling. Shooting with the Pentax K-r, I found its body very comfortable for the most part, although the grip is a little angular for my liking. The slight lip along the left hand end of the front panel is a very nice touch, making for a much more reassuring two-handed hold while chimping, browsing menus, or shooting in live view mode, despite the short protrusion beyond the lens mount. My only real complaint with body design was that I found the four-way controller pad a little to close to the bottom right corner of the camera body, making it somewhat uncomfortable to reach without changing my grip. That's in part because I have very large hands, and it's also a necessary compromise in keeping the K-r's body size down. It also took me a little while to get used to the differing placement of the Green button, and I'd like to see Pentax standardize this -- the rear-panel location of the K-5 and K-7 feels more intuitive. My time with the K-r also reminded me of why I prefer cameras with separate front and rear e-dials, rather than the single-dial design typical of most consumer DSLRs, particularly in playback mode and menus, where Pentax's flagship cameras cleverly let you switch between images while retaining playback zoom, and jump directly between menu tab groups. Otherwise, I was very happy with the control layout on the Pentax K-r, though -- it's approachable, easy to use, and packs in enough controls that you need spent relatively little time in the menu system.

High ISO. During my time as a K-7 owner, I often considered picking up the Pentax K-x as a second body, solely because of its impressive high ISO sensitivity / noise performance, an area in which the company's then-flagship camera surprisingly lagged behind its entry-level sibling. Given that the K-r retains that sensor design with only relatively minor tweaks, its not surprising that I found its image quality similarly pleasing. Of course, the world has moved on in the last couple of years, and Pentax's new flagship K-5 offers even more impressive high ISO / noise performance than either the K-x or K-r, so the rightful order of things has been restored. If you're shooting with older Pentax cameras such as the K2000 / K-m, K20D, or earlier, the current generation of Pentax DSLRs all offer you the ability to use natural light for a greater proportion of your shots, something I've come to appreciate very much in shooting with my K-5.

Viewfinder. You may have noticed that I said I considered buying a K-x. I never actually did so, and the reason for that was its lack of any viewfinder indication of autofocus point selection, either when allowing the camera to select the point automatically, or when doing so manually. With automatic selection, the only way to tell for sure which AF point(s) had achieved a lock was to look at the image on your computer, using software capable of identifying the AF point info from the EXIF headers. For manual mode, selecting the AF point meant removing your eye from the viewfinder, so you could make your selection on the rear panel LCD, making it hard to quickly select the correct point for spontaneous shots. It's something for which we came down quite hard on the K-x, and so I was thrilled to discover that Pentax had rectified this on the K-r. Active AF points briefly illuminate with a little red square (or for the left- and rightmost points, a vertical rectangle), just like they do in Pentax's flagship cameras. The ability to select the AF point without taking my eye from the viewfinder made it much easier to manually select a focus point while framing a moving subject, such as my hyperactive two year old, where previously I'd have basically been forced to rely on auto point selection for spontaneous shots.

Power. Another reason I'd eventually decided against buying a K-x body to accompany my K-7 was its choice of power source. I own surprisingly few AA-powered devices these days. In fact, beyond kids' toys and my AF-540FGZ flash strobe, I'm hard-put to think of any. Almost all of my current gadgets have built-in batteries or removable ones that charge in the device, and a few have their own dedicated charges. I have to say, I prefer these designs, as they're far smaller than my 4 x AA battery chargers, and don't require "wall warts". It doesn't hurt that the proprietary packs generally have much higher energy densities than their AA rivals, both in terms of size and weight. And as I noted when I reviewed the K-x, I find AA batteries fiddly to replace when in a rush, especially in poor ambient light. The K-r's stock lithium ion battery pack is hence a significant upgrade in my book, but I understand not everybody feels the same way. I'm glad to see Pentax still catering for these individuals, as for some years now they've been the only DSLR manufacturer to do so (barring those offering AA compatibility via bulky external portrait grips, of course.)

After the launch of the K-r, I heard from several Pentaxians who favored AAs, and who felt the battery holder design to be a step backwards. To me, though, the change is an upgrade for AA shooters too. The holder is very light: barely half the weight of a single Sanyo Eneloop battery cell, and if weight was the most important issue, you probably wouldn't likely be shooting with AAs in the first place. What it lets you do, though, is replace the batteries en masse. Instead of having to fumble to figure out what's the right way around, flip them about, drop a couple, pick them back up, then slot in four batteries one at a time, you can simply pre-load the battery holders. Buy two or three holders, pop the spares in your camera bag ready-loaded, and hey presto, you get the convenience of a single proprietary pack, while retaining anything else for which you favor AAs.

High-speed shooting. When I reviewed the earlier K-x model, I said that one of my favorite features was its burst shooting speed. The K-r kicks things up a notch, and is now not only one of the fastest cameras in its class, but also bests Pentax's previous flagship model, as well. In fact, it's not that terribly far off the speed of the company's current flagship. Fast burst shooting tends to be thought of as a pro or prosumer feature, but I think for spontaneous shots of kids and pets, many consumers could likely improve their results simply by rattling off a quick burst, and then immediately deleting all but the one or two frames they're happy with. It certainly helps me, anyway! I'm getting a little older, and my reflexes aren't what they used to be. The Pentax K-r's swift burst shooting helps when I'm chasing around after my hyperactive son, who simply won't stay still for longer than two seconds unless he's asleep. The burst depth is very generous by consumer SLR standards, although for Raw shooters it lags some way behind Pentax's flagship K-5, yielding plenty of frames in each burst, and boosting my chances of a successful shot. As a Raw shooter, I did find myself having to wait around a while for bursts to finish writing to the flash card, though. It's a shame that none of Pentax's current-generation SLRs support the higher-speed UHS-I cards that are starting to ship, and I hope they do so in future models.

Shutter sound. One thing I definitely do prefer about my Pentax K-5 is its relatively muted shutter / mirror noise. It's an unusually quite camera in operation, especially considering its burst speed. By contrast, the K-r is quite a bit louder, and its shutter noise is more of a sharp metallic click than the soft thump of the K-5. For single shots, the K-r's shutter is by no means terrible, but when capturing somewhere around six frames per second, it can make a bit of a racket. For many uses this isn't an issue, but if you're somewhere that you need to keep noise to a minimum--a wedding, say--you might find yourself on the receiving end of some stern looks if you rattle off a 30-frame JPEG burst or two.

Infrared transfer. Much as I'd have loved to do so, I didn't get to try out the Pentax K-r's IrSimple / IrSS infrared transfer capability, since I don't own any other IrSimple products. I can be a bit of a Luddite when it comes to social networking, but even I can see the attraction of instantly being able to share photos with friends and family, straight out of the camera. Of course, the same thing can be achieved by using Eye-Fi's recently announced Direct Mode, and wifi-capable devices are rather faster and more ubiquitous than IrSimple ones, but it's nonetheless pretty cool that the K-r supports cable-free data transfer right out of the box, so long as you've got a compatible cell phone, printer, or other gadget. The curious Dueling game, though, I think was perhaps not the best investment of Pentax's resources. Unless you know somebody else with a K-r, it's of no use whatsoever, and even if you do then it doesn't seem to have much lasting entertainment value after the initial novelty wears off. Nor does there seem to be any rhyme or reason to what constitutes a winning photo. It certainly doesn't seem to relate to how good the photo looks in any manner, as I found a severely underexposed shot to outscore a properly exposed one on every single one of the (undescribed) criterion. I'd much rather have seen Pentax invest its time and money in providing an in-camera help system suited to the K-r's target market, or perhaps the tethering functionality whose absence I've bemoaned ever since the debut of the K-7. (Although there is at least now a third-party solution available, albeit unauthorized).

Overall. All in all, though, I found the Pentax K-r to be a very fun camera to shoot with, and a much more well-rounded design than the company's earlier Pentax K-x model. From a K-5 owner's perspective, even if it doesn't quite match the flagship camera's high ISO image quality, it would nonetheless make a capable backup body at a much more affordable price than purchasing a second K-5. For owners of Pentax's earlier cameras, it's almost a no-brainer, either as a second body with much-improved image quality to complement one of the weather-sealed flagship models, or as an across-the-board step up from one of Pentax's earlier consumer cameras.

Pentax K-r Image Quality Comparison

Most digital SLRs will produce a reasonable ISO 100 shot, so we like to push them and see what they can do at ISO 1,600, at their default noise reduction settings. Recent advances in sensor technology have made ISO 1,600 look a lot more like ISO 100, but there are still cameras whose quality starts to fall apart at this setting. I also choose 1,600 because I like to be able to shoot at or above this level when indoors and at night. We also explore ISO 3,200, and look at the high-contrast detail of ISO 100 vs 3,200 and 6,400.

Pentax K-r versus K-x at ISO 1,600

Pentax K-r at ISO 1,600	Pentax K-x at ISO 1,600
We'd expect to see a little more difference between the two images, given the new sensor, but there is still some difference evident. The back wall, for example, is more neutral gray than yellow, and contrast in the Mas Portel label and the mosaic image seems better. More of the red leaf swatch data seems to be obscured in the K-r shot as well, suggesting more aggressive noise suppression in the red channel.

Pentax K-r versus Canon T3i at ISO 1,600

Pentax K-r at ISO 1,600	Canon T3i at ISO 1,600
The Canon T3i resolves more detail, to be sure, given its 18-megapixel sensor, but the K-r's 12.4-megapixel sensor performs admirably nonetheless. Both have trouble with the red leaf swatch, and I prefer Pentax's rendering in this case. What the K-r doesn't get right is the pink swatch beneath, which it renders rather more purple.

Pentax K-r versus Nikon D5100 at ISO 1,600

Pentax K-r at ISO 1,600	Nikon D5100 at ISO 1,600
The Pentax K-r shows less chroma noise in the shadows and does a little better with detail in the mosaic bottle than the Nikon D5100, despite the Nikon's 16.2-megapixel sensor. But the D5100's red leaf swatch looks better, closer to the actual fabric, so Nikon's approach produces more balanced results.

Pentax K-r versus Panasonic G3 at ISO 1,600

Pentax K-r at ISO 1,600	Panasonic G3 at ISO 1,600
Again despite the higher resolution, the Pentax K-r does well against the Panasonic G3. We prefer the rendering of the background in the K-r's image, and though it resolves less detail overall, the quality of that detail is quite good, especially in the Mosaic image. The G3 does slightly better in the red leaf swatch. The pink swatch is oddly lower contrast in the G3's image.

Pentax K-r versus Sony A560 at ISO 1,600

Pentax K-r at ISO 1,600	Sony A560 at ISO 1,600
Sony's more aggressive approach to noise suppression blurs the background behind the bottle, and their tendency to oversharpen is also noticeable in the top bottle shot. Noise suppression again makes more blur in the mosaic crop. There's more contrast in the red leaf swatch in Sony's image, but it's still a bit of a mess compared to the original.

Today's ISO 3,200 is yesterday's ISO 1,600 (well, almost), so below are the same crops at ISO 3,200.

Pentax K-r versus K-x at ISO 3,200

Pentax K-r at ISO 3,200	Pentax K-x at ISO 3,200
Nearly identical again, I see a grayer background, more contrast and distinct tiles in the mosaic label, but also a more purple rendering to the pink swatch. The red leaf swatch is a blur in both.

Pentax K-r versus Canon T3i at ISO 3,200

Pentax K-r at ISO 3,200	Canon T3i at ISO 3,200
Noise suppression in the Canon T3i now starts to erase some of the detail that the K-r leaves intact. It also blurs the letters in the Mas Portel label and makes and artificial mess of the red leaf swatch. But the background behind the top bottle is smoother than the K-r's rendering, and the pink swatch is very purple.

Pentax K-r versus Nikon D5100 at ISO 3,200

Pentax K-r at ISO 3,200	Nikon D5100 at ISO 3,200
Chroma noise creeps up in the Nikon D5100's image, also appearing in the mosaic label, and while the K-r's image has darker gray blotches, it's still clean in terms of color noise. The D5100 also starts to lose detail in the mosaic, where the K-r retains it, but again, Nikon produces a better approximation of the red leaf swatch, while the K-r gives up.

Pentax K-r versus Panasonic G3 at ISO 3,200

Pentax K-r at ISO 3,200	Panasonic G3 at ISO 3,200
Panasonic's G3 employs very aggressive noise suppression at ISO 3,200, softening the background and sharpening high-contrast areas. Detail is also lost in the mosaic label, as was true of the Nikon and Canon offerings. The red leaf swatch appears worse than the K-r.

Pentax K-r versus Sony A560 at ISO 3,200

Pentax K-r at ISO 3,200	Sony A560 at ISO 3,200
Again, the K-r does a little better than its higher-resolution competition in the A560. The background appears blurry, high-contrast areas seem oversharpened, and the mosaic image shows lost detail between the tiles. But the red swatch is still closer to reality in the A560 image.

Detail: Pentax K-r vs. Pentax K-x, Canon T3i, Nikon D5100, Panasonic G3 and Sony A560

Pentax K-r ISO 100 ISO 3,200 ISO 6,400	Pentax K-x ISO 100 ISO 3,200 ISO 6,400	Canon T3i ISO 100 ISO 3,200 ISO 6,400	Nikon D5100 ISO 100 ISO 3,200 ISO 6,400	Panasonic G3 ISO 160 ISO 3,200 ISO 6,400	Sony A560 ISO 100 ISO 3,200 ISO 6,400
Detail comparison. High-contrast details are often sharper as ISO rises, so they're worth a look as well. Like its predecessor, the K-r suffers from color moiré as it renders the lines between the letters on the Pure Brewed label. Because the label has turned somewhat, it's hard to tell if they've improved it or if the angle of the label has just changed. You can see hints of color errors in the Sony A560's image as well, but not in the Canon, Nikon, or Panasonic shots. The K-r also loses the red in the text, but id toes hold on to black and white detail fairly well, still finding the lines in most of the letters.

Pentax K-r Print Quality

ISO 100 to 400 images look great at 20x30 inches; ISO 3,200 shots print well at 13x19, and even ISO 25,600 shots make a good 4x6-inch print.

ISO 100 to 200 shots look great at 20x30 inches, with excellent detail and color.

ISO 400 images look good at 20x30, but some luminance noise creeps into the shadows. It becomes a non-issue when print size is reduced to 16x20 inches.

ISO 800 shots also look good at 16x20 inches, with some luminance noise, and minor loss of detail in low-contrast red areas.

ISO 1,600 images also look good at 16x20 inches, though there is some softening in detail overall, and the red leaf swatch continues to degrade. Reduction to 13x19 inches brings detail back to what can be called crisp.

ISO 3,200 images print well at 13x19, though luminance noise is a bit noisier. Detail remains pretty sharp, though, except for the red areas, which lose more detail than other areas.

ISO 6,400 images have good detail at 11x14 inches, but luminance noise is a bit rough in shadow areas, which warrants reduction to 8x10, where it's not bad at all.

ISO 12,800 shots again have good detail, but noisy shadows at 8x10. Reduction to 5x7 brings it back to an acceptable level.

ISO 25,600 shots look soft and untidy at 5x7, but look much better reduced to 4x6, though some of the colors lack detail thanks to a saturation boost.

Overall an excellent performance from the Pentax K-r.

See below for our conclusion; be sure to check the other tabs for detail test results.

In the Box

The body-only retail package contains the following items:

• Pentax K-r digital camera
• Neck Strap O-ST53
• Rechargeable lithium-ion battery D-LI109
• Battery charger D-BC109
• AC cable
• USB cable I-USB7
• Body mount cap
• Eyecup FQ
• Hotshoe cover FK
• Software CD-ROM S-SW110
• Operating manual (~350 pages)
• Serial number card
• Worldwide service network leaflet

In addition, the 18-55mm kit lens version also includes the following items:

• smc PENTAX-DA L 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL lens
• Lens cap
• Rear lens cap

Recommended Accessories

• AA battery holder D-BH109 and NiMH rechargeables if you prefer to use AA batteries
• Extra battery pack or set of AA batteries for extended outings
• Large capacity SDHC memory card. These days, 8GB Class 4 is a good tradeoff between cost and capacity, but if you plan to capture many movie clips, look for larger cards with Class 6 or faster ratings.
• Remote Control F if size is most important, or Remote Control WP aka O-RC1 if you want the ability to remotely focus separately from tripping the shutter
• Standard-definition composite AV cable I-AVC7
• AC adapter kit K-AC109 if you do much studio shooting
• Finder cap for ME for shooting on a tripod
• Magnifying eyecup O-ME53 if a larger viewfinder image is more important than viewfinder brightness
• Camera case

Pentax K-r Conclusion

When I reviewed the Pentax K-x last year, I was left with rather mixed feelings. It clearly offered a lot of camera for the money, but unfortunately retained one of the biggest shortcomings of its predecessor -- the lack of any autofocus point indication in the optical viewfinder. Thankfully, the Pentax K-r corrects that oversight, while retaining much of what made its predecessor great.

