Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Pentax K-x vs Sony Alpha 550 reviewed


Tom's Guide has a new review form Digital Versus, comparing the Pentax K-x and Sony Alpha 550, also noting differences between the Pentax K-m and K-x.
A year after Pentax released its highly rated K-m, there is a new entry-level DSLR with the K-x. The two cameras are very similar, with the exception of one major change. The old 10 Megapixel CCD sensor is out, and a new 12 Megapixel CMOS sensor is in. So what we expect is a comfortable, pleasant-to-use little SLR with improved sensitivity.
Among DSLRs, the K-x is up there with the best of the moment. Start-up is instantaneous, focusing is fast (but noisy with the kit 18-55 mm DA L lens), and so is image saving... provided you don’t enable the optical correction functions, which cause a delay of approximately three seconds when saving files! But since the same corrections exist in photo-retouching software, it may be better to leave them up to the computer. Burst mode is fairly fast, at 4.5 frames per second for nine JPEG images – an excellent result for an entry-level camera.
Buy the Pentax K-x 12.4 MP Digital SLR with 2.7-inch LCD and 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL Lens (Black)
With their new A500/A550 DSLRs, Sony has new models to compete with the benchmark SLRs of the moment, namely the Nikon D90 and Canon T1i. The A550 has a wealth of features aimed at winning over photographers: a 14.2 MP EXMOR CMOS sensor, a burst speed of five frames per second, Live View with fast autofocus, and tilting display screen, among other things.

Buy the Sony Alpha DSLR-A550L 14.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm Lens

