Pentax K-1

Pentax K-1 is Pentax's Advanced DSLR camera originally introduced on February of 2016. The camera houses a 36MP, CMOS Full frame sized sensor and has a maximum resolution of 7360 x 4912.

Pentax introduced the more recent Pentax K-1 II (Read Full Comparison) in order to improve this camera.

The K-1 is ranked #8 out of 92 in Advanced DSLR cameras and all-around #66 out of 1465 for cameras in our list. Remember to check our Advanced camera search to find camera ratings based on your customized requirements.

Below is a chart of multiple criteria used in the scoring system.

The Pentax K-1 comes with a history of related cameras. Underneath, you can discover all previous and more recent models alongside important features.

You can check the K-1 from various angles in the gallery underneath.

Below is a shortlist of pros and cons of the Pentax K-1 based on aspects that are oftentimes viewed as crucial in a camera.

The measurement of the sensor in the Pentax K-1 is 35.9mm x 24mm (Full frame). The 862 mm² sensor can resolve 7360 x 4912 pixels and aspect ratios of 3:2. The camera includes Image Stabilization (Sensor based 5-axis). In body stabilization is better than digital stabilization as the latter may lead to cropping.

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The CMOS sensor boasts 36 megapixels and delivers a native ISO range of 100 - 204800. RAW photos are saved which means that the user has wider margin for error.

Pentax decided to skip the anti-alias filter for the Pentax K-1. This will result in more sharper photographs but could cause moire under certain situations.

The image below illustrates the K-1's sensor dimensions in comparison to other common sizes. The K-1 sensor comes with a crop factor of 1 and is presented in green.

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To get an understanding of various aspect ratios, you should refer to the visual below.

Pentax K-1 weighs about 2.23 lb (1,010g / 35.63 oz) and the measurement of the camera is 137mm x 110mm x 86mm (5.4" x 4.3" x 3.4"). The weight of normal Advanced DSLR camera is 776g so the Pentax K-1 is more heavy when compared to its rivals.

Photography Glossary

Below is a photo of the Pentax K-1 beside a soft drink to help you to have a sense of its scale.

The top view directly below will highlight the button layout on the K-1.

The K-1 uses the Pentax KAF2 mount and has 17 lenses on sale. Below is a few of the lenses we have in our collection which will fit the K-1.

ModelVisualizeFocal LengthApertureStabilizedWeight

Pentax smc DA 50-135mm F2.8 ED IF SDM50-135mmf/2.8 685g

Samsung D-Xenon 18-55mm F3.5-5.618-55mmf/3.5-5.6 225g

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Samsung D-Xenon 100mm F2.8 macro100mmf/2.8 345g

Pentax smc DA 60-250mm F4.0 ED IF SDM60-250mmf/4.0 1040g

Samsung D-Xenon 18-250mm F3.5-6.318-250mmf/3.5-6.3 455g

Samsung D-Xenon 50-200 F4-5.6 ED50-200mmf/4.0-5.6 255g

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Samsung D-Xenon 16-45mm F416-45mmf/4.0 365g

The K-1 has the following connectivity:

• USB Yes
• Wireless Yes
• HDMI Yes
• GPS Yes

Cameras that have NFC or Bluetooth compatibility are able to be controlled wirelessly through smartphones. You will be able to send pictures and oftentimes change settings without connecting straight to the camera.

Some applications even give a Liveview and click the shutter whenever you aren't near the camera. If the camera features a HDMI out, it can easily be attached to an external screen. The majority of cameras will allow you to recharge the battery through the USB socket.

The maximum video quality in the Pentax K-1 is 1920 x 1080 and it can shoot in MPEG-4 and H.264 format. 1080p quality offers a decent balance in quality versus file sizes but FULL HD is not going to give you much room to crop. The camera does feature both headphone and mic socket making it incredibly useful whilst capturing sound.

Pentax K-1 comes with weather sealing making it a very good pick to use in tough places. This is especially handy in case you are unsure about the conditions you may face in outdoor photography.

The Pentax K-1 is equipped with a 3.2 inch fully articulated screen supporting a resolution of 1,037 thousand dots.

Unfortunately the screen is not a touch screen. The K-1 also has a Top display allowing you to quickly checkout your settings.

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The ViewFinder details regarding Pentax K-1 are as follows:

• ViewFinder Optical (pentaprism)
• ViewFinder Coverage 100%
• ViewFinder Magnification 0.7x

In those bright outdoor conditions which make the camera screens washed out and tricky to view, viewfinders can be very helpful.

Pentax K-1 can shoot continuously at 4.4 frames/s. The maximum shutter speed is 1/8000 sec.

Pentax K-1 includes external flash ability but does not include built-in flash. The highest flash sync speed is 1/200 sec.

Pentax K-1 includes both Phase Detect Auto Focus and Contrast Based Auto Focus. Phase Detection focusing is more snappier & exact when compared to Contrast Based focusing. The camera supports Face detect making it handy for people photography.

It supports 33 focus points to choose from. It also features Tracking Auto Focus for moving objects. Pentax K-1 supports manual focusing in case it is required in low light scenarios or you need more exact focusing control.

The battery (D-LI90) for the Pentax K-1 is built to last for 760 images with respect to the CIPA benchmarks which is lower when compared to its rivals. The general Advanced DSLR camera battery life is 909. Nikon D780 offers the highest possible (2260) battery life in this category of cameras.

Here is a listing of Advanced DSLR cameras with the best battery life:

ModelVisualizeBattery LifeRAWNFCBluetooth

Nikon D780
K-1 vs D7802260 yesnoyes

Nikon D850
K-1 vs D8501840 yesyesyes

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Nikon Df
K-1 vs Df1400 yesnono

Canon 90D
K-1 vs 90D1300 yesnoyes

Nikon D500
K-1 vs D5001240 yesyesyes

The following illustration indicates a analysis of the Pentax K-1 for specific forms of photography. To learn more, have a look at the specific section below.

The Pentax K-1 has a rating of 85 which is brilliant, meaning that it is a excellent pick for portrait images. Shooting portraits favors heavily to sensor dimension, support for RAW files in addition to the option to use external flash.

Having a very good rating of 70, the Pentax K-1 is a fine choice to buy for street photography. A good street photography camera comes with a good balance of picture quality and portability.

A fantastic sports photography points total of 76 means the Pentax K-1 is a tremendous choice for photographing sports. A camera really should have great autofocus and fast continuous shooting for sports photography.

Size is very critical in buying a camera for travel. Overall, the Pentax K-1 gets a reasonable 53 for a travelling camera which makes it somewhat acceptable to buy for your travels.

If you're planning to pick a camera for landscape pictures, the most important aspect will be image quality. The Pentax K-1 with it's tremendous grade of 81 as a landscape camera is a great fit within the current market.

A camera for vlogging preferably should have a articulating screen, microphone port and preferably image stabilization. Considering everything, the Pentax K-1 is not good as a vlog camera as it receives a horrible score of 31.

If you are interested in replacements to the K-1, here is a number of the top ranked cameras that fall into the category of Advanced DSLR.

The chart down below will give you a summary of the K-1 compared to it's top ranked competitors listed earlier.

There are a bunch of cameras you may take a look at as alternate options. To browse through a full comparison, just click on the "compare" link.