While it's not quite as small and light as the K-x, the Pentax K-r is still a very compact camera by DSLR standards, and its high ISO / low-light performance frees the K-r shooter to rely solely on available light in a wide range of shooting conditions. The Pentax K-r is also top of its class in terms of burst shooting speed, and offers numerous worthwhile upgrades over its predecessor. Key among these is a larger and significantly higher resolution LCD panel that makes both image review and live view a much more useful proposition.

The picture's not entirely rosy, however. Body-only pricing for the K-r is fully one quarter higher than that of the K-x, and there are some areas where the Pentax lags behind the competition. Low-light autofocus and battery life both stand out as areas where I'd like to see improvement, and like that of the flagship K-5, the K-r's movie mode feels decidedly dated in comparison to even entry-level rivals. As I said in our review of the K-5, however, I'm still not entirely sold on the utility of DSLR video capture for consumers, although it can be impressive in the hands of a pro, so I'm not inclined to judge harshly in this area.

Overall, the Pentax K-r provides a pretty good value proposition, even at a higher price tag than its predecessor. Especially for those with an investment in the company's glass, the K-r offers a very worthwhile upgrade over earlier Pentax models at a price that still won't break the bank. If you can afford to pay the extra for the K-5, it's clear that there's even more to recommend in the company's flagship mode, but those on a budget will doubtless still be very pleased with the Pentax K-r, and for photographers who want in-body AA battery compatibility it's clearly the best available option. Despite some slight reservations over the increased pricing of the company's 2011 DSLR lineup, we're happy to select the Pentax K-r as a Dave's Pick.

Design

Pentax K-r Design

(Illustration courtesy Pentax USA)

The Pentax K-r has a new body design that retains the basic layout of the previous K-x model, but with retro styling that's reminiscent of the company's flagship K-5 DSLR. Like that of the K-x, the K-r's body is constructed from polycarbonate panels over a steel chassis, and isn't weather-sealed. Body-only weight is increased by one ounce over the K-x, and while the K-r is the same thickness as the earlier model, it's 0.1" wider, and 0.2" taller.

Seen from the front, the most significant difference between the K-r and K-x beyond the styling is the addition of a new AF assist lamp between the top of the handgrip and the viewfinder prism housing. Like that on the K-5 and earlier K-7 models, it illuminates in green as needed, although it's rather closer to the lens mount than on those cameras, and hence even more likely to be blocked by larger lenses.

Another change of note in the diagram above is a small IR port, added on the right-hand side of the camera body. This enables the Pentax K-r's IrSimple / IrSS communications capability, which lets photographers share images wirelessly with another K-r body, or another compatible device such as a cellphone.

One last point worth noting in the view above is that the exposure compensation button now serves an additional purpose in playback mode, allowing the photographer to save the Raw data for the last image captured when shooting in JPEG mode, so long as the camera hasn't been powered off since the image was shot.

(Illustration courtesy Pentax USA)

One more significant change in the K-r's body design can be seen in the image above. Most notably, the LCD display now has a 3.0-inch diagonal, rather than the 2.7-inch panel of the K-x. Total dot count has also been quadrupled, with the K-r now matching the resolution of Pentax's flagship K-5 and 645D DSLRs.

While it's not visible above, the K-r no longer has a cutout in the right-hand end of the body to allow access for a dummy battery used with the optional AC adapter. This cutout, sealed by a rubber flap, is now located in the battery compartment door on the base of the camera. The battery compartment itself is also totally redesigned, and now accomodates either four AA batteries in an optionally available holder, or a proprietary lithium-ion pack, a clever design that lets users choose their preferred battery type.

Operation

Pentax K-r Operation

Like the K-x before it, operation of the Pentax K-r digital SLR is largely as straightforward as you'd expect from a consumer model, although it does manage to offer some more unusual features such as high-dynamic range photography, a cross-processing effect, and a healthy selection of pre- and post-capture digital filter effects. The large Mode dial on top of the camera controls the main operating modes, and has the same selection as the Pentax K-x: Auto Picture, Program, Sensitivity priority, Shutter priority, Aperture priority, and Manual, a variety of Picture and Scene modes, plus a Movie setting , and Movie. See the Modes & Menus tab for details on the various exposure modes.

Several of the Pentax K-r's control buttons perform multiple functions, which saves space and time. The e-dial for example controls a variety of settings when turned in combination with a press of a button, and the arrow keys of the Four-way arrow pad access shortcuts to common camera settings as well. The Pentax K-r's LCD menu system is straightforward, with four main menus accessible via a tabbed interface at the top of the screen. Considering the multi-functional controls and variety of menu options, it will probably take most users a little time with the manual to really get the gist of things, but operation becomes intuitive after that.

Main LCD

The Pentax K-r's main TFT color LCD monitor is used for status display, accessing menus, image review as well as image preview in Live View mode. This gorgeous 3.0-inch LCD is the same high resolution type found on many mid to high-end cameras recently, including Pentax's own flagship K-5 and 645D models. It's slightly larger than the K-x's 2.7-inch panel, and a significant step upwards in resolution, with approximately 921,000 dots. This equates to an array of approximately 640 x 480 pixels, with each pixel comprising adjacent red, green and blue dots. The K-r's LCD features a wide viewing angle, and its brightness can be adjusted in 15 steps, while color can be tuned in 15 steps on a 2-dimensional Green/Magenta vs Blue/Amber color grid for a total of 225 combinations. You can adjust the color while viewing a captured image in the background, useful when matching it to the color response of your computer monitor. You can also adjust the display color scheme, choosing from six presets, and set the text size, selecting between "Standard" and "Large" fonts. This latter option only affects the height of the currently selected item in any given menu -- the width of characters is fixed, regardless of the text size setting, as is the size of unselected menu items.

Status Display
When you turn on the Pentax K-r, or change exposure modes, the main LCD displays a status screen by default, showing the current record mode settings. The display can be switched off, and through the camera's Memory setup this can be made the default after power-up as well. The status screen updates in real-time while adjustments are made, and by pressing the Info button it can be replaced with an interactive Control Panel screen that allows certain settings to be changed without the need to enter the menu system. The Status display automatically flips between landscape and portrait modes depending on the orientation of the camera, and will even right itself when the camera is turned upside down. There's also a Guide display which appears briefly when you change exposure modes. The time it is shown can be changed, or it can be completely disabled in Setup Menu 1.

See the illustration (courtesy of Pentax) and table below for detailed information:

Control Panel Display
When the Info button is pressed, the Status screen changes to a Control Panel display, allowing direct access to both commonly adjusted settings and some less commonly adjusted settings without the use of the menu system. The e-dial can be used to make direct adjustments to settings without entering a menu, or the OK button pressed to view all available options for a particular setting. The Control Panel display with disappear automatically after 30 seconds of non-use, reverting back to the Status display above (if enabled), or a blank screen. Like the Status display, the Control Panel display will automatically flip between landscape and portrait mode displays to match the orientation of the camera.

Compared to that from the K-x, the K-r's Control Panel display is almost unchanged. The only slight change is that the date and time display is now shown with a different font, and includes the day of the week before the date (not after it, as shown in the illustration).

See the illustration below (courtesy of Pentax) for detailed callouts of the settings available in the Control Panel display.

Playback Mode Displays
In Playback mode, the default image display shows the most recently captured image, with a modest information overlay present. Pressing the Info button once pulls up the Pentax K-r's histogram view. Pressing the up or down arrow switches between a luminance histogram overlaid on the full image, and an RGB+Luminance histogram set alongside a smaller thumbnail. Pressing the Info button again brings up a detailed information display, which decreases the image to a thumbnail on the screen. All of the same information is reported here as in the detailed display in record mode, listed above. Pressing the up or down arrow switches to a display of the photographer and copyright information attached to the image, if any. Finally, a third press of the Info button brings the image back fullscreen, with no information. In any display modes where the full image is shown, overexposed areas in the frame can blink red, while underexposed areas can blink yellow, if the Bright / Dark Area option is selected in the Playback menu.

Turning the e-dial in Playback mode controls the index display and image enlargement options. The index display is accessed by rolling the rear e-dial one click to the left, and can show 4, 9, 16, 36, or 81 thumbnail images at a time on-screen (the default is 9). To change the number of thumbnails shown on screen, you press the info button, and then use the left or right arrow keys to make the change, before pressing the OK button. Alternatively, you can press the info button a second time to switch to the calendar view. (A third press will return to the thumbnail index view.) Most photographers will simply set and forget the thumbnail or calendar view, but if you want to change the number of thumbnails frequently, the number of button-presses required can get a little bit tedious. Rolling the e-dial one click further left brings you to a folder view, allowing you to quickly switch between folders of images.

Rolling the e-dial to the right, meanwhile, steps through folder, index, and full-image views, before enabling the playback zoom feature, which magnifies images as much as 16x. The blinking Bright / Dark Area warning does work while zoomed in, but the K-r doesn't go quite as far in some prosumer cameras that also allow use of the histogram function during playback zoom. Still, even the highlight / shadow warning is very useful to have when zoomed. You can of course pan around the zoomed image with the arrow keys, and pressing the Info button during playback zoom will enable or disable the information overlay, which includes an indication of the current view's size and position within the overall image.

Pressing the Down arrow button in Playback mode while viewing a full image with or without basic overlay will call up the Playback Mode Palette. Here, you can develop Raw files in-camera, perform a variety of image manipulations, create slideshows, print orders and index prints, compare images, edit movies, and store the white balance from a particular image as a preset.

The "Compare Images" function is particularly handy, and lets you view two images side by side to confirm focus, composition, etc. The blinking Bright / Dark Area warning again works in this mode, and you can separately set the zoom level (up to 32x max) and pan position for each image. Once set to your liking, you can then link the two images so that you can change pan and zoom for both simultaneously, making it really easy to compare images shot with somewhat differing composition.

The K-r's in-camera Raw development is quite comprehensive, and allows processing either of a single Raw image, or multiple images. For the latter, you can opt to process the images as-shot. Otherwise, you can tweak the size and compression level for the developed image, as well as the Custom Image mode, white balance, sensitivity (+/- 2 steps), noise reduction (auto, Off, Low, Medium, High), Shadow Correction (Off, Low, Medium, High), Distortion Correction, Lateral Chromatic Aberration Adjustment, and color space.

In-camera editing functionality includes the ability to rotate images in 90-degree increments, crop and resize, and to apply digital filters.These include Toy Camera, Retro, High Contrast, Sketch Filter, Water Color, Pastel, Posterization, Miniature, Base Parameter Adjust, Monochrome, Color, Extract Color, Soft, Starburst, Fish Eye, Slim, HDR, and Custom Filter. Most filter types provide a fair degree of customization over their effect, and the majority are quite similar to their counterparts on the K-x. Exceptions are the new Sketch Filter and Posterization modes, the Water Color filter (which now has an 'Off' position for saturation), the Extract Color filter (which can now extract two colors, rather than one), the Starburst filter (which adds four new effect shapes), and the Miniaturization filter (which now offers seven plane positions, three widths, four angles, and three blur strengths, versus the K-x's three fixed presets.)

Also accessed from the Playback Mode Palette are the K-r's infrared communications features, which are a first for the company, and we believe, unique among the DSLR market in general. In this day and age where the ability to upload your photos to social networking sites immediately after capture is a must, the ability to transfer images to a cell phone (or indeed, another K-r) is an interesting way to add a little value, although surprisingly it doesn't share the same IR transmitter used in the handgrip. Instead there's an additional dedicated sensor in the left-hand side of the camera body. It's perhaps not as fast as modern personal area networking protocols such as Bluetooth, but it's perfectly acceptable for images at reduced resolution, and the K-r allows not only full image transfer, but also sending of lower-res two or 0.3 megapixel images using bi-directional IrSimple or one-way IrSS protocols. There's also a rather bizarre "Dueling Images" game which requires two K-r bodies, and judges images based on certain unspecified criterion. A challenge must be declared on one camera and accepted on the other, then the winner or a tie is pronounced, with a running total score kept in both camera bodies. The score can be reset, if you're feeling hard done-by. The winner is presumably chosen based on shutter speeds, ISO sensitivities, and the like -- it certainly doesn't seem to relate in any way to which image is better exposed or composed. (While we only had one camera body during our review, we found that for otherwise identical images, one that was radically underexposed outscored a better-exposed image on all three gauges.)

Optics

Pentax K-r Optics

Lens Compatibility

The Pentax K-r features a Pentax K_AF2 bayonet lens mount which is also compatible with K_AF3, K_AF, and K_A mount lenses, and according to Pentax, is compatible with the company's entire series of K lenses. While not all functions will be available with every lens, particularly with older lenses without AF contacts, die-hard Pentax fans who already have a large collection of lenses will doubtless be pleased with the K-r's broad range of lenses. (The camera's Custom menu offers a handful of options for older lenses, such as allowing shutter release without the aperture ring in the 'A' position, and catch-in-focus shooting for manual focus lenses.) The latest DA and DA * lenses with ultrasonic SDM and DC motors, and FA zoom lenses with power zoom are also supported, although not necessarily with all functionality that was once offered in the company's film cameras. (Pentax discontinued its last power zoom lens models in 2004, and we don't have access to any with which to confirm operation ourselves.)

The Pentax K-r has an APS-C sized sensor which is smaller than 35mm film, so it's designed to work with DA lenses as well as full-frame lenses. DA lenses tend to be smaller and lighter than full-frame models with the same focal length and maximum aperture. The sub-frame sensor on the Pentax K-r means that it has a smaller angle of view (by a factor of approximately 1/1.5x) than a full-frame camera with any given lens. While most properly called a "crop factor," the ~1.5x ratio is most commonly referred to as the "focal length multiplier," since that's how it works in practice: Any lens used on the Pentax K-r will have the same field of view as one with a ~1.5x greater focal length will when attached to a 35mm camera. For example, a 100mm lens on the K-r will show about the same field of view as a 150mm lens on a camera with a 35mm frame size.

It's important to note that while some of Pentax's lens models -- those with a DA * or WR designation -- are weather sealed, the K-r body isn't. Hence while these lenses will certainly still function on the K-r body just fine, the combination won't provide water or dust resistance.

The table below (courtesy of Pentax USA), details the K-r's lens compatibility with the various types of Pentax lenses.

Autofocus System

Phase Detection. Pentax has upgraded the K-r's autofocus system to its latest SAFOX IX-series module, a designation which has only previously been applied to the company's medium format 645D and K-r models. Compared to the previous-generation SAFOX VIII system used in the K-x, SAFOX IX has the same point count and arrangement, but with several important differences. There are a total of eleven points, of which all but two are cross-type, sensitive to both horizontal and vertical detail. The cross-type points are arranged in a three by three grid towards the center of the image frame, while on either side of this grid there's one linear sensor.

The SAFOX IX AF module's optics have improved transparency, which the company says translates to improved performance in low light. The AF module's optics also have better controlled aberration, improving autofocus accuracy. Ambient temperature, says Pentax, has less of an impact on the SAFOX IX module. Sharp-eyed readers will note that the K-r's SAFOX module lacks the "+" designation, which features in the 645D, K-7, and K-5. This hints at one important feature that differentiates the mid-range K-r from its prosumer and pro siblings. Like the K-x model before it, the Pentax K-r's AF system lacks the secondary light color sensor that allows the 645D, K-5, and K-7 to determine the light source type. It hence cannot take this into account when determining focus.

Beyond the change of phase detection module, Pentax has made a couple of other important changes to autofocus in the K-r, which now allows photographers to select the priority for single and continuous focus modes. For single AF, K-r users can opt for either focus priority or shutter-release priority. Focus priority requires an AF lock before the shutter can fire, while release priority starts exposure immediately that the shutter button is fully depressed, even if an AF lock hasn't been achieved. In continuous AF mode, the options are focus priority, or frame rate priority. The former requires an AF lock for each individual frame in the burst, while the latter emphasizes frame rate for each shot in the burst, even if this means a lock can't be achieved for individual frames in the burst.

Live View AF. The Pentax K-r offers three autofocus modes during Live View: Face Detection, Contrast Detection and Phase Matching. Face Detection and Contrast Detection analyze data streaming off the CMOS imaging sensor, while Phase Matching uses the same autofocus module as when you're using the optical viewfinder. In Face Detection mode, the camera gives priority to detected faces. A yellow frame is placed around the main face, while white frames appear for other faces. Up to 16 faces can be detected. If no faces are present, contrast detection is used. Of course, manual focus is also available.

