Walked into my local pusher yesterday with all my Pentax kit except the K-x itself (which needs a trip to Pentax before it gets sold). Walked out with a Sony A33.
This gets me down to a single SLR system in each of MF and 35mm, Mamiya and Sony/Minolta respectively. I'll miss the K-x somewhat, and my SMC-M 85/2, but I really do prefer the Maxxum 7 to any of the Pentax 35mm film cameras I've owned. As to the A33? It's the best of the Panasonic G1 and the Pentax K-x in one package, with better AF added. The viewfinder's superb and easy to focus, with 1.1x magnification at 100% view, much better than the K-x's small OVF. It's got better refresh than the G1 unit, but is a bit smaller and has more tearing. High ISO is far better than the G1 and trails the K-x slightly based on my tests. ISO 6400 on the A33 is about midway between 12,800 and 6400 on the K-x for noise and I can live with that (that's still better than the G1 at 1600 btw) Overall ergonomics are a bit behind the K-x, better button layout and thumb grip but the front grip isn't as deep. Flip-twist LCD and a level are nice additions and it's got most of the upgrades the K-r has too (6fps, proper battery, AF point highlighting). The use of a LiIon battery makes it noticeably lighter than the K-x. Kit lens is cheap and plastic, a small step down from the DA L kit lens due to rotating front element, but looks pretty good optically for the money. AF is excellent, manual focusing is even better. It has AF confirm and it reacts nearly instantly (unlike on the K-x). Other AF points are both visible and usable. It meters in A (Av) and M modes with adapted lenses, the SMC Tak 28/3.5 works pretty well on it (without SR) based on my limited testing. SSS is definitely better than the K-x's SR with a 50/1.4, but the K-x's SR was noticeably worse than the K10D or K100D in my experience, it was barely worth a stop, SSS is about as useful as the K10D's SR. -- M. Adam Maas http://www.mawz.ca Explorations of the City Around Us. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