Read the full review at tomsguide.com

 Pentax K-x Specs

Type TTL autofocus, auto-exposure digital SLR digital-still camera with built-in retractable P-TTL auto pop-up flash
Effective Pixels approx. 12.4 megapixels
Image Sensor Total pixels approx. 12.9 megapixels
Type CMOS with a primary color filter
Size 23.6mm x 15.8mm
Recorded Pixels Still Picture JPEG: [12M] 4288x2848 pixels, [10M] 3936x2624 pixels, [6M] 3072x2048 pixels, [2M] 1728x1152 pixels
RAW: [12M] 4288x2848 pixels
Movie [0.9M] 1280x720, 16:9, [0.3M] 640x416, 3:2
Sensitivity ( Standard output sensitivity ) Auto, Manual: 200-6400 (1EV steps or 1/2EV steps or 1/3EV steps)
Bulb mode: up to ISO1600, Could be expanded to ISO 100-12800
Recording Format Still Picture RAW (Original/DNG), JPEG (Conforms to Exif 2.21), Conforms to DCF (Design rule of Camera File system) 2.0
Movie Motion JPEG (AVI) 24FPS
Image Formats JPEG - Baseline (starstarstar: Best, starstar: Better, star: Good)
RAW (12bit) (PEF, DNG )
RAW+JPEG: available
Storage Media SD memory card , SDHC memory card
White Balance Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten Light, Fluorescent Light (W, D, N, L (Light Bulb) ), Flash, CTE, Manual setting, with WB fine adjustment
Viewfinder Type Fixed molded penta-mirror type
Focusing screen Natural-Bright-Matte II focusing screen
Field of view approx. 96%
Magnification approx. 0.85X (with 50mm F1.4 lens, infinity, -1m-1)
Diopter adjustment approx. -2.5 - +1.5m-1
Live View Type TTL by Image sensor
Display Enlargement (2X, 4X, 6X in case of AF mode, 2X, 4X, 6X, 8X, 10X in case of MF mode), Grid pattern, white/black out warning display, Histogram display
Autofocus Mode Contrast detection + Face detection / Contrast detection / Phase difference detection
Monitor Type TFT color LCD monitor, Brightness adjustable, Wide angle view
Size 2.7 inch
Dots approx. 230,000 dots
Preview Method Optical/Digital preview *This function can be allocated to green button through Menu.
Playback Single frame, 4-image display, 9-image display, 16-image display, 36-image display, Zoom display (up to 16 times, scrolling possible), Image comparison, Rotating, Folder, Calendar, Slideshow, Histogram, Bright/Dark area, Resize, Trimming, Index
Digital Filter Rec. mode: Toy camera, High contrast, Soft, Star burst, Retro, Extract color, Fish eye, Custom
Playback: Toy camera, High contrast, Soft, Star burst, Retro, Extract color, Illustration(Pastel, Water color), Fish Eye, HDR, B&W, Sepia, Color, Slim, Miniature, Brightness, Base Tweaking, Custom
Focusing System Type TTL phase difference detection, 11-point wide autofocus system (SAFOX VIII)
Focus Mode AF.A(auto), AF.S(single, with focus lock), AF-C(continuous)*, Manual focus
* Auto Picture and Picture mode: only when the Action mode is selected.
* Scene mode: only when the Kids, Pet, Stage lighting and Night snap mode are selected.
* P/Sv/Tv/Av/M/B: AF.A, AF.S or AF.C selectable
Focus Point 5-point auto, 11-point auto, AF point select, Center
AF assist lamp avaiable (by Built-in Flash)
Exposure Control Metering System TTL open-aperture 16-segment metering (coupled with lens and AF information)
Metering Mode (1) Multi-segment metering (2) Center-weighted metering (3) Spot metering
Exposure Range EV1-21.5 (Standard Output Sensitivity 200 50mmF1.4)
Modes (1) Auto Picture mode (2) Picture mode (3) Scene mode (4) Program AE (5) Sensitivity-Priority AE (6) Shutter-Priority AE (7) Aperture-Priority AE (8) Metered Manual (9) Bulb
Picture mode: Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Action, Night scene portrait, Standard Flash-Off
Scene mode: Night Scene, Surf & Snow, Food, Sunset, Kids, Pet, Candlelight, Museum, Stage lighting*, Night snap* *The image is fixed to only JPEG.
Exposure Compensation ±3EV (0.5EV steps or 0.3EV steps)
Auto-bracketing 3 frames within range of ±0.5EV, ±1.0EV, ±1.5EV (0.5EV steps) or ±0.3EV, ±0.7EV, ±1.0EV (0.3EV steps)
AE Lock This function can be allocated to AF button in Menu.
Shutter Shutter Type Electronically controlled vertical-run focal plane shutter
Shutter Speed Auto: 1/6000 - 30 sec. and bulb, Manual: 1/6000 - 30 sec., and bulb
Drive Modes Continuous shooting Single-frame , Continuous (Hi, Lo), Self-timer (12s, 2s), Remote control (0s, 3s), Auto bracket
approx. 4.7 fps, sequence: 17 frame (JPEG and Continuous (Hi)) 5 frame (RAW)
approx. 2 fps , sequence: until the memory card becomes full (JPEG and Continuous (Lo)) 11 frame (RAW)
Built-in flash Type Built-in retractable P-TTL pop-up flash
Guide number approx. 16 (Standard Output Sensitivity 200/m) 12 (Standard Output Sensitivity 100/m)
Angle of view coverage 28mm wide-angle (equivalent to 35mm)
Flash Exposure
Compensation
-2 EV - +1EV (1/2EV steps)
Flash Synchronization Hot shoe, sync-speed: 1/180 sec., P-TTL, high-speed-sync, wireless-sync with PENTAX dedicated flash
Image Stabilizer Type Image sensor shift mechanism, Max 4 steps
Dust Removal Type Image sensor moving mechanism and SP Coating
Time World Time 75 cities (28 time zones)
Data Folder Folder Name Date (100_MMDD•••), PENTX (100PENTX, 101PENTX•••)
Power Sources Four AA (lithium, alkaline, and rechargeable Ni-MH) batteries
Optional AC adapter also available.
Battery Life Number of recordable images (Lithium) approx. 1900 (Normal Recording)*2 , 1100 (50% use Flash)*1
Playback time approx. 680 minutes*2
Number of recordable images (Ni-MH 1900mAh) approx. 640 (Normal Recording)*2 , 420 (50% use Flash)*1
Playback time approx. 390 minutes*2
Number of recordable images (Alkaline) approx. 210 (Normal Recording)*2 , 130 (50% use Flash)*1
Playback time approx. 350 minutes*2
Interfaces USB/Video
USB 2.0 (HI-SPEED)
Video Output Compatible with NTSC and PAL formats
Lens Mount PENTAX KAF2 bayonet mount
Usable Lens PENTAX KAF3-, KAF2-, KAF-, and KA-mount lenses.
* Power zoom function is not available. K-mount lenses usable with restrictions. S-mount lenses, 67/645 lenses usable with adapter and with restrictions.
Dimensions approx. 122.5(W) x 91.5(H) x 67.5(D)mm (4.8 x 3.6 x 2.7 inches)
Weight approx. 515g (18.2 oz.) without battery and SD memory card
approx. 580g (20.5 oz.) loaded and ready with lithium battery and SD memory card
approx. 615g (21.7 oz.) loaded and ready with alkaline battery and SD memory card
Included accessories USB cable I-USB7 , Strap O-ST53 , AA lithium battey 4pcs. , CD-ROM S-SW99
Eyecup FQ , Hot shoe cover FK, Body mount cover
Bundle software PENTAX Digital Camera Utility 4.0

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