When using autofocus, you can magnify the image 2x, 4x, or 6x by pressing the INFO button, and this defaults to being centered around the autofocus point. The four-way controller can be used to move the magnified area around the frame, and if set to Contrast Detection AF, the focus point moves so as to remain in the center of the view. The green button is used to immediately return the view to the center, and for Contrast Detection AF, likewise resets the AF point to the center of the frame. Unless already zoomed in to the maximum 6x, when using Contrast Detection or Face Detection AF, the view will smoothly zoom in to a 6x view centered on the point of focus during AF operation, and then return to a full image view shortly after an AF lock is achieved. This is great for static scenes, providing an intuitive view of where the point of focus lies, but unfortunately it can't be disabled, and applies even when you'd expect a moving subject -- such as when continuous autofocus is enabled -- making it quite tricky to keep moving subjects within the image frame during Contrast Detect AF operation.

When manual focus is used, an even higher degree of magnification is available, up to a maximum of 10x zoom, as an aid to focusing. This defaults to the center of the image frame, but can again be positioned anywhere within the image.

Dedicated AF-Assist Lamp. Unlike the K-x, the Pentax K-r has a dedicated AF-assist light: a small, very bright green LED located just to the right of and below the shutter button, as you look at the front of the camera. Because of its close proximity to the lens barrel -- it's quite a bit closer than that in the prosumer K-5 and K-7 models, due to the smaller body -- quite a few larger lenses and those with wide lens hoods may block the light from reaching the subject. You can generally dispense with lens hoods for available-light photography to improve the situation, though, given that in situations where AF assist is needed, you're not likely to be dealing with lens flare. Long tele zooms might not work with it, but then the AF-assist lamp's light won't project far enough for telephoto subjects anyway.

Although the AF assist lamp can be enabled or disabled through the Custom Function menu, enabling it doesn't guarantee that it will illuminate in all shooting conditions. Instead, it's left up to the camera to decide whether or not it needs help from the assist lamp to determine focus. In our experience, we found it only illuminated in relatively low light conditions.

AF Adjustment. If we've discovered anything reviewing lenses on SLRgear.com, it's that lenses and bodies don't always match. Sometimes they focus in front of the subject, sometimes they focus behind the subject, and sometimes they'll nail the point of focus. Sometimes it's the lenses that are out of tune too, so adjusting just the camera's AF to work well with one lens won't solve the problem with another; indeed, that approach could make other lenses worse. Camera companies are acknowledging this, building in adjustments to compensate for front- and back-focusing problems, but most restrict this only to their prosumer or professional models. The Pentax K-r strikes a middle ground between the K-x (which offered no correction), and the prosumer K-5 / K-7 (which correct not only for the body itself, but for up to 20 individual lenses too). The Pentax K-r allows a general calibration for the body within a range of +/-10 arbitrary steps, but doesn't allow individual lens corrections, so the same value must be used for your entire stock, unless you have the patience to remember and manually reset the values every time you change the lens. Still, with most consumer and even some prosumer cameras not offering correction at all, anything is better than no correction capability at all.

Shake Reduction

Pentax has retained the K-x's in-body stabilization system unchanged for its follow-up camera. Unlike lens-based systems, the Pentax K-r's in-body stabilization functions with pretty much any lens that can be attached to the camera. Shake Reduction comes in very handy when shooting with long zooms without a tripod, as they magnify any blurring from camera shake during exposure. Shake Reduction is also useful when shooting under low lighting with a slightly slower shutter speed. According to Pentax, Shake Reduction gives you the flexibility of up to 4 stops slower shutter speed without risking blurring from camera movement; though realistically, exposures longer than 1/15 second typically turn out best with a tripod or other method of camera stabilization. Shake Reduction requires some communication from the lens, particularly the focal length setting. However, for lenses that cannot communicate with the Pentax K-r, you can set the focal length from 8 to 800mm through a setting in the Record menu.

The Shake Reduction function is enabled or disabled through the Control Panel display or page four of the Record menu, and the K-r will automatically display the Shake Reduction menu if the camera has no feedback from the lens. Note that Shake Reduction isn't recommended for tripod shooting, and will automatically disable in the self-timer modes, remote control modes, Bulb mode, HDR mode, and when using a wireless flash. It's also not recommended when using very low shutter speeds. Unlike the system used in the Pentax K-7 (but in common with every other sensor-shift camera on the market), the K-x's shake reduction doesn't correct for rotation, only for horizontal and vertical motion.

The drawbacks to sensor shift Shake Reduction technology as used by Pentax and several other companies are twofold. One is that you can't see its effects as you look through the optical viewfinder, as you can with Canon and Nikon's lens-based stabilization systems. But thanks to the Pentax K-r's Live View mode, you can indeed see the effect on the LCD, and SR seems to be pretty solid and effective. The other potential disadvantage is that sensor shift designs aren't necessarily as effective at correcting for shake on lenses with longer focal lengths, compared to lens-based stabilization. At least one third party does offer lens-based stabilization for Pentax digital SLRs, so the potential is there to simply disable the body's own shake reduction and use the lens's stabilization if available, giving Pentax users the best of both worlds: lens-based stabilization for long focal lengths, and body-based to allow stabilization with the remainder of the user's lens collection -- at least, if they're willing to consider third party glass.

Dust Reduction

The Pentax K-r also includes a Pentax dust removal system, but it's the previous generation, rather than the updated DR II system that debuted in the Pentax K-7, and also features in the K-5. Like past models, the K-r relies on a combination of SP coating on the low-pass filter to keep dust from adhering to the sensor, and vibration using the sensor shift mechanism to try and remove dust from the sensor. Our past testing has found this to be rather ineffective, compared to systems like that in the K-5 which instead use a piezo-ceramic element to vibrate the low-pass filter. The Pentax K-r does at least offer a Dust Alert function which makes it easy to spot dust on the sensor by taking a test shot with optimal exposure and high contrast for detecting dust visually, making it easier to find and manually remove dust particles. The mirror can be locked up for this purpose in a Sensor Cleaning mode found in page four of the Setup menu.

While dust removal systems can increase the interval between manual cleanings, it bears noting that no such system system can completely eliminate the need to occasionally clean the sensor manually. Copper Hill Images is an advertiser of ours, but we'd recommend their wet/dry cleaning system even if they weren't (it's what we use in our own lab): See the Copper Hill website for details.

Distortion / Lateral Chromatic Aberration Correction. The Pentax K-r can correct for both lens distortion and lateral chromatic aberration in-camera, when using DA, DA L, D FA, and some FA lenses without any accessories between the lens and camera body. This is a feature usually found on more expensive camera models, and Distortion correction corrects both pincushion and barrel distortion for all except the DA Fish-Eye 10-17mm lens, helping ensure lines that should be straight appear so in the final image. Lateral chromatic aberration correction aims to fix color fringing and blurring which can be especially prominent with some lenses toward the corners of the image. While they're only relevant to Raw shooting if you're using Pentax's bundled Digital Camera Utility 4 software or processing the images in-camera, JPEG shooters gain the benefit of both corrections regardless of the software they're using on their computer. Both corrections slow down the camera's burst shooting capabilities significantly, though this need only be an issue for JPEG shooters. Raw shooters can leave both effects disabled at capture-time to improve the burst speed, and then later apply them in images that require correction when developing the Raw files in-camera.

Pentax K-r Optical Test Results

The Pentax K-r is sold body-only, or bundled with the DA L 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL kit lens. Below are the results of our optical tests on the Pentax K-r with the optional kit lens. The studio test shots on other pages of this review (apart from the flash range shots) use a very sharp, reference prime lens (Sigma 70mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro). Gallery shots were taken with the sharp Pentax DA 17-70mm f/4 AL SDM.

Lens

Zoom
Fair performance with the Pentax 18-55mm kit lens.

As mentioned previously, the Pentax K-r is sold body-only or bundled with the Pentax 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 D AL kit lens. The Pentax 18-55mm lens offers a typical optical zoom range of ~3.1x for an inexpensive kit lens. Sharpness was fairly good across the frame at full wide-angle (stopped down to f/8), with low levels of coma distortion, but strong chromatic aberration as well as some minor softening was visible in the corners. Results at full telephoto were fair with sharp detail on the right side of the frame and much lower levels of chromatic aberration, but the bottom left quadrant of the frame was a little soft.

Macro
Average sized macro area with the 18-55mm lens, with soft detail. Flash worked well up close.

Like zoom range, macro performance will depend entirely on the lens being used. With the Pentax 18-55mm lens, the K-r captured an average sized macro area (for an SLR kit lens), measuring 2.54 x 1.68 inches (64 x 43 millimeters). Details were soft in the center of the frame, and softer in the corners. (Most lenses have some softening in the corners at macro distances.) The Pentax K-r's built-in flash throttled-down well for our standard macro shot in auto mode, producing a very good exposure with no detectable shadow from the lens.

Geometric Distortion
Slightly above average distortion at wide-angle, about average at telephoto with the 18-55mm lens.

Barrel distortion at 18mm is 0.9 percent

Pincushion distortion at 55mm is 0.2 percent

The Pentax 18-55mm lens produced about 0.9 percent barrel distortion at wide-angle, which is slightly above average and noticeable in some of its images. At the telephoto end, there was about 0.2% pincushion distortion which about average, but still noticeable in some shots. Geometric Distortion is the tendency for the lens to bend straight lines outward (like a barrel -- usually at wide-angle) or inward (like a pincushion -- usually at telephoto).

Distortion Correction
The Pentax K-r offers optional Distortion Correction when using DA, DA L, and DFA lenses, as well as several of the company's FA Limited lenses.

Distortion Correction On: Barrel distortion at 18mm is <0.2 percent
Distortion Correction On: Barrel distortion at 18mm is <0.1 percent

The Pentax K-r does not apply any geometric distortion correction to JPEGs by default. As mentioned previously, there is however a menu option to turn Distortion Correction on. RAW files are not corrected, but are tagged to have the same correction applied when using a RAW converter that supports the embedded parameters. The crops above show JPEGs taken with the kit lens with Distortion Correction disabled and enabled. As you can see, the 0.9% barrel distortion in the uncorrected wide-angle shot has been reduced to less than 0.2%. The pincushion distortion at telephoto has been over-corrected just slightly to less than 0.1% barrel distortion.

Chromatic Aberration and Corner Sharpness
Moderately high levels of chromatic aberration from the 18-55mm lens at wide-angle, though much lower CA at full telephoto. Strong blurring in the corners at telephoto and somewhat soft through-out the frame at both wide-angle and telephoto.

Chromatic Aberration. Chromatic aberration is moderately high and quite bright at the full wide-angle setting of the Pentax 18-55mm kit lens. At full telephoto, chromatic aberration is lower and not as noticeable. (This distortion is visible as a slight colored fringe around the objects at the edges of the field of view on the resolution target.) The Pentax K-r does not apply any chromatic aberration correction to JPEGs by default, as uncorrected RAW files have similar amounts. As mentioned previously, there is however a menu option to turn Lateral Chromatic Aberration Adjustment on (see below).

Corner Sharpness. The Pentax 18-55mm lens produced slightly soft corners at wide-angle, though the center was also slightly soft. The bottom right corner was the sharpest with the other three showing very similar softening. Some vignetting (corner shading) is also noticeable at wide-angle. At full telephoto, the top-right corner was the softest with blurring extending well into the frame. The other three corners were slightly soft, as was the center.

Chromatic Aberration Reduction
The Pentax K-r offers optional lateral chromatic aberration reduction for the same lenses that are supported for distortion correction.

Camera JPEGs, Lateral Chromatic Aberration Reduction
18mm@f/3.5: Disabled	18mm@f/3.5: Enabled

As illustrated in the crops above, the Pentax K-r was removed much of color fringing from the 18-55mm kit lens with Lateral Chromatic Aberration Adjustment enabled, though it still leaves some visible chromatic aberration behind, especially along diagonal edges.

Overall, this is just an average performance even for an inexpensive kit lens. If you're interested in purchasing the Pentax K-r with the kit lens, make sure to buy from a retailer that allows hassle-free returns and test the lens thoroughly within the exchange period.

The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a collection of more pictorial photos, see our Pentax K-r Photo Gallery .

Exposure

Pentax K-r Exposure

Metering
As with most SLRs, three metering methods are available on the Pentax K-r: Multi-segment, Center-Weighted, and Spot. All are accessed through either the Control Panel display on the LCD panel, or through page one of the Record menu.

In Multi-segment mode, the camera takes an exposure reading from 16 segments and chooses the best exposure based on brightness and contrast across much of the scene. The K-r gives you the option to link the AF points to autoexposure in Multi-segment mode, via Custom Function 6, "Link AE to AF Point", but the default is to determine exposure without considering AF point location.

Metering Zones. The Pentax K-r uses the same 16-segment metering sensor as in the K-x, a major point of differentiation from the flagship K-5, which uses much finer-grained 77-segment metering.

Center-Weighted metering reads from the center of the frame, but from a fairly large area. Center-Weighted mode is automatically selected instead of Multi-segment mode, if a lens other than a DA, DA L, D FA, FA J, FA, F, or A lens is mounted, or when the lens aperture ring is set at other than "A."

Spot metering simply reads the exposure from the very center of the image, so you can pinpoint the specific area of the photograph you want properly exposed. (Spot metering is very handy when you have a subject that's backlit, or that has a very different brightness, either lighter or darker, than the background.)

By default, the AF / AE Lock button triggers autofocus, but you can program it to lock the current exposure settings whenever pressed.  (AE Lock is useful when you want to base your exposure on an off-center subject. Point the camera at the subject, lock the exposure, then recompose your shot however you like. Your subject will be correctly exposed, regardless of what might be in the center of the frame when you finally snap the shutter.) Through screen four of the Record menu, you can designate the function of the AF / AE Lock button, and how it works in conjunction with the Shutter button and Autofocus system.

In situations where exposure compensation is necessary, simply press the top panel Exposure Compensation button and turn the e-dial (in all exposure modes except Manual) and the exposure value (EV) will display in the viewfinder and on the LCDs. EV compensation ranges from -3 to +3 EV in increments of 1/3 or 1/2 EV, or you can use the Auto Exposure Bracketing function to automatically capture a bracketed exposure with three frames, varying the exposure between shots by as much as 3.0EV in either 1/2 or 1/3 EV increments. You can control the bracketing order for AEB sequences using Custom Function 7. AEB is handy for those times when you want to make sure you get just the right exposure for a critical subject.

It's worth noting that the effects of exposure compensation and auto exposure bracketing are additive -- that is to say, if you dial in 3.0EV of exposure compensation, and shoot bracketed exposure, it's possible for one frame to vary as much as 6.0EV from the metered exposure.

White Balance
White balance options include Auto (which ranges from about 4,000K to 8,000K), Daylight (5,200K), Shade (8,000K), Cloudy (6,000K), Fluorescent Daylight Color (6,500K), Fluorescent Daylight White (5,000K), Fluorescent Cool White (4,200K), Fluorescent Warm White (3,000K), Tungsten (2,850K), Flash (5,400K), Color Temperature Enhancement (CTE; used to retain and strengthen the color tone of the light source), and Manual.

Pressing the AWB (left arrow) button brings up the White Balance menu. The Manual setting is useful for basing the white balance on a white card. You can also adjust the K-r in any white balance mode so as to control the amount of amber, green, blue, and magenta in the color balance using a 2D grid. This ability to "tweak" the white balance, called White Balance Fine Tuning, is very helpful when dealing with difficult light sources.

When using the K-r's Cross Processing function, white balance cannot be adjusted.

ISO Sensitivity
The Pentax K-r lets you adjust its light sensitivity, in 1, 1/2, or 1/3 EV steps, with options ranging from 200, to 12,800 ISO equivalents. An Expanded Sensitivity Custom menu option allows you to extend this range from ISO 100 to 25,600.

An Auto ISO mode in which the camera selects an ISO appropriate to the subject's brightness is also provided. The default range for Auto ISO is from the base ISO sensitivity to 3,200, but you can set maximum ISO limit manually . Higher ISO settings are helpful when you want faster shutter speeds under normal lighting, to help freeze fast action.

Noise Reduction
Of course, as with all digital cameras, the higher ISO settings produce photos with more image noise, in much the same way that higher-ISO films show more film grain. To combat this problem, the K-r offers a High-ISONoise Reduction option through the Record menu, which reduces the amount of image noise at high ISOs. Options consist of Auto, Off, Low, Medium, High, and Custom, with a default of Auto.

The Auto and Custom options are both new for the Pentax K-r, and the latter provides an unusually fine-grained degree of control over the camera's high ISO noise reduction behavior. When the Custom mode is enabled, a different setting (Off, Low, Medium, or High) can be configured for every full-stop ISO sensitivity available, including those in the expanded range. If the sensitivity step size is configured to match an exposure compensation step size of either 1/3 or 1/2 EV, the additional sensitivities share a noise reduction setting with the full-stop sensitivity below them, but that's still an unusually fine level of control over high ISO NR -- at most there are three sensitivities required to share any individual NR setting.

A second type of Noise Reduction called Slow Shutter Speed NR subtracts a second, dark frame to remove noise and hot-pixels depending on the conditions, such as shutter speed, sensitivity, and internal temperature. Settings for that option are Auto, On, or Off, where the K-x simply offered On and Off settings. The On setting applies noise reduction on all exposures longer than one second, while the Auto option applies NR only when the camera deems necessary, taking into consideration the shutter speed, ISO sensitivity, and the camera's internal temperature level.

