The competition
With a street price of around £1,190, the Pentax K-7 (RRP £1,199.99) is set to compete with the Canon EOS 50D (RRP £1,189.99), which has a street price of around £810, and the recently announced Nikon D300s (RRP £1,499) that replaces the D300, which can be found for about £1,130.
Its 14.6-million-effective-pixel count is closer to the 15-million-pixel count of the Canon EOS 50D than the 12-million-pixel Nikon D300s and it is clear that the K-7’s detail resolution is more than a match for the Canon camera. This, combined with the K-7’s relatively low weight and compact size, could make it the camera of choice for keen landscape, still-life and macro photographers. However, anyone with a keen interest in sports photography will be best served by the D300s because of its superior, well-proven AF system.
While the K-7 offers plenty of opportunity to experiment with different filter effects, colour treatments and even in-camera HDR photography, its menu lacks the finesse and customisation of the other two cameras. The Canon EOS 50D and Nikon D300s can be adapted to suit your personal style of photography, but the photographer must adapt to use the K-7. Pentax is to be congratulated on making it very difficult to choose between the three cameras.
