Amazon Customer
I dont have the luxury of time. I cant wait on "perfect" lighting or weather conditions. Travel and vacation usually means I have to live with the weather I get, rain, snow, clouds, or sun. I needed a camera that can handle it all and thats just what I got in the Pentax K-70. To start with, I find that the K-70 gives me the biggest bang for the buck of any DSLR. Its loaded! For $649 (body only) the K-70 offers a 24 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, in-camera image stabilization that is also used to simulate anti-alias filtering that can be adjusted or turned off, a fully articulated LCD screen (no touch), an ISO range that is a mind boggling 100 - 102400, auto focus fine tuning, a pentaprism viewfinder with 100% coverage, and Wi-Fi. Its a comfortable camera in hand and easy to operate right out of the box. It has the best ergonomics of any DSLR I have held. There are two customizable control dails at my finger tips that I use to control apature and shutter speed while shooting manual but you can set them up to control a multitude of settings on the fly - and the settings can be saved. It has a fast shutter speed (1/6000 sec), and a fast burst rate at six frames per second while shooting in RAW format. Image quality is outstanding especially in RAW format and takes excellent low light (low noise) photos. On top of all that its weather and dust sealed, which is a must for me. Not that everthing is perfect with the K-70. If letting your DSLR handle video capture is a desire of yours, then the K-70 might not be your best option. Not that it cant do video, but it, apparently, is not a priority in ANY Pentax DSLR. Autofocus in video mode can have a hard time keeping up with a moving subject. Also, there is no dedicated button for video. The On/Off switch also serves as the video switch. Autofocus in DSLR mode seems slow as well, but that may be a more of a problem with the kit lens and not the camera. As I prefer to shoot landscapes, Ive not had much of a problem with the autofocus. The K-70 is also a bit heavy compared to other DLSRs, and especially mirrorless cameras, but it is a tough camera that you dont have to keep covered up and protected on a hike. A recent trip to Shenandoah National Park had the camera out in the rain, getting bumped and smacked about by a few low hanging branches from trees and bushes with no ill effect. I just use a weathersealed lens and keep the lens cap and hood on for protection.