Expanded Dynamic Range
The Pentax K-r offers expanded dynamic range functionality, which attempts to preserve highlights and/or shadows in high-contrast situations. Like the K-x, the Pentax K-r offers separate Highlight Correction and Shadow Correction options. Highlight Correction has On / Off settings, and when enabled, the minimum sensitivity is ISO 400 (or ISO 200, if the expanded ISO range is enabled). It applies to both Raw and JPEG files, but unlike Shadow Correction, it must be applied before exposure even when shooting Raws. Shadow Correction can be enabled after the fact for Raws, and regardless of file type, it offers three strengths (Low, Medium, and High), or can be switched Off.

HDR Capture
The K-r also offers High Dynamic Range imaging, which Pentax first introduced on the K-x, but the functionality has been greatly expanded in the newer camera. As in the K-x, the K-r's HDR mode captures three images in quick succession: one properly exposed, one underexposed by 3.0 EV, and one overexposed by 3.0 EV. These are then combined in-camera into a single output image with increased dynamic range, capturing the best highlight detail from the underexposed image, and the maximal shadow detail from the overexposed image. One notable difference between the HDR functionality of the K-r and its predecessor is the level of control available over the effect. Where the K-x offered only three settings (Off, Standard, and Strong), the K-r provides an Auto mode, plus four presets (Standard, Strong 1, Strong 2, and Strong 3).

Another difference has perhaps even greater implications for real-world usage. In the K-x, HDR imaging was only useful when shooting on a tripod, as even slight movement between capture of the source images would otherwise lead to artifacts in the final image. The K-r can now automatically align the images before combining them, and so is usable handheld, so long as your subject is reasonably static, and your hand somewhat steady.

When enabled, the HDR mode precludes the use of Raw file format, bulb shutter speed, multi exposure, interval shooting, cross processing, and digital filters. Also, drive modes except single-frame, self-timer, remote control, and remote w/ timer are disabled. Each HDR capture requires a brief processing time to create the final image, and the three source images can't be saved -- they're discarded when processing is complete, which is something we'd love to see changed in future firmware. (On those occasions where the in-camera HDR merge isn't optimal, it might be possible to do a better job manually on a PC, or it might still be desirable to have a copy of the standard exposure image).

Multiple Exposure
The Pentax K-r's Multiple Exposure feature allows you to combine 2 to 9 images into a single image as they are being captured. If shooting in Live View mode on the LCD display, the previous image(s) are shown as a semi-transparent ("onion skin") overlay on the live view image, as an aid to precise alignment of subsequent images. ISO sensitivity, shutter speed, aperture, exposure compensation, focus mode, and AF point can all be adjusted and the AE lock / Green buttons used between shots, and the flash can be popped up or closed to use it only on some frames. It's also possible to frame some images using the optical viewfinder, and others in Live View mode. Pressing the Play, Menu, or Info buttons or powering the camera off saves the multi-exposure image (even if not all shots have been captured), as does adjusting drive mode, flash mode, or white balance. Multi-exposure mode is disabled when exposure bracketing, interval shooting, lens correction, cross processing, digital filters or HDR capture are set, and when the camera is in Night Scene HDR or Movie mode. Interestingly, it *is* possible to save multi-exposure images as a single Raw file, though!

An option called Auto EV Adjustment can average the exposure of each individual shot so that the combined image has the same brightness as a normally exposed individual shot. When disabled, the process is additive, just like shooting multi-exposures on film. To understand the difference, imagine a two-frame exposure where the same point is mid-grey in one image, and near-white in the other image. With auto EV adjust disabled, the same point in the final image will be completely white (clipped in every channel). With the adjustment enabled, the same area will have a brightness halfway between that of the same point in the brighter and darker images. An interesting usage of this feature is that multiple frames can be combined in-camera with averaged exposure to yield a single image with reduced noise / an effective exposure longer than would ordinarily be the case without the use of a neutral density filter.

Custom Image
The Pentax K-r offers users the ability to apply and modify pre-existing image profiles for use on JPEG images. (Raw files are also tagged with the image parameters, but most Raw processing software other than Pentax's bundled Digital Camera Utility 4 will not obey the tags.) The camera offers seven image style settings: Bright, Natural, Portrait, Landscape,Vibrant, Muted, Bleach Bypass, Reversal Film, and Monochrome. The following image parameters can be adjusted for each profile: Saturation (-4 to +4), Hue (-4 to +4), High/Low Key (-4 to +4), Contrast (-4 to +4), Contrast Highlight (-4 to +4), Contrast Shadow (-4 to +4), Sharpness (-4 to +4), Fine Sharpness (-4 to +4), and Fine Sharpness 2 (-4 to +4). Hue can't be adjusted when Monochrome, Bleach Bypass, and Reversal Film are selected, while Saturation isn't available for Monochome or Reversal Film, and High / Low Key Adjust and Contrast aren't available with Reversal Film. When using Monochrome, instead of Saturation and Hue, Filter Effects and Toning options are provided. Filter effects consist of Green, Yellow, Orange,Red,Magenta, Blue, Cyan, and Infrared Color. Monochrome can be further modified with a Toning adjustment which allows you to dial in an amount of either selenium style processing (blues) or sepia style processing (browns). The various sharpness options use different algorithms that are suited to varying image types.

When using Cross Processing, the Custom Image mode is fixed to Bright. You also can't control the Custom Image mode when the K-r's Mode dial is set to any position other than P, Sv, Tv, Av, or M. The adjustment interface allows you to take a sample image with the preview button, or shows you the last image shot, to use as a reference image; adjustments made in the interface are simulated in the sample image. Of course, you can also select between sRGB and Adobe RGBcolor spaces in another menu.

Digital Filters
The Pentax K-r offers seven canned, pre-exposure digital filter effects, plus a Custom setting that allows you to select the amount of each effect to your liking. The seven predefined filter effects are: Toy Camera, Retro, High Contrast, Extract Color, Soft, Starburst, and Fish-eye. Parameters for each filter can be adjusted. The Custom Filter option allows you to adjust a wide variety of parameters: High Contrast (Off, +1 to +5), Soft Focus (Off, +1 to +3), Tone Break (Off, Red, Green, Blue, Yellow), Shading Type (6 types), Shading Level (-3 to +3), Distortion Type (3 types), Distortion Level (Off, Weak, Medium, Strong), and Invert Color (On, Off).

The pre-capture filters are almost identical to those in the previous K-x model, with two small exceptions. The Extract Color filter can now extract two colors, rather than one, and the Starburst filter adds four new effect shapes. In addition to these pre-capture filters, the K-r offers ten more in playback mode (Sketch Filter, Water Color, Pastel, Posterization, Miniature, Base Parameter Adjust, Monochrome, Color, Slim, and HDR), and up to 20 filters can be combined in playback mode.

Cross Processing
The Pentax K-r offers an updated version of the Cross Processing mode that first appeared on Pentax's consumer K-x digital SLR, which aims to replicate a film technique known as cross-processing. For film photography, the method is to deliberately process one type of film using chemicals intended for a different type, with often surprising effects. The K-r's Cross Processing mode replicates this by adjusting the image after capture, and you can preview the result before capture if you're shooting in Live View mode. You can either apply a random effect that will change its results even if the scene doesn't change, or one of three presets whose results are predictable, once you're familiar with them. There are also three Favorite presets in which you can store settings from favorite images created with the Random mode. (You can also duplicate the existing presets, although we can't think of any good reason to do so.)

Use of the cross-processing mode isn't possible while shooting Raw images, multi-exposures, extended bracketing, or high dynamic range captures. With cross-processing enabled, access to the custom image and white balance settings are also disabled.

Drive Modes
Like most SLRs, the Pentax K-r offers a number of Drive Modes. Modes include Single Frame (where one image is captured when the shutter release button is pressed, even if held), Continuous, Self-timer, Remote, and Exposure Bracketing. There are two Continuous modes, which differ only in terms of frame rate and burst depth. We tested the Continuous Hi mode, which Pentax lists as capable of six frames per second, and found it came close, at around 5.6 to 5.7 frames per second. Burst depth was slightly better than specified despite our hard-to-compress test target, yielding 30 Large / Best quality JPEG frames, 13 Raw frames, or 10 Raw+JPEG frames at Large / Best quality. We didn't test the Continuous Lo mode, rated at a rather sedate two frames per second, but according to Pentax it is capable of some 36 Raw frames, and will shoot JPEGs until there's no free flash card space, presuming the card is capable of writing data quickly enough.

The Pentax K-r also offers two Self-Timer modes for self-portraits or those occasions when you don't want to risk camera shake on a long exposure by pressing the Shutter button to trip the shutter. You can choose between a two- or 12-second countdown. The two-second countdown is useful for times when you're taking a long exposure with the camera on a tripod, and you want to minimize any camera shake from pressing the Shutter button. In this mode, the mirror is raised immediately after pressing the shutter, giving time vibrations to dampen before the exposure. The Remote Control modes offered are immediate release, or 3-second delayed release. The Pentax K-r has an IR receiver for wireless remotes in the front, but none in the back, so you'll need to stand in front of the camera, or reach in front of the hand grip before tripping the remote. Finally, an Exposure Bracketing mode is also provided, where 3 frames can be capture with as much as 2.0 EV steps between frames, and this allows the bracketing order to be changed.

Interval Shooting
The K-r also offers an Interval Shooting mode where the camera can take pictures by itself on a regular basis, used for time-lapse photography. The interval can be programmed between 1 second and 24 hours, the number of shots between 1 and 999 (up from 99 in the K-x), and the starting time can be immediate or at a set time. The increase in interval shooting depth is something we occasionally heard requested by K-x owners, but watch out not to accidentally set the interval depth higher than needed. We're not aware of an official shutter life rating for the K-r, but it's unlikely to exceed that of the prosumer K-5 model, which has a rated shutter life of 100,000 shots, so each 999 frame burst likely uses up at least 1% of the available shutter lifetime.

The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a collection of more pictorial photos, see our Pentax K-r Photo Gallery .

Not sure which camera to buy? Let your eyes be the ultimate judge! Visit our Comparometer(tm) to compare images from the Pentax K-r with those from other cameras you may be considering. The proof is in the pictures, so let your own eyes decide which you like best!

Performance

Pentax K-r Performance

Imaging

Pentax K-r Image Quality

Color

Saturation & Hue Accuracy
Good color and hue accuracy overall, with mild to moderate oversaturation and shifts in some colors.

In the diagram above, the squares show the original color, and the circles show the color that the camera captured. More saturated colors are located toward the periphery of the graph. Hue changes as you travel around the center. Thus, hue-accurate, highly saturated colors appear as lines radiating from the center. Click for a larger image.

Saturation. The Pentax K-r's default image tone setting of "Bright" pushes some colors such as blues, greens, reds and purple, but not by as much as previous Pentax entry-level models. The K-r's 12.2% oversaturation is fairly typical, and much lower than the K-x's 21.4%. Overall, images were still bright and punchy, but color wasn't "over the top" as they were for the K-x. You can of course always select a different image tone preset (see below) and/or adjust settings such as saturation and contrast to suit your own tastes. Most consumer digital cameras produce color that's more highly saturated (more intense) than found in the original subjects. This is simply because most people like their color a bit brighter than life.

Skin tones. Caucasian skin tones from the Pentax K-r were a touch cool using auto white balance, while manual white balance produced a slightly warmer, "healthier" appearance. Lighter skin tones looked about right, but darker ones had a slightly yellow/orange cast. Where oversaturation is most problematic is on Caucasian skin tones, as it's very easy for these "memory colors" to be seen as too bright, too pink, too yellow, etc.

Hue. As with most cameras, the Pentax K-r showed a few color shifts relative to the correct mathematical translation of colors in its subjects, but had good accuracy overall when using default settings. Most noticeable was a shift in orange toward yellow, with some shifts in greens, cyans and reds as well. (The cyan to blue shift is very common among the digital cameras we test; we think it's a deliberate choice by camera engineers to produce better-looking sky colors.) Average "delta-C" color error when corrected for saturation was 5.03, which is pretty good, and much better than the K-x's 7.14 score (lower scores are better). Hue is "what color" the color is.

Custom Image
The Pentax K-r offers nine preset "Custom Image" options. You can adjust Saturation, Hue, High/Low Key, Contrast, Sharpness, Filter Effects and Toning parameters to your liking. (Some adjustments are not available depending on the Custom Image type.)

Preset Custom Image Options
Bleach Bypass	Bright (Default)	Landscape
Monochrome	Muted	Natural
Portrait	Reversal	Vibrant

Mouse over the links above to see the effect of the presets on our Still Life target. Click on a link to load the full resolution image.

Saturation Adjustment
The Pentax K-r lets you adjust the image Saturation and Contrast in nine steps each (Hue, High/Low Key and Sharpness are also adjustable in nine steps.) As can be seen below, the saturation adjustment worked well, providing a reasonably fine-grained adjustment over a useful range of control. The saturation adjustment also has almost no impact on contrast. That's how a saturation control should work, but we've often found interactions between saturation adjustments and image contrast (and vice versa) on the cameras we test.

Saturation Adjustment Examples
-4	-1	0	+1	+4

The series of shots above shows results with several different saturation adjustment settings, showing the minimum step size around the default, as well as both extremes. See the Thumbnails index page for more (look for the files named KROUTBSATx.JPG). Click on any thumbnail above to see the full-sized image.

Sensor

Exposure and White Balance

Indoors, incandescent lighting
Warm results with Auto, cool with Incandescent, though good color with Manual white balance setting. No exposure compensation required.

Indoors, under normal incandescent lighting, color balance was quite warm with the default Auto white balance setting, with a fairly strong orange cast. Like other more recent Pentax SLRs, the K-r features an "Automatic White Balance in Tungsten" setting in a Custom menu. Options are "Subtle" and "Strong" correction, with the default being Subtle. The Strong setting performed better than Subtle resulting in a reduced orange cast, but it produced a slightly magenta tint. Results with the Incandescent setting were a bit too cool, with a bluish cast. The Manual setting was the most neutral and accurate. Note that there is also a Color Temperature Enhancement (CTE) white balance mode, which strongly intensified the orange/yellow cast in our indoor test shot. The Pentax K-r required no exposure compensation for our indoor scene, which is very good. (The average among cameras we've tested is +0.3 EV.) Our test lighting for this shot is a mixture of 60 and 100 watt household incandescent bulbs, a pretty yellow light source, but a very common one in typical home settings here in the U.S.

Outdoors, daylight
Bright, slightly cool colors with high default contrast. About average exposure accuracy in our "Sunlit" Portrait shot, but our Far-field House shot was overexposed.

Outdoors in bright sunlight, the Pentax K-r struggled a bit with high default contrast. Exposure accuracy was about average for our "Sunlit" Portrait, requiring +0.7 EV compensation for an exposure with good brightness in the face, but that resulted in quite a few clipped highlights in the mannequin's shirt and flowers. Shadow detail was pretty good, however. Skin tones were just a touch cool using Auto white balance, while Manual white balance was warmer but produced stronger yellow/orange tints. The Far-field House shot was overexposed using the default exposure (no exposure compensation), as quite a few highlights were clipped in the white trim, though again shadow detail was pretty good. Color was also a touch cool. See below to see how the Pentax K-r's Contrast, D-Range and HDR settings help in tough situations like these.

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Resolution
High resolution, 1,600 ~ 1,700 lines of strong detail.

Our laboratory resolution chart revealed sharp, distinct line patterns down to about 1,700 lines per picture height in the horizontal direction, and about 1,600 in the vertical direction. Extinction didn't occur until around 2,400 to 2,600 lines. Adobe Camera RAW processed RAW files showed a bit more resolution, perhaps 100 lines more in the horizontal direction, though results were crisper and remnants of the pattern extended well past 2,600 lines. There were also quite a few moire interference patterns near or above the resolution limit in both the camera JPEG and ACR converted RAW file, indicating a slightly weak anti-alias (AA) filter. Use these numbers to compare with other cameras of similar resolution, or use them to see just what higher resolution can mean in terms of potential detail.

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Sharpness & Detail
Very sharp, detailed images overall, though moderate edge-enhancement on high-contrast subjects. Moderately low noise suppression visible at base ISO.

Sharpness. The Pentax K-r produced very sharp images with good detail at default settings, though default sharpening and contrast was a bit high. Some edge enhancement artifacts were visible on high-contrast subjects such as the halos seen around some of the branches in the crop above left, but overall results are likely still quite pleasing to the target market (and of course you can always turn down sharpening and/or contrast if you like). Edge enhancement creates the illusion of sharpness by enhancing color and tonal differences right at the edge of a rapid transition in color or tone.

