Review on 📸 Pentax K-50 16MP Digital SLR Camera - Body Only (Red) with 3-Inch LCD by Ryan Olsen

I bought the K50 (with 18-55mm and 50-200mm lenses) just over two months ago. This is my first DSLR so of course I was excited when it arrived but I didn't review it until I had a chance to test many of the features (other than video recording, which I haven't done yet). I'm fairly new to photography and haven't settled on a specific genre yet. I like street photography, cityscapes and landscapes, old buildings, some portraits (including self-portraits), snaps at events, etc. So I needed a versatile, reasonably compact camera with a good range of features and easy to use. use. I'm very happy to say that I think I made the right choice in choosing the K-50.1. Ease of use I particularly like the fact that there are front and rear dials, as well as a Live View LED screen and 100 percent aspect ratio viewfinder. Most of the buttons are programmable, which allowed me to disable shutter autofocus and assign it to one of the rear buttons. The menus are logically structured and easy to read. The nearly 300-page instruction book is pretty well laid out, making it pretty easy to find the things you need. Lenses The two kit lenses mentioned above are typical kit lenses. They do a great job on most photos, producing beautiful and crisp images. Despite the 1.5x crop factor, I lean more towards 50-200mm lenses for everyday use, which do an excellent job of everything from creating a good portrait to enlarging medium-range subjects. The 18-55mm lens does a good job of capturing decent landscapes, although there is some barrel distortion at the