2 years ago, I bought a new gadget which will redefine my outlook on life and memories surrounding it. This gadget helped to put focus on things which I never noticed before. It is and remains one of my proudest belongings. That gadget is my Pentax K100D Digital SLR. It came with a kit lens 18-55mm. I eventually added a few more into the list (as below) :

1. zoom lens; 55 - 200mm
2. prime lens; 50mm f1.4
3. external flash; AF540GZ

Till this day, I have always enjoyed taking out the camera and snapping every chance I got. As such, my skills have improved progressively though not comparable to the professionals out there. (I will soon dedicate a gallery to my personal favorite photos and dedicate it to all Pentax lovers out there).


Picture courtesy from www.dpreview.com

Of course, after some time, I slowly grew to master the functions and features of the K100D and slowly began to yearn for a better camera. On top of taking better pictures with more manual controls, I would like to see more beautiful shots from my photo endeavours. With that in mind, I started my search for a more advanced DSLR. The lack of suitable models from Pentax before this month, such as the K10D and K20D (both of which I find clunky and features inferior to other brands) forced me to look at other brands e.g. Canon and Nikon. One very interesting model caught my attention lately which is the Nikon D5000. It combines the features of both D60 (entry level) and D90 (advanced) DSLRs abd costs in the range I can afford. Towards this end, I was prepared to sell off my entire Pentax system and switch to another system.

Recently however, I found out that Pentax was preparing to launch a new model. The news spread like wildfire and was discussed in all the Pentax enthusiast forums. The then unofficial camera's features was a mystery and a lot of hype was generated. Most recently, a preview of the new camera, Pentax K-7 has come out (courtesy of www.Dpreview.com) and the curtains have been unveiled to a much improved DSLR which incorporates much of the latest features. A camera of my dreams of course (no need to buy new lens and accessories ..woohoo). Though it's more on the level of Canon D50 and Nikon D3, it's a much awaited fresh model that has captured the Pentax world's attention. Fantastic news for all Pentax fans and a good move from Pentax to introduce this new model.

Here are among its cool new features :

• 720p/1080i HD video recording
• Smaller magnesium/steel alloy body
• Revised viewfinder (less magnified but with greater coverage)
• Updated sensor with four-channel readout
• 3.0" VGA (920,000 dot) LCD
• New shutter mechanism with 1/8000th shutter speed
• Faster continuous shooting (up to 5.2 fps)
• 77 segment exposure metering sensor
• Revised autofocus algorithms
• AF illumination lamp
• New dust removal system
• HDMI output
  
• New dedicated ISO button
• Distortion and chromatic aberration correction for DA and DFA lenses (also available in RAW conversion)
• Adjustable dynamic range highlight and shadow correction
• Three-shot in-camera HDR capture
• Electronic level indicator
• Composition adjustment (Uses the SR system to reposition the sensor to fine-tune composition)

Picture courtesy from www.dpreview.com

For more comparison of the features between Pentax K-7 and Nikon D5000, please click on HERE for more details.