Detail. The crop above right shows some minor detail loss due to noise suppression at base ISO, as individual strands of hair in darker and lower contrast areas began to merge. Still, good results here, especially for an entry-level DSLR. Noise-suppression systems in digital cameras tend to flatten-out detail in areas of subtle contrast. The effects can often be seen in shots of human hair, where the individual strands are lost and an almost "watercolor" look appears.

ISO 200	ISO 800

Color Moire. We noticed color moire interference patterns in our mannequin's green jacket at ISOs up to 400 (see crops at right, and mouse over the links to compare ISOs), and in other test shots such as our Still Life series (check out the "Pure  Brewed" text on the beer bottle label), indicating a somewhat weak anti-alias (AA) filter. We also saw this with the K-x and some other cameras, so it's not that unusual. The Pentax K-r's default (chroma) noise reduction eliminated most of the color moire at ISO 800 (and above) in the jacket, though you can still make out a very faint monochrome pattern. Color moire is still quite visible in the Still Life at ISO 800 however, so enabling NR at low ISOs may not help depending on the subject. We detected it in some of our gallery shots too, as they were taken with the sharp Pentax 17-70mm F4 AL lens, so it is something to be aware of in real-world shots as well, especially when using a sharp lens.

RAW vs In-Camera JPEGs
As noted above, the Pentax K-r does a pretty good job at capturing lots of detail, but more detail can be obtained from carefully processing RAW files while simultaneously reducing sharpening artifacts. Take a look below, to see what we mean:

Camera JPEG (Premium)	RAW via ACR

In the table above, mousing over a link at the bottom will load the corresponding crop in the area above, and clicking the link will load the full resolution image. Examples are shot at ISO 100, and include in-camera Premium JPEG as well as the matching RAW file processed through Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) version 6.4, then sharpened in Photoshop. For the Pentax K-r's RAW files, we found best results with strong but tight 300% unsharp masking with a 0.3 pixel radius.

As is frequently the case, the demosaicing and sharpening in Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop delivered finer detail than the camera JPEGs. Looking very closely at the images, ACR extracted noticeably more detail that wasn't present in the JPEGs, but rendered colors and contrast differently than the default camera settings. There's also a bit more noise visible though it's pretty fine-grained. You can always adjust most processing parameters to your liking after shooting, though, which is one of the advantages of shooting RAW and processing the images yourself.

ISO & Noise Performance
Low noise at normal sensitivity settings, with very good detail vs noise up to ISO 800. 

Noise Reduction = Auto (Default)
ISO 100	ISO 200	ISO 400
ISO 800	ISO 1,600	ISO 3,200
ISO 6,400	ISO 12,800	ISO 25,600

The Pentax K-r produced images with low noise at its lower sensitivity settings, and even at ISO 400, noise was quite low with little detail lost to the noise reduction. (The K-r's default high ISO noise reduction doesn't kick in until ISO 800.) Shadows showed just a touch of chroma (color) noise at ISO 400. At ISO 800, noise "grain" was more visible and there was some minor blurring due to the added noise reduction, though chroma noise was less evident than at ISO 400 in the shadows. ISO 1,600 showed more noticeable blurring from stronger noise reduction, but detail was still pretty good. ISO 3,200 wasn't bad either, though there was another noticeable drop in fine detail, and chroma noise blotches were more visible in shadow areas and in the hair. ISO 6,400 suffered from darker noise pixels and other artifacts as the camera attempted to maintain the appearance of detail, while chroma noise started to become an issue in the shadows. Things got pretty ugly at ISO 12,800 and especially 25,600, with much stronger blurring along with obvious purple and green chroma blotches. Still, a good performance here for an entry-level APS-C model, though some newer models with higher resolution do just as well or better. See the Print Quality section below for recommended maximum print sizes at each ISO.

A note about focus for this shot: We shoot this image at f/4, using one of three very sharp reference lenses (70mm Sigma f/2.8 macro for most cameras, 60mm f/2.8 Nikkor macro for Nikon bodies without a drive motor, and Olympus Zuiko 50mm f/2.0 for Four Thirds and Micro Four Thirds bodies). To insure that the hair detail we use for making critical judgements about camera noise processing and detail rendering is in sharp focus at the relatively wide aperture we're shooting at, the focus target at the center of the scene is on a movable stand. This lets us compensate for front- or back-focus by different camera bodies, even those that lack micro-focus adjustments. This does mean, though, that the focus target itself may appear soft or slightly out of focus for bodies that front- or back-focused with the reference lens. If you click to view the full-size image for one of these shots and notice that the focus target is fuzzy, you don't need to email and tell us about it; we already know it. :-) The focus target position will simply have been adjusted to insure that the rest of the scene is focused properly.

Extremes: Sunlit, dynamic range and low light tests
High resolution with strong overall detail, but slightly high contrast with hot highlights. Good low-light performance, capable of capturing bright images in near darkness, though autofocus and metering struggled at lower light levels.

Sunlight
The Pentax K-r produced slightly high contrast with some washed-out highlights and deep shadows under the harsh lighting of the test above. (The camera's default Image Tone setting is "Bright", which uses +1 out of a range of -4 to +4 for Contrast.) Shadow detail was pretty good, though, despite some minor image noise. Our "Sunlit" Portrait target required +0.7 EV exposure compensation for a reasonably bright face, which is average for this shot. Some may prefer the +1.0 EV exposure for its brighter face, but we thought too many highlights were blown, and skin tones were washed out in some places.

Because digital cameras are more like slide film than negative film (in that they tend to have a more limited tonal range), we test them in the harshest situations to see how they handle scenes with bright highlights and dark shadows, as well as what kind of sensitivity they have in low light. The shot above is designed to mimic the very harsh, contrasty effect of direct noonday sunlight, a very tough challenge for most digital cameras. (You can read details of this test here. In actual shooting conditions, be sure to use fill flash in situations like the one shown here; it's better to shoot in open shade whenever possible.)

Contrast Adjustment
Just as with its saturation adjustment, the Pentax K-r's contrast adjustment offers a fairly wide range of settings (-4 to +4), and the contrast steps are actually a little finer than those for saturation, which is even more to our liking.

Minimum Contrast
Contrast set to lowest, 0 EV	Contrast set to lowest, 0 EV

At its lowest contrast setting, the K-r did a really excellent job of bringing nice detail out of the shadows as well as preserving a bit more highlight detail in the model's shirt and flowers, but skin tones in the "Outdoor" Portrait were a bit too flat for our tastes, and colors in general in the Far-field House shot were noticeably less saturated.

Contrast Adjustment Examples
-4	-1	0	+1	+4

The series of shots above shows results with several different contrast adjustment settings, showing the minimum step size around zero, as well as both extremes. The Pentax K-r actually defaults contrast to +1. The camera's contrast adjustment had quite an effect on color saturation, reducing it along with contrast. Contrast and saturation are actually fairly closely coupled, so this is unfortunately not unusual. While you can see the extremes, it's hard to really evaluate contrast on small thumbnails like these, click on any thumbnail to go to the full-size image.

Face Detection
The Pentax K-r has a Face-Detection AF option in Live View mode.

Face Detection
Off +0.3 EV	On +0.3 EV	Auto Picture +0.3 EV

Face Detection AF in Live View mode adjusts exposure as well as focus when it detects a face, according to the Pentax K-r user manual. As you can see above however, the image with Face Detection AF enabled (center) was actually dimmer than without (left) despite detecting a face (according to EXIF) because it selected a slightly faster shutter speed (1/50s vs 1/40s). Perhaps it was limited by the exposure mode we used (Aperture Priority). Auto Picture mode selected Portrait scene mode which employed a wider aperture (f/3.2), faster shutter speed (1/250s), and slightly reduced contrast and sharpening, but results were still a bit dimmer than our standard shot (left) using regular Aperture Priority at f/8.

D-Range Settings
The Pentax K-r's D-Range feature offers three Shadow Correction levels (Low, Medium, and High) as well as one Highlight Correction setting (On/Off). As the name implies, Shadow Correction works to raise shadow levels while attempting to keep highlights and midtones as they are, and likewise, Highlight Correction attempts to reduce highlights without darkening shadows and midtones. Both can be used simultaneously. See the images below to see their effect on our high contrast "Sunlit" Portrait test shot.

Outdoor Portrait D-Range Examples (0 EV)
	D-Range Settings: Off (Default) Shadow Correction Low Shadow Correction Medium Shadow Correction High Highlight Correction On

Mouse over the links to see how the various settings for D-Range affect our "Outdoor" Portrait shot. Click on a link to get to the full-res image. (The effect can be a little subtle in shots like those above, so we decided to use a mouse-over to better show how each setting compares to Off.)

Shadow Correction. As you can see from the thumbnails and histograms, there was a gradual lightening of shadows as the Shadow Correction setting was increased, while highlights remained roughly the same. If you look closely at the shadow detail, you will notice an increase in noise as the setting is turned higher, but that's to be expected and noise levels are still pretty low. The camera reported an ISO of 100 for all three settings of Shadow Correction.

Highlight Correction. Here, we can see that highlights were indeed dialed-back with Highlight Correction On versus Off.,while midtones and shadows remained roughly the same. The Pentax K-r boosted ISO to 200, so shadow detail was slightly noisier. (Click the link to see the full res image.)

Far-field D-Range Examples (0 EV)
D-Range Off	Shadow Correction Low	Shadow Correction Medium
Shadow Correction High	Highlight Correction On

Here are the results with our Far-field House shot. Again, we see a lightening of shadows as the Shadow Correction setting is increased, and a reduction in highlight clipping with Highlight Correction.

HDR Capture
The Pentax K-r offers a High Dynamic Range (HDR) capture mode where the camera takes three images (underexposed, normal, and overexposed) in quick succession and combines them in-camera into one image.  If performed properly, this method should result in much higher dynamic range, without the additional noise penalty that comes with boosting shadows or sensitivity when using the D-Range option. (In fact, it can reduce shadow noise by combining shadows from the overexposed shot.) There are six HDR settings available, three more than the K-x: Off (default), Standard, Auto and Strong 1/2/3. (The K-x has just one "Strong" setting, and no "Auto" setting.)

Outdoor Portrait HDR Examples (+0.3 EV)
	HDR Settings: Off (Default) Standard Auto Strong 1 Strong 2 Strong 3

As you can see from the above images, HDR Standard and Auto settings worked quite well on our "Sunlit" Portrait test shot, reducing both clipped highlights and bringing out shadow detail. The Strong settings were a bit too much for this scene, resulting in very flat and unnatural looking images with reduced saturation. In addition to the additional levels compared to the K-x, the K-r has an Auto Align function which should let you shot HDR images without the use of a tripod, but we didn't test the effectiveness of that feature in the lab. Obviously, you'll want a static subject for this feature, so it's not really suited to portraits.

Dynamic Range
A key parameter in a digital camera is its Dynamic Range, the range of brightness that can be faithfully recorded. At the upper end of the tonal scale, dynamic range is dictated by the point at which the RGB data "saturates" at values of 255, 255, 255. At the lower end of the tonal scale, dynamic range is determined by the point at which there ceases to be any useful difference between adjacent tonal steps. Note the use of the qualifier "useful" in there: While it's tempting to evaluate dynamic range as the maximum number of tonal steps that can be discerned at all, that measure of dynamic range has very little relevance to real-world photography. What we care about as photographers is how much detail we can pull out of the shadows before image noise becomes too objectionable. This, of course, is a very subjective matter, and will vary with the application and even the subject matter in question. (Noise will be much more visible in subjects with large areas of flat tints and subtle shading than it would in subjects with strong, highly contrasting surface texture.)

What makes most sense then, is to specify useful dynamic range in terms of the point at which image noise reaches some agreed-upon threshold. To this end, Imatest computes a number of different dynamic range measurements, based on a variety of image noise thresholds. The noise thresholds are specified in terms of f-stops of equivalent luminance variation in the final image file, and dynamic range is computed for noise thresholds of 1.0 (low image quality), 0.5 (medium image quality), 0.25 (medium-high image quality) and 0.1 (high image quality). For most photographers and most applications, the noise thresholds of 0.5 and 0.25 f-stops are probably the most relevant to the production of acceptable-quality finished images, but many noise-sensitive shooters will insist on the 0.1 f-stop limit for their most critical work.

JPEG. The graph at right (click for a larger version) was generated using Imatest's dynamic range analysis for an in-camera K-r JPEG file with a nominally-exposed density step target (Stouffer 4110). At default settings and base ISO, the graph shows 10.7 f-stops of total dynamic range, with 7.15 f-stops at the High Quality level. These are good numbers, if not quite as good as recent competition. Compared to the Pentax K-x which uses the same or very similar sensor, the K-r produced almost identical results in both the High Quality level score (7.15 vs 7.18 f-stops), and total dynamic range (10.7 vs 10.6 f-stops). Compared to recent competitors, the Pentax K-r scored a little lower at the highest quality level, but that's likely in-part due to the K-r's slightly high default contrast and sharpening, which tends to amplify noise and reduce scores at the High Quality threshold.

RAW. The graph at right is from the same Stouffer 4110 stepchart image captured as a RAW (.DNG) file, processed with Adobe Camera Raw using the Auto setting. The Pentax K-r's RAW file scored just over an f-stop more in total dynamic range (11.8 vs 10.7 f-stops) and the score at the highest quality level increased over two f-stops from 7.15 to 9.33, which is very good. Again, results are very similar to those of the Pentax K-x, with the same High Quality score (9.33 f-stops) though with slightly higher total score (11.8 vs 11.4 f-stops). It's worth noting here is that ACR's default noise reduction settings reduced overall noise somewhat (see the plot in the lower left-hand corner) relative to the levels in the in-camera JPEG, which would tend to boost the dynamic range numbers for the High Quality threshold. Also, the extreme highlight recovery being performed by ACR here would likely produce color errors in strong highlights of natural subjects. Note that this measurement has a margin of error of about 1/3 f-stop, so differences of less than 0.33 can be ignored.

	1 fc 11 lux	1/2 fc 5.5 lux	1/4 fc 2.7 lux	1/8 fc 1.3 lux	1/16 fc 0.67 lux	1/16fc No NR
ISO 100	2 s f2.8	4 s f2.8	8 s f2.8	15 s f2.8	30 s f2.8	30 s f2.8
ISO 200	1 s f2.8	2 s f2.8	4 s f2.8	8 s f2.8	15 s f2.8	15 s f2.8
ISO 400	0.5 s f2.8	1 s f2.8	2 s f2.8	4 s f2.8	8 s f2.8	8 s f2.8
ISO 800	1/4 s f2.8	0.5 s f2.8	1 s f2.8	2 s f2.8	4 s f2.8	4 s f2.8
ISO 1600	1/8 s f2.8	1/4 s f2.8	0.5 s f2.8	1 s f2.8	2 s f2.8	2 s f2.8
ISO 3200	1/15 s f2.8	1/8 s f2.8	1/4 s f2.8	0.5 s f2.8	1 s f2.8	1 s f2.8
ISO 6400	1/30 s f2.8	1/15 s f2.8	1/8 s f2.8	1/4 s f2.8	0.5 s f2.8	0.5 s f2.8
ISO 12800	1/60 s f2.8	1/30 s f2.8	1/15 s f2.8	1/8 s f2.8	1/4 s f2.8	1/4 s f2.8
ISO 25600	1/125 s f2.8	1/60 s f2.8	1/30 s f2.8	1/15 s f2.8	1/8 s f2.8	1/8 s f2.8

Low Light. The Pentax K-r performed reasonably well here, able to capture usable images down to the 1/16 foot-candle light level (about 1/16 as bright as average city street lighting at night), at all ISO settings. The K-r's metering system struggled a bit with getting the exposure correct at the lowest levels though, so we used manual exposure for these shots. Color balance with Auto white balance wasn't very consistent, sometimes having a magenta cast which often shifted to a blue or green cast at different ISOs and light levels. Noise was quite low up to ISO 1,600, and even at all but the highest ISOs there's still a lot of detail to work with when high ISO NR is set to "Off". The Pentax K-r gives you four options for high ISO noise reduction: Auto, Off, Low, Medium, and High, and you can choose the level of noise reduction for each ISO level, so you have a lot of flexibility in deciding how much noise to trade for detail. Except for the "No NR" shots in the table above, these were all shot using the default Auto NR settings. We did not notice any "hot" pixels except at very high ISOs and/or with NR turned "Off" where they are expected, nor did we detect any significant banding issues.

The Pentax K-r's phase-detection autofocus system was able to focus down to just above the 1/8 foot-candle light level with its AF assist light turned off, though it was able to focus in total darkness with the focus assist lamp enabled. In Live View mode with contrast-detect autofocus, the K-r was able to focus down to just above the 1/2 foot-candle, which is not as good as most SLRs in Live View mode. (Keep in mind that the longer shutter speeds here demand the use of a tripod to prevent any blurring from camera movement. A useful trick is to just prop the camera on a convenient surface, and use its self-timer to release the shutter. This avoids any jiggling from your finger pressing the shutter button, and can work quite well when you don't have a tripod handy.)

How bright is this? The one foot-candle light level that this test begins at roughly corresponds to the brightness of typical city street-lighting at night. Cameras performing well at that level should be able to snap good-looking photos of street-lit scenes.

NOTE: This low light test is conducted with a stationary subject, and the camera mounted on a sturdy tripod. Most digital cameras will fail miserably when faced with a moving subject in dim lighting. (For example, a child's ballet recital or a holiday pageant in a gymnasium.) Digital SLRs like the Pentax K-r do much better than point & shoots, but you still shouldn't expect a quick autofocus lock with moving subjects.

Output Quality

Print Quality
ISO 100 to 400 images look great at 20x30 inches; ISO 3,200 shots print well at 13x19, and even ISO 25,600 shots make a good 4x6-inch print.

ISO 100 to 200 shots look great at 20x30 inches, with excellent detail and color.

ISO 400 images look good at 20x30, but some luminance noise creeps into the shadows. It becomes a non-issue when print size is reduced to 16x20 inches.

ISO 800 shots also look good at 16x20 inches, with some luminance noise, and minor loss of detail in low-contrast red areas.

ISO 1,600 images also look good at 16x20 inches, though there is some softening in detail overall, and the red leaf swatch continues to degrade. Reduction to 13x19 inches brings detail back to what can be called crisp.

ISO 3,200 images print well at 13x19, though luminance noise is a bit noisier. Detail remains pretty sharp, though, except for the red areas, which lose more detail than other areas.

ISO 6,400 images have good detail at 11x14 inches, but luminance noise is a bit rough in shadow areas, which warrants reduction to 8x10, where it's not bad at all.

ISO 12,800 shots again have good detail, but noisy shadows at 8x10. Reduction to 5x7 brings it back to an acceptable level.

ISO 25,600 shots look soft and untidy at 5x7, but look much better reduced to 4x6, though some of the colors lack detail thanks to a saturation boost.

Overall an excellent performance from the Pentax K-r.

Testing hundreds of digital cameras, we've found that you can only tell just so much about a camera's image quality by viewing its images on-screen. Ultimately, there's no substitute for printing a lot of images and examining them closely. For this reason, we now routinely print sample images from the cameras we test on our Canon Pro9000 Mark II studio printer, and on the Pixma MP610 here in the office. (See the Canon Pixma Pro9000 Mark II review for details on that model.)

Viewfinder

Pentax K-r Viewfinder

The Pentax Kr's viewfinder is an optical, eye-level through-the-lens type, with the LCD monitor also able to display an image preview, in Live View mode.

Pentax says the K-r's optical viewfinder provides a coverage of about 96% and a magnification of approximately 0.85x (with a 50mm f/1.4 lens focused at infinity). The K-r's dioptric correction adjustment (for eyeglass wearers) has a range from -2.5 to +1.5 m^-1. The eyepoint is 19.1mm from the view window and 21.6mm from the center of the lens. The Pentax K-r's viewfinder is a pentamirror design, which is less costly, but also less bright than pentaprism implementations. Like that of the K-x, the focusing screen is not listed as being interchangeable, but it definitely is. We're a little surprised that Pentax doesn't make a big deal out of this, as it would give them another accessory to sell, and helps the K-r stand out from other entry-level DSLRs. From what we can tell, the K-r uses the same focusing screens as the K-m / K2000, K-x, K100D, and K200D. Pentax doesn't sell replacement screens for any of these models, and it should be noted that third-party screens may bring limitations with respect to metering.

The Pentax K-r's viewfinder readout does a fairly good job of communicating camera status and exposure settings, showing most of the usual info such as AF points, flash status, focus mode, shutter speed, aperture, focus confirmation, ISO sensitivity, EV compensation, anti-shake status, etc. Physically, it is largely unchanged from the K-x, with the exception of one very important addition. Where the earlier K2000 / K-m and K-x lacked any indication of approximate AF point location, as well as which AF point(s) were active or had achieved a focus lock, the K-r provides this capability. This makes for a huge improvement in shooting with the camera, both because you can adjust the focus point without removing your eye from the viewfinder, and you can more confidently determine which part of the frame the auto point selection chose for a focus lock. For our money, this is one of the most important differences between the K-x and K-r, and makes it a much more enjoyable camera to shoot with.

Viewfinder Test Results

Coverage
Good accuracy from the optical viewfinder for the class, though below average accuracy from the LCD in Live View.

The Pentax K-r's optical viewfinder showed about 96% coverage with our Sigma 70mm f/2.8 prime lens, which is good for consumer model. (Most consumer SLRs show about 95%.) There was however a slight vertical shift which isn't uncommon, and coverage was slightly lower in the horizontal axis versus vertical. The LCD showed just over 98 percent coverage in Live View mode, which is lower than the 100% most SLRs display when deriving a preview from the image sensor. Again, coverage was a little lower in the horizontal versus vertical axis.

Live View

Pentax K-r Live View

Like the K-x, the Pentax K-r has a live view mode, for framing subjects on the LCD instead of using the optical viewfinder. Where the K-x's live view functionality was a fairly major upgrade from that of its predecessor, the Pentax K-r's live view mode provides a smaller -- but still quite worthwhile -- step. The live view menu is still accessed from the third tab of the record menu, but has been rearranged slightly to place the most important options -- autofocus type and grid overlay -- at the top of the list. Unfortunately, accessing the menu system -- even to visit the live view menu -- still immediately causes the K-r to terminate live view mode, causing unnecessary wear and tear on the shutter and mirror mechanism if you intended to immediately return to live view upon exiting the menu, not to mention inconvenience to the photographer. This is something we'd like to see changed in future firmware.

Live view mode is still accessed from any exposure mode by pressing a dedicated LV button, upon which the K-r raises its mirror, and initiates live view. Pressing LV again disables it. Like its predecessor, the K-r automatically shuts live view off after five minutes to prevent the sensor from overheating, and if the internal temperature threshold has been reached, won't let you resume live view mode until the sensor has cooled to an acceptable level. When using autofocus, you can magnify the image 2x, 4x, or 6x by pressing the INFO button. The four-way controller can be used to move the magnified area around the frame, and the green button is used to return to the center. When manual focus is used, higher magnification levels are available to a maximum of 10x, as an aid to precise focusing. Options are available in the Record menu to toggle information overlay on or off, or to add several grid displays and a live histogram, and to blink clipped highlights or blocked-up shadows.

Unfortunately, we no longer have a K-x in-house with which to compare contrast detection autofocusing. Compared to the previous generation K-7 prosumer model, though, the K-r appears noticeably faster, and tracking also seems to be more precise. A new function of the K-r's contrast detection AF is that during the AF operation the K-r's live view feed automatically zooms in on the focus point -- whether it is manually selected, or set using face detection -- making it much easier to see if the lock was accurate. The zoom isn't performed instantly, but rather the view gradually zooms in to help reinforce where within the frame the camera is focusing. This function is something of a mixed blessing, however, in that it can't be disabled, and operates even when in AF-C mode, where you'd expect to be shooting a moving subject. (It does return to a normal view shortly after the initial focus lock, so you do at least see the full image view during focus tracking.) The zoomed view can still make it very tricky to continue to follow your subject and keep them inside the image frame while focusing, though, and we'd really like to see the option to disable this otherwise useful feature -- at the very least when Continuous AF is disabled, and preferably at any time of the photographer's choosing.

Also new are a selection of three different grid types in live view mode, versus the one grid type of the K-x. The K-x's 3x3 grid is still available as the first option on the list, but there's now also a 2 x 2 grid with diagonals indicated (useful for rule of thirds framing), and a scale overlay that is reminiscent of the MI-60 AF Scale Matte focusing screen, with horizontal and vertical bars crossing at the center of the image frame. The horizontal bar has 30 scale markings along its length, while the vertical bar has 20, and each has larger markings for every fifth tick on the scale.

The illustration below (courtesy of Pentax) shows the selection of information that's available on the Pentax K-r's LCD display during live view mode.

Video

Pentax Kr Video Recording

The Pentax K-r is the company's fourth DSLR to feature the ability to capture video clips, a capability first added in the prosumer K-7 model. Much like the live view capability that preceded it, video capture has rapidly become a must-have feature in the DSLR market. The K-r's video mode shares much in common with that of the recent K-5 flagship, but with a few features removed to reduce cost and create differentiation between models.

Pentax K-r Video: Image Size, Frame Rate, and Encoding

720p video. The Pentax K-r offers two resolution levels for video recording, topping out at 1,280 x 720 pixels, rather than the higher-res 1,920 x 1,080 (1080p Full HD) mode offered in the flagship K-5. Like the earlier K-x model, both resolutions match existing standards -- 720p and VGA / 480p.

Like its predecessor, the Pentax Kr records its movies as Motion JPEG-compressed .AVI files, rather than the AVCHD or H.264 formats favored by most manufacturers these days. The AVCHD format used by many of the K-r's rivals is a subset of the broader H.264 video compression spec, which places fairly heavy constraints on the recorded bitrate, hence allowing smaller file sizes. Unfortunately, these constraints also conspire to cause a severe loss of image quality in AVCHD video when a lot of the image changes from one frame to the next, as is the case when panning or in closely-cropped video of a rapidly-moving subject. Some cameras with sufficient processing power instead use H.264 encoding at higher bitrates to avoid some of the limitations of AVCHD, but as well as increasing file sizes, this comes with the requirement of greater processing power to encode and decode. Compared to these formats, Motion JPEG is much less processor-intensive than H.264, and avoids AVCHD's compression-related quality loss during panning. The downside, though, is that the Pentax K-r yields very large file sizes: just one minute of 720p video can very easily produce file sizes on the order of 250MB or more, depending on subject matter.

Recording is only part of the story, of course: editing and playback are equally important aspects to be considered. When it comes to editing, the Pentax Kr's AVI format is much easier to deal with than H.264-encoded video (including AVCHD), at least currently. The more sophisticated encoding used in the H.264 standard requires quite a bit of processor power to pull it apart and put it back together again, so frame-accurate editing of H.264 requires a fast processor and capable editing program. When it comes to playback, it's perhaps a bit of a toss-up between the two main formats: AVI plays back much better on computers with relatively modest processors, while AVCHD files can be read directly by some television sets.

Here's a list showing what to expect for file sizes with the Pentax K-r's video recording:

Compared to the K-x, our tests of the K-r's frame size and compression levels showed slightly higher compression levels across the board, with a fairly even progression in file sizes as compression levels were decreased, although the file sizes were significantly greater (and more dependent on subject matter) in the highest quality 720p mode than for other compression levels and resolutions.

The file-size results correspond to what we found in the K-r's video files: The best image quality is definitely achieved in its 720p Best-quality mode, but you'll need to pay the piper in terms of flash card space. Stepping up from Better to Best quality adds almost 50% to file sizes, all other settings remaining the same, and the K-r will devour 2GB of card space in as little as seven or eight minutes.

Here are some examples of video from the Pentax K-r, showing typical results under daylight and night conditions.

Pentax K-r Video Samples shot with smc PENTAX DA 17-70mm F4 AL (IF) SDM lens
Daytime Videos
1,280 x 720, 25fps, Best (***) Quality View on Vimeo | Download Original (14.0 seconds, 60.2 MB)
1,280 x 720, 25fps, Better (**) Quality View on Vimeo | Download Original (13.0 seconds, 39.7 MB)	1,280 x 720, 25fps, Good (*) Quality View on Vimeo | Download Original (12.0 seconds, 26.1 MB)
640 x 480, 25 fps, Best (***) Quality View on Vimeo | Download Original (13.0 seconds, 14.5 MB)
640 x 480, 25 fps, Better (**) Quality View on Vimeo | Download Original (15.0 seconds, 12.2 MB)	640 x 480, 25 fps, Good (*) Quality View on Vimeo | Download Original (12.0 seconds, 7.1 MB)
Night Videos
Note: The popping / clicking noise on the Vimeo versions of the night clips below is not present in the original videos. We're currently in communication with Vimeo to resolve this issue. Apologies for the inconvenience!
1,280 x 720, 25fps, Best (***) Quality View on Vimeo | Download Original (14.0 seconds, 60.0 MB)
640 x 480, 25fps, Best (***) Quality View on Vimeo | Download Original (17.0 seconds, 19.1 MB)

Pentax K-r Video-Mode Focusing

When we first saw a prototype of the prosumer K-7 model prior to its announcement, were excited to see that it supported contrast-detect autofocus during movie recording, something that would've been unique among prosumer DSLRs at the time. Unfortunately, this feature never made it into Pentax's production-level cameras, and the K-r retains the status quo in this regard. Digital SLR video capture has come a long way since the launch of the K-7, and many competing cameras do now offer this feature. Notably, Canon introduced the ability to perform single AF operations with its Rebel T2i in February 2010, while Nikon followed suit with full-time AF in the D3100 from August 2010, and both companies have since introduced the same in-movie AF options in their prosumer models as well. Hence, where the omission of in-video AF was merely a shame in Pentax's earlier cameras, it now stands out as an area where the K-r lags its main rivals.

While the absence of in-video AF wouldn't likely be of any importance to professionals, the bulk of the K-r's target market is made up of enthusiastic amateurs, and for many, the requirement to focus manually is a step too far. It takes significant practice and no small dose of talent to pull focus manually, and doubly so if you're also having to pay attention to image framing, etc. Even bearing in mind that the K-7 prototype's contrast-detect AF cycle was rather slow, visible in the video, and quite audible via the built-in microphone with most lenses, we think that many enthusiast videographers would welcome its presence in Pentax's DSLR lineup all the same. Audio issues notwithstanding, for those who can't master the arts of pulling focus manually, brief moments of contrast-detect "hunting" would likely still prove more acceptable than blurry video -- or no video at all.

As it is, focusing in movie mode with the Pentax K-r is much the same as used to be the case with most other video-capable DSLRs last year: You can trigger a contrast-detect AF cycle prior to the beginning of a recording by hitting the AF button on the camera's rear panel, but there's no autofocus during recording. You can manually focus the lens during a recording, though, and the true manual operation of AF on Pentax's lenses means you can do this more or less silently, simply by being careful about turning the focus ring. (Some cameras we've tested, such as the Olympus E-P1, use "fly by wire" focusing, whereby the focus ring only instructs the camera to move the lens elements rather than moving them directly via a mechanical coupling. This means that small clicks can be heard on the audio track every time the camera changes the focus setting, regardless of how slowly you turn the focus ring. With true manual operation of its lenses, the Pentax K-r doesn't have this problem.)

As is the case in Live View mode, pressing the Info button on the camera's rear panel lets you zoom in up to 6x when AF is enabled, or as far as 10x when set to manual focus mode, to assist with precise focusing, but note that this is only possible before recording has started: Once the camera has begun recording, only the normal 1:1 view is available. A new function of the K-r's pre-capture contrast detection autofocus is that during the AF operation, the live view feed automatically zooms in on the focus point -- whether it is manually selected, or set using face detection -- making it much easier to see if the lock was accurate. The zoom isn't performed instantly, but rather the view gradually zooms in to help reinforce where within the frame the camera is focusing. This function is something of a mixed blessing, however, in that it can't be disabled, and operates even when in AF-C mode, where you'd expect to be shooting a moving subject. (It does return to a normal view shortly after the initial focus lock, so you do at least see the full image view in between AF operations.) The zoomed view can make it very tricky to continue to follow your subject and keep them inside the image frame while focusing, though, and we'd really like to see the option to disable this otherwise useful feature -- at the very least when Continuous AF is disabled, and preferably at any time of the photographer's choosing.

As we've noted in other SLR reviews, the good news with focusing for video is that you can get surprisingly good depth of field in video mode by stopping the lens down, thanks to the relatively low resolution of the video image. With a pixel resolution of only 0.9 megapixels in the Pentax K-r's 720p mode, and just 0.3 megapixels in VGA mode, images that would be unacceptably blurred as 12 megapixel still shots look perfectly fine as video frames. This not only provides greater depth of field at any given aperture, but is also more forgiving of diffraction limiting at very small lens apertures. Diffraction at small apertures means you'd usually want to avoid f/16 or f/22 for still images, but again, the results generally look perfectly fine at video resolutions. Bottom line, with the K-r's lens set to f/16 or f/22 (assuming you're shooting under fairly bright conditions), you'll be surprised by how little focus adjustment is needed during a typical video recording.

Pentax K-r Video Exposure Control

The level of exposure control available when shooting video with current SLRs varies widely. Many cameras -- especially those aimed at consumer use -- still opt to keep things simple with fully automatic exposure control. Manual exposure control is also now a reasonably common option, though, especially in prosumer and professional models. Like its predecessor, the Pentax K-r offers somewhere in between these extremes, giving you a choice of either automatic or aperture-priority exposure modes. In Auto aperture mode, the camera adjusts the aperture as needed, but just like the K-x, doesn't report the current value on the LCD screen. (We'd still like to see Pentax change this behavior to allow aperture display regardless of exposure mode, at the videographer's option.) In aperture priority mode -- referred to in the menu system as Fixed Movie Aperture Control -- the current aperture is displayed in the lower left corner of the LCD screen, and can be changed by rotating the rear command dial. You can't adjust it during recording, but whatever value you set before you begin your clip is the one the camera will use. This is a great feature that gives a fair degree of creative control over the look of videos, although it doesn't go as far as some cameras in allowing direct control over shutter speed or aperture.

In common with most other video-capable SLRs, the Pentax K-r offers the full range of white balance settings in movie mode, including four different options for fluorescent lighting, plus Manual and the unusual Color Temperature Enhancement mode. You can also select any of the K-r's Custom Image modes, including Bright, Natural, Portrait, Landscape, Vibrant, Muted, Bleach Bypass, Reversal Film, and Monochrome. As with still-image shooting, settings for saturation, hue, high/low key adjustment and contrast can be adjusted independently for each mode. A sharpness setting is available as well, which affects the sharpness of the video images to a very noticeable degree. (Note that turning the sharpness up too high will make the JPEG compression artifacts much more evident, though.) Unlike its predecessor, the K-r now allows a subset of its digital filter modes -- and one filter specific to the Movie mode -- to be used during video capture. Modes available for both stills and movies include the Toy Camera, Retro, High Contrast, and Extract Color, with each offering varying degrees of control over the look of the effect. The still-image Soft, Starburst, Fish-eye, and Custom filters are not available in Movie mode, but you gain a Color filter mode that allows a red, magenta, blue, cyan, green, yellow filter effect at either light, standard, or dark intensity levels. The K-r's Cross Processing function, which is also available for stills, can be used in Movie mode as well, and its effect -- which emulates a technique from the days of film photography -- can also be combined with the digital filters. If Cross Processing is active, both white balance and custom image mode must be controlled automatically, however.

Two movie-mode exposure parameters that the Pentax K-r unfortunately doesn't let you control are its shutter speed and ISO sensitivity. The shutter speed appears to be tied to the frame rate: regardless of the light level involved, rapid motion is always blurred to about the level you'd expect with a 1/25th second exposure time, with the ISO sensitivity being used to maintain the metered exposure level. You can, however, attempt to bias the camera's exposure towards your desired result with judicious use of the exposure compensation, auto-exposure lock, and metering mode controls. Exposure compensation and lock are applicable not only before, but also during video capture, albeit with the possibility that their use may result in objectionable camera handling noise on the audio track. Since the metering mode is adjusted through the menu, this can only be adjusted before capture starts.

Pentax Kr Video: Image Stabilization

The Pentax K-r's body-based image stabilization can be used when recording movies. Not only does this make any lens you're recording with into an IS model, but we found that the image stabilization worked exceptionally well when recording videos. We've recorded videos with other SLRs using IS lenses, but the level of stabilization available in Pentax's flagship Kr (and its predecessor) seemed better than we're average. Because the Pentax K-r's Shake Reduction system provides such a high degree of stabilization, there's a bit of a "floating" feeling when recording videos with IS enabled: As you move and pan the camera, the video image tends to lag a little behind your motions, "catching up" when you come to a rest. A related IS effect is that the subject can drift up or down or from side to side slightly during recording. This can be slightly disconcerting, but the upside is that your videos will be much more stable than otherwise, even holding the camera at arm's length, or when shooting with a long telephoto lens.

Pentax K-r Video: Audio recording

Like that of the K-x before it, we found that the Pentax K-r's built-in mic does a good job of picking up ambient sound, with good sound quality and sensitivity. At the same time, it seemed to be less sensitive to sounds picked up from focus adjustment or hand movement on the body than some other cameras we've tested. As with that of its predecessor, the built-in mic in the K-x is monaural, rather than the stereo mics that are becoming more common these days. It's also not directional, so it will pick up noise from behind or alongside the camera body, not just from in front, but for many purposes where a degree of ambient noise is desirable, that can be a good thing.

Unfortunately, the K-r does lack a couple of features that pros in particular would find desirable. Unlike some of its competitors, Pentax hasn't gifted the K-r with an external microphone jack, and nor does it offer any manual control over audio recording levels. Instead, the camera will determine these automatically, and may adjust them on the fly, resulting in the levels ramping up and down in response to sudden changes in ambient noise levels. For amateur use, this might well be desirable, helping reduce complexity and ensuring that at least the majority of the audio is recorded at roughly the right level. For professional use, though, the lack of any way to adjust the recording levels manually, or to lock them at a particular level, will likely mean that pro videographers will want to rely on an external device for audio capture, simply replacing the camera's own audio in post-processing. This is easy enough to do, and a variety of relatively affordable, compact, high quality external audio recorders from the likes of Zoom make this possible even for enthusiastic amateurs, but it's nonetheless an extra step in the process which could likely be avoided courtesy of a firmware update.

Pentax K-r Movie Recording User Interface

The Pentax K-r's movie mode is still accessed via a separate position on the camera's mode dial, rather than being initiated from within still-picture Live View mode, and just like in the K-x, there's still no separate control button to start/stop movie recording. Instead, pressing the shutter button begins recording, and pressing it again stops it. Many DSLRs these days have a dedicated button to start/stop movie recording, and while newcomers will likely find the K-r's use of the shutter button more intuitive, it draws a very clear dividing line between the camera's still imaging and movie capture functionality. This takes away somewhat from the ability to quickly grab spontaneous, unanticipated video clips, as you have to pay attention to changing the camera's operating mode before you can switch from still to video capture, or vice versa.

Our feelings about having a separate mode for video capture do depend somewhat on the rest of the camera's user interface. On some cameras, combining video capture with normal still-capture mode would increase menu complexity too much, but that wouldn't be an issue with the K-r, given its menu layout. Providing video direct from Live View mode would require the addition of one more button to the camera body with which to control video recording, though, and the K-r's tight control layout leaves little or no room for that.

Setting adjustments in movie mode are made via screen 3 of the Record Menu, where the Movie option leads to a whole sub-menu. We found this a little awkward when making frequent adjustments to video settings, as the extra level of menu selection meant more button-pressing to make the changes than would have been required if they'd been available from the main shooting screen via a "quick menu," as some cameras have. (It also meant unnecessary mirror flipping, as the Live View mode is terminated whenever you enter the menu system.) That said, the commonly accessed options for white balance and exposure compensation were easily accessible via external controls, and when you need to enter the menu, the K-r can at least be configured to remember which menu tab was most recently accessed, saving a few button presses over the earlier K-x model.

The Pentax K-r's Record Menu options for video recording are:

Rolling Shutter Artifacts

Essentially every video capable DSLR currently on the market exhibits motion-related distortions called rolling shutter artifacts. These are caused because the image data is captured and then read off the chip sequentially by rows, rather being captured all at once. In the case of the Pentax K-r, with its fixed frame rate, this means that image data for the last row of a given frame is captured and read out anywhere up to 1/25th second after the data for the top row was captured. The effect on moving objects is similar to that of a focal plane shutter in an SLR, but more pronounced, because the video frame is read out much more slowly than the slit of a focal plane shutter moves across the sensor.

For a camera that scans video frames vertically (as all do that we're aware of), rolling shutter artifacts will be most noticeable for subjects that are moving rapidly side to side, or when the camera itself is being panned horizontally. Verticals in the scene will appear tilted to the right or left, depending on the direction of camera motion. As an example, consider the case of a camera being panned from left to right, with a flagpole or other vertical object in the middle of the scene when recording for a particular frame begins: If the top of the object was centered horizontally when the first line of the video frame is acquired, by the time the last line of the frame has been captured, the bottom of the object will have shifted to somewhere left of center: As a result, the vertical object would appear to be leaning to the right.

Subjectively, the visual impact of rolling shutter artifacts on the Pentax K-r seemed less significant than those of the earlier K-x model. An upside for the K-r relative to rolling shutter artifacts is its excellent IS system. While you can avoid the worst effects of a rolling shutter by panning slowly, even minor jiggling of the camera due to hand-holding can produce a jelly-like appearance in the video output from some models. The K-r's IS system stabilized the video well enough that we experienced no such effects when the camera wasn't being panned. If our shooting required both stationary shots and rapid panning in the same segment, though, we had to shoot with the IS system disabled to avoid clacking noise in the audio track from the internal mic. With an external mic, this was much less of an issue.

Computer Requirements for Viewing HD Video

A typical computer these days has little trouble dealing with still images, but high-definition video can be another matter. Depending on the file format involved, it can take a pretty beefy computer to handle HD-resolution video playback without stuttering or dropping frames. The Motion JPEG image compression used by the Pentax K-r is one of the less compute-intensive formats, and its standard high-def 720p mode has significantly lower resolution than the Full HD modes on some recent cameras, though. As long as it's a relatively recent and reasonably powerful model, you should have no problem playing video files from the K-r on your computer. We don't have a specific benchmark for this, but if your computer is less than 3 years or so old, it should have no problem with the K-r's video streams. (By contrast, to play AVCHD or other keyframe-encoded video formats at full 1,920 x 1,080 resolution can demand a very powerful CPU and video card, to keep up.)

That said, the Pentax K-r's video codec doesn't appear to be particularly efficient, as it produces very large file sizes at its highest quality setting, even though the compression level seems a little higher than that of the K-x. So, while you might be able to play its videos on an older computer, you'll almost certainly need to increase your hard drive capacity. With video files occupying up to 260 MB/minute, it's a good thing that terabyte hard drives are so cheap these days. (At that pace, a terabyte hard drive could hold about 64 hours of video footage. That's a lot of footage if you primarily use the K-r for casual "video snapshots," but if you're a serious video user, it can go by very quickly.)

Flash

Pentax K-r Flash

The Pentax K-r features a built-in, pop-up flash, which operates in either Auto, Flash On (forced flash), Auto + Red-eye reduction, Flash On + Red-eye reduction, Slow-sync, Slow-sync + Red-eye reduction, Trailing Curtain Sync, or Wireless mode. The flash modes available depends on the current exposure mode. The flash can automatically pop-up as needed in Auto Picture, Portrait, Macro, Night Scene Portrait, or several of the Scene modes (Surf & Snow, Food, Kids, and Pet). In Night Scene, Sunset, Stage Lighting, Candlelight, and Museum modes, the flash is disabled altogether. In other modes, the flash is released from its compartment by pressing the Flash Up button to the left of the viewfinder. Close it again by pushing the flash head back down. The same button can be used to switch the flash to manual mode, preventing it popping straight back up again when you press the shutter button if you don't want to use it.

The Pentax K-r's built-in flash has a guide number rating of 12 meters (39 feet) at ISO 100, translating to a range of about 14 feet at ISO 100 with an f/2.8 lens. Flash coverage is rated by Pentax at 28mm equivalent. A Flash Exposure Compensation feature controls the flash exposure -2.0 to +1.0 stops in 1/2 or 1/3-stop increments. Maximum sync speed is 1/180 second, though if an external flash that supports high-speed sync is used, such as the Pentax AF540FGZ or AF360FGZ, maximum shutter speed with flash is 1/6,000 second.

In Wireless mode, the built-in flash can be used as a controller to multiple wireless slave flashes (including the Pentax AF540FGZ and/or AF360FGZ flash units). The built-in flash can be set to contribute to the exposure, or to act only as a controller. Even when set to controller, it still fires to provide timing for the slave flash during the exposure, but at greatly reduced strength, thus minimizing its effect on the flash balance. The Pentax wireless flash system offers four control channels, so up to four camera/flash setups can be used in the same area without interfering with each other. The K-r can connect on any of the four control channels: You program it by setting a flash unit to the desired channel, attaching that flash to the camera and then half-pressing the shutter button. This sets the camera to the channel the flash was set up for. After this, the flash may be removed and used as a remote unit, controlled by the camera.

Normally, all flashes used (whether on-camera or remote) contribute equally to the exposure, however each external flash can be set to one of the following ratios: 1/1, 2/3, 1/2 or 1/3. Additionally, each flash can be adjusted to under- or overexpose in 0.5 stop increments from -3.0 stops to +1.0 stop. All of this is relative to the overall flash exposure that can be adjusted on the camera by from -2.0 stops to +1.0 stop. Alternately, the Pentax flash units offer a Contrast-Control-Sync mode (CCS for short), which drops a flash's power. Units set to CCS mode can thus be used to provide "fill" illumination. When used with the K-r, and when the K-r's internal flash is also contributing to the exposure, the external flash in CCS mode will cut its output to two-thirds, while the K-r's built-in flash will cut its exposure contribution to one-third.

The Pentax K-r also has a top-mounted hot shoe for attaching an external flash unit. Like most consumer SLRs, a PC-sync terminal is not provided.

Flash Test Results

Coverage and Range
A reasonably powerful flash, with uneven coverage at wide-angle. Slightly higher than average exposure compensation required.

Coverage and Exposure. Flash coverage was rather uneven at wide-angle (18mm) with the 18-55mm kit lens, though that's not unusual and some of the fall-off is due to the lens itself. Coverage was much more uniform at telephoto (70mm), if a bit dim. In the Indoor flash test, the Pentax K-r's flash required +1.0 EV exposure compensation adjustment to get reasonably bright results. (Most cameras we've tested required about +0.7 EV for this scene.) We did notice that increasing the flash exposure compensation above +0.3 EV had only a small effect. The camera's Slow-Sync flash mode produced very bright results with no exposure compensation, though with a strong pinkish-orange cast from the room lighting.

Flash Range: Wide Angle
6 ft	7 ft	8 ft	9 ft	10 ft	11 ft
1/15 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/15 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/15 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/15 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/15 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/15 sec f3.5 ISO 100
12 ft	13 ft	14 ft	15 ft	16 ft
1/15 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/15 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/15 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/15 sec f3.5 ISO 100	1/15 sec f3.5 ISO 100

Flash Range: Telephoto
6 ft	7 ft	8 ft	9 ft	10 ft	11 ft
1/40 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/40 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/40 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/40 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/40 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/40 sec f5.6 ISO 100
12 ft	13 ft	14 ft	15 ft	16 ft
1/40 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/40 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/40 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/40 sec f5.6 ISO 100	1/40 sec f5.6 ISO 100

ISO 100 Range. At 18mm, f/3.5 and ISO 100, flash shots started out quite dim at 6 feet but increased in brightness, peaking at about 9 feet. Exposures remained reasonably bright out to about 12 feet. At 55mm and f/5.6, flash exposure started out slightly dim at 6 feet, and decreased in brightness from there, falling off rapidly past 8 feet.

Manufacturer-Specified Flash Range
Wide Angle	Telephoto
11.2 feet ISO 100	7.0 feet ISO 100

Manufacturer Specified Flash Test. The Pentax K-r's flash is rated with a GN of 12 meters at ISO 100. That translates to 11.2 feet at f/3.5 and about 7.0 feet at f/5.6, the maximum aperture of the 18-55mm kit lens at wide-angle and telephoto respectively. In the shots above, the K-r's flash under-performed somewhat compared to Pentax's specifications, producing slightly dim (but usable) exposures at the rated distances. The wide-angle shot is about 1/4 f-stop underexposed, while the tele shot is almost 1/2 f-stop underexposed. Our standard test method for flash range uses a fixed setting of ISO 100, to provide a fair basis of comparison between cameras. We've now also begun shooting two shots using the manufacturer-specified camera settings, at the range the company claims for the camera, to assess the validity of the specific claims.

High ISO Noise Reduction

Pentax K-r Noise Reduction

The Pentax K-r offers four high-ISO noise-reduction levels, plus an auto setting that selects the level for you, and a custom setting that lets you pick the amount of NR for each ISO level. The Pentax K-r therefore gives the user outstanding flexibility in choosing how to make the trade-off between subject detail and noise levels in JPEGs. Settings available "Off ", "Low", "Medium", "High", "Auto" (the default), and "Custom". Since NR can already be applied at base ISO, we've included crops starting from ISO 100.

The crops below show the effects of the Pentax K-r's four levels of noise reduction available, under the studio HMI lighting we use to simulate daylight. See for yourself how the noise reduction works under daylight-balanced lighting. Click on any of the crops below to see the corresponding full-sized image.

Noise Reduction Comparison Daylight-balanced illumination
	NR = Off	NR = Low	NR = Medium	NR = High
I S O 1 0 0
	NR = Off	NR = Low	NR = Medium	NR = High
I S O 2 0 0
	NR = Off	NR = Low	NR = Medium	NR = High
I S O 4 0 0
	NR = Off	NR = Low	NR = Medium	NR = High
I S O 8 0 0
	NR = Off	NR = Low	NR = Medium	NR = High
I S O 1 6 0 0
	NR = Off	NR = Low	NR = Medium	NR = High
I S O 3 2 0 0
	NR = Off	NR = Low	NR = Medium	NR = High
I S O 6 4 0 0
	NR = Off	NR = Low	NR = Medium	NR = High
I S O 1 2 8 0 0

To our eyes, the "Medium" level of noise reduction strikes an okay balance between noise and subtle subject detail, although the red fabric swatch presents a challenge even at base ISO on the Pentax K-r. Cranking the noise reduction setting up to "Strong" produces very smooth-looking images, while still maintaining good detail in areas of high local contrast (as seen in the circular scale), but a lot of detail is lost in areas of subtle contrast even at ISO 100 (the red fabric swatch is a particularly challenging subject, and the detail loss there is worse than you'd find in most real-world examples). At the other end of the scale, the "Off" noise reduction setting (which obviously doesn't disable all noise reduction) leaves more noise in the image, but also leaves a lot more subject detail: Use this setting if you have good third-party noise reduction software; with appropriate processing, the result could be quite good. You should be able to do even better working from the RAW files.

RAW Files

Pentax K-r High ISO RAW

We've recently started looking at RAW files converted with dcraw, an excellent freeware raw converter. dcraw usually offers timely support for the latest cameras, but more importantly, it does not apply any noise-reduction, sharpening or other corrections such as geometric distortion correction to the output files. (We found that Adobe Camera Raw still applies some limited noise-reduction when its NR settings are set to zero, and it also applies other corrections depending on the make and model of the camera). There will always be differences between RAW converters, in terms of the sort of de-mosaicing algorithms they use (the processes by which they convert the separate Red, Green, and Blue data sets to an array of full-color RGB pixels), but dcraw seems to use a fairly generic algorithm that delivers good sharpness with relatively few artifacts, and can be counted on to not apply any noise reduction if you don't want it to. (That said, looking at the ISO 6,400 and above examples below, it's clear that dcraw's de-mosaicing approach does have some tendency to produce rectilinear artifacts in response to high noise levels.)

Below are crops from Pentax K-r 12-bit RAW files compared to RAW files from other consumer SLRs, converted with dcraw.

High ISO RAW Comparison with Canon T3i, Nikon D5100, and Sony A560 RAW files converted with dcraw, no NR, no sharpening Daylight-balanced illumination
	Pentax K-r	Canon T3i	Nikon D5100	Sony A560
I S O 8 0 0
	Pentax K-r	Canon T3i	Nikon D5100	Sony A560
I S O 1 6 0 0
	Pentax K-r	Canon T3i	Nikon D5100	Sony A560
I S O 3 2 0 0
	Pentax K-r	Canon T3i	Nikon D5100	Sony A560
I S O 6 4 0 0
	Pentax K-r	Canon T3i	Nikon D5100	Sony A560
I S O 1 2 8 0 0
	Pentax K-r	Canon T3i	Nikon D5100	Sony A560
I S O 2 5 6 0 0		N/A ISO 25,600 Not Supported	N/A ISO 25,600 Not Supported	N/A ISO 25,600 Not Supported
		N/A ISO 25,600 Not Supported	N/A ISO 25,600 Not Supported	N/A ISO 25,600 Not Supported
		N/A ISO 25,600 Not Supported	N/A ISO 25,600 Not Supported	N/A ISO 25,600 Not Supported

The crops above compare the Pentax K-r's RAW noise performance to that of other similarly priced consumer models. All cameras were equipped with our Sigma 70mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro reference lenses, stopped down to f/8 for maximum sharpness. As you can see, the Pentax K-r produced RAW files with the lowest noise, though it also has the largest pixels (lowest resolution), giving it a slight edge in light gathering capability per photosite. The K-r also applies some subtle noise reduction at ISOs above 1,600 that can't be disabled, which leads to cleaner images but also to some blurring. The Nikon D5100 comes in second, while the Canon T3i and Sony A560 trail. Very good results from the Pentax K-r, but we'd prefer it didn't apply NR to high ISO RAW files that can't be disabled.

Here's a comparison with the Pentax K-r's predecessor, the K-x, as well as its bigger brother, the K-5.

High ISO RAW Comparison with Pentax K-x and K-5 RAW files converted with dcraw, no NR, no sharpening Daylight-balanced illumination
	Pentax K-r	Pentax K-x	Pentax K-5
I S O 8 0 0
	Pentax K-r	Pentax K-x	Pentax K-5
I S O 1 6 0 0
	Pentax K-r	Pentax K-x	Pentax K-5
I S O 3 2 0 0
	Pentax K-r	Pentax K-x	Pentax K-5
I S O 6 4 0 0
	Pentax K-r	Pentax K-x	Pentax K-5
I S O 1 2 8 0 0
	Pentax K-r	Pentax K-x	Pentax K-5
I S O 2 5 6 0 0		N/A ISO 25,600 Not Supported
		N/A ISO 25,600 Not Supported
		N/A ISO 25,600 Not Supported
	Pentax K-r	Pentax K-x	Pentax K-5
I S O 5 1 2 0 0	N/A ISO 51,200 Not Supported	N/A ISO 51,200 Not Supported
	N/A ISO 51,200 Not Supported	N/A ISO 51,200 Not Supported
	N/A ISO 51,200 Not Supported	N/A ISO 51,200 Not Supported

As you can see, despite the differences in color rendering from dcraw, the Pentax K-r's RAW noise performance is very similar to the K-x. The Pentax K-5 did better than both despite having smaller photosites, though it does appear to have a stronger anti-alias filter which results in slightly lower per-pixel sharpness. But the flip-side of that is reduced moire from the K-5. All three cameras appear to be applying subtle noise reduction above ISO 1,600.

Shooting Modes

Pentax K-r Modes and Menus

Capture Modes

 Program mode (P): The Pentax K-r's Program mode can operate in several ways, depending on the camera's setup. By default, the K-r operates in Program Shift mode (some manufacturers refer to this as Flexible Program), which controls shutter speed and aperture automatically, but allows you to use the e-dial to bias the camera towards a faster shutter speed / wider aperture, or a slower shutter speed / narrower aperture.

The "e-dial in Program" setting under the Green Button submenu -- selected from page four of the Record menu -- allows this behavior to be changed, with the e-dial behavior being linked to the function assigned to the Green button. The e-dial can be disabled altogether, or set to switch the camera to either Shutter- or Aperture-priority Automatic (aka Hyper Shutter or Hyper Aperture) exposure -- but only if the Green button is programmed to reset the exposure to that calculated as optimal by the metering system. If the Green button is set to any other function, the e-dial is simply disabled in Program mode, and the camera takes complete control of both the shutter speed and aperture, while you control all other exposure variables.

In the Hyper modes, the e-dial can be set to directly take control of either the aperture or the shutter speed if adjusted after the Program exposure has been determined, effectively switching the camera to Aperture-priority or Shutter-priority for the current exposure only. The difference between this and Program Shift mode is that the Aperture or Shutter speed are explicitly fixed to your set value, rather than simply biasing the metering system while the camera still selects the actual values of both variables.

 Sensitivity Priority mode (Sv): While a couple of cameras can now achieve something similar with a little careful configuration, Pentax's Sv mode is still pretty uncommon as a standalone mode, meriting its own position on the Mode dial. As the name would suggest, you set the ISO sensitivity manually, by pressing the shutter button halfway, then turning the e-dial. The camera picks the appropriate combination of aperture and shutter speed automatically, so as to obtain the metered exposure.

 Shutter Priority mode (Tv): Marked with the letters "Tv," for Time value, this mode allows the user to control the shutter speed, from 30 seconds to 1/6,000 second. The shutter speed can be adjusted in 1/2 or 1/3 EV steps. ISO sensitivity can be controlled automatically or manually, and the upper limit for sensitivity adjusted when under automatic control.

 Aperture Priority mode (Av): Marked with an "Av," this mode gives the user control of aperture within the range offered by the currently attached lens, while the camera selects the corresponding shutter speed. ISO sensitivity can be controlled automatically or manually, and the upper limit for sensitivity adjusted when under automatic control.

 Manual mode (M): This setting provides complete control over the exposure, with independent settings for aperture and shutter speed. The e-dial ordinarily controls shutter speed, and switches to aperture control if the exposure compensation button is held in (or pressed once before adjustment, and then a second time to confirm the aperture value change). Shutter speeds range from 1/6,000 to 30 seconds. Auto ISO sensitivity isn't available - if the camera is left on ISO Auto in M mode, the last set ISO value is instead used. The Green button ordinarily prompts the camera to meter the scene, and set both the aperture and shutter speed to obtain the metered exposure, much as would happen in Program mode. This metered exposure is then fixed until either the Green button is pressed again, or the photographer manually adjusts the aperture or shutter speed. Alternatively, the Green button can be set to adjust either the aperture or shutter speed alone to obtain a metered exposure, while the other variable is left to the manually set value. Finally, the Green button can be disabled altogether, requiring the photographer to set both exposure variables manually.

 Flash Off mode: Disables the flash strobe, and otherwise is identical in function to the Standard Auto picture mode described below.

 Night Scene Portrait mode: The symbol of a person with a crescent moon marks this mode on the Mode dial. Here, the camera employs a slower shutter speed and a synchronized flash to capture bright portraits in dark settings.

 Moving Object (Sports) mode: An icon of a person running marks this mode on the Mode dial. The camera uses faster shutter speeds to "freeze" action on fast-paced subjects, and the drive mode is fixed to High-speed Continuous shooting.

 Macro mode: The traditional flower macro symbol indicates this mode on the Mode dial. Though actual macro focusing distances will depend on the lens in use, this mode optimizes the camera for capturing bright color in small subjects at close range.

 Landscape mode: The familiar mountain icon marks Landscape mode, which uses a smaller aperture to increase depth of field for sharp pictures of sweeping vistas. Saturation is boosted for bright skies and foliage.

 Portrait mode: An icon of a person's head and shoulders symbolizes this mode, which uses a larger aperture to decrease the depth of field, thereby producing sharply focused portraits in front of slightly blurred backgrounds. This mode also optimizes the camera for attractive skin tones.

 Auto Picture mode (AUTO PICT): This mode puts the camera in full control over the exposure, automatically selecting between the five previous scene modes - Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Moving Object and Night Scene -- as well as a Standard scene mode which isn't directly accessible from the Mode dial. In addition, when shooting in Live View mode, the Auto Picture mode can also select two further Scene modes - Blue Sky, and Sunset. The selected Scene mode is shown in the viewfinder info display, or at the top left corner of the LCD when shooting in Live View mode.

 Scene mode (SCN): Allows direct selection of eleven scene modes, of which two can be accessed through other positions on the Mode dial as previously described. The available scene modes are Night Scene, Surf & Snow, Food, Sunset, Stage Lighting, Night Snap, Night Scene HDR, Kids, Pet, Candlelight, and Museum. Night Scene also has its own Mode dial position, while Sunset can be automatically selected by the camera when using Auto Picture mode with Live View active. The Night Scene HDR option is newly added since the previous K-x model, and automatically captures three sequential shots with varied exposure, which are then combined in-camera to create a single shot with increased dynamic range.

 Movie mode: This mode allows the user to record videos with sound. Resolution options consist of either 1,280 x 720 (16:9 aspect, 25 fps) or 640x480 (4:3 aspect, 25 fps) pixels, each with monaural sound. There are three quality (compression ratio) options available, and you can choose to have the aperture fixed, or under automatic control. You can also enable or disable shake reduction and / or sound recording if desired, and use a subset of the digital filter and cross processing functionality that's available for still images. The nonstandard 3:2 aspect, 640 x 416 pixel movie mode from the K-x has been dropped from the K-r. See the Video tab for more details as well as sample videos.

Playback Mode

Playback mode is entered by pressing the Playback button on the camera's rear panel. In this mode, you can scroll through captured images, delete them, write-protect them, and set them up for printing on devices capable of recognizing DPOF print orders specified on the flash card. Like the K-x before it, the Pentax K-r is not PictBridge compatible, so the printer and camera can't be directly attached, however. You can also process Raw files, apply digital filters for creative effects, and watch or perform basic processing on movie clips.

When in Playback mode, the e-dial is used to zoom into and out of images, and to switch from viewing a single image to either thumbnails or a calendar view. When viewing a single image, the left and right arrow keys scroll forward and backward one image or movie at a time. Pressing the down arrow key calls up the Playback Mode Palette, from which you can perform basic image processing functions such as rotation, cropping, resizing, and digital filters, process Raw images, start an image slideshow, compare images side by side, trim movies, protect images and movies, set up print orders, create index images, and save a manual white balance preset from an image.

When playback zoom is active, the arrow keys pan around the zoomed image. In thumbnail and folder views, the arrow keys are used to move around the columns and rows to make a selection. In Calendar view, the up and down arrow keys select from available dates, while the left and right arrow keys step between images from any specific date.

Pentax K-r Menu Details

Below are Pentax K-r menu options and their descriptions. Pressing the Menu button provides access to the camera's full menu system. The arrow pad is used to navigate between menu tabs and options, and to make selections. In the main menu system, the e-dial can be used to switch between menu tabs one at a time. In the Control Panel menu, the e-dial can be used to quickly make adjustments to the currently selected item. It has no effect in the Playback Mode Palette menu, though. Although the Pentax K-r doesn't immediately return to the last selected item when the Menu button is first pressed, it can at least be configured to start off at the top of the most recently used tab, potentially saving a few button presses for frequently used options. (The K-x, by contrast, always started on the first tab of the menu system.)

Record Menu 1:

Record Menu 2:

Record Menu 3:

Record Menu 4:

Playback Menu:

Setup Menu 1:

Setup Menu 2:

Setup Menu 3:

Setup Menu 4:

Custom Menu 1:

Custom Menu 2:

Custom Menu 3:

Custom Menu 4:

Press Release

PENTAX ANNOUNCES K-r DIGITAL SLR AND NEW 35MM LENS: LATEST PENTAX OFFERS COLOR CHOICES TO REFLECT OWNER’S PERSONAL STYLE

GOLDEN, CO. September 8, 2010…PENTAX Imaging Systems Division has announced a new digital SLR line with color accents that allow owners to choose one that matches their personal style. The colorful PENTAX K-r DSLR camera offers advanced yet simple to use features at an attractive price.

The compact, lightweight PENTAX K-r is easy to use with Auto Picture, Scene, and Custom Image Processing modes that take the guesswork out of shooting stunning images while still offering a high degree of manual and priority control. The K-r offers a variety of new and improved features including a fast framerate, high ISO sensitivity, responsive autofocus, an improved 12.4 megapixel low-noise sensor and widescreen HD video capture that take it a step above an entry-level DSLR camera.

Key features of the PENTAX K-r that are new or have been improved upon from the most recent entry to mid-level PENTAX DSLR models include:

• Three stylish color choices include traditional black, the new classic white, and PENTAX red reflect any owner’s personal style.
• Large 3 inch LCD with 921,000 dots of resolution.
• Faster high speed 6 FPS framerate that captures 25 images in a single sequence.
• A maximum 1/6000 second shutter speed.
• Viewfinder focus point indicator.
• Improved in-camera HDR image capture including a Night Scene HDR mode.
• High sensitivity 100-25600 ISO range with improved noise performance from the new 12.4 megapixel CMOS sensor.
• Versatile dual-power-source design, which offers the choice of either a rechargeable lithium-ion battery or four AA-size battery power (using optional AA Battery Holder D-BH109).
• Infrared data transfer compatible with the IrSimple™ high-speed infrared data transmission system for wireless data transfer to the web or other IrSimple-compatible devices (includes a match-game between two PENTAX K-r’s).

Other important features of the new K-r models include:

• Widescreen 720p HD video at 25 FPS.
• PENTAX-original Shake Reduction mechanism for sharp, blur-free images that works with every PENTAX lens ever made/
• Dust Removal mechanism, to shake dust off the CMOS image sensor.
• Highly responsive and accurate 11 point SAFOX IX autofocus system with dedicated AF assist lamp.
• Wide range of in-camera image processing and special effects filters.

With a highly portable, compact and lightweight body in a choice of colors, the K-r holds appeal for busy parents, family memory-keepers, travelers and anyone who reflects personal style in all their pursuits including their journey into photography or videography as a skill or hobby. The PENTAX K-r digital SLR will ship in October 2010 for as follows:

K-r Body Kit $799.95 USD

K-r Lens Kit w 18-55 $849.95 USD

K-r Double Lens Kit w 18-55, 50-200 $899.95 USD

K-r Double Lens Kit w 18-55, 55-300 $999.95 USD

More information is available here: www.pentaximaging.com and product images are available here: www.pentaximaging.com/press/pressfiles.html

PENTAX Imaging Company is an innovative leader in the production of a variety of digital cameras including weather resistant digital SLRs and stylish, compact, waterproof cameras, as well as lenses, flash units, binoculars, scopes, and eyepieces. For over 90 years, PENTAX has developed durable, reliable products that meet the needs of consumers and businesses. With headquarters in Golden, Colorado, PENTAX Imaging Company is a division of PENTAX of America, Inc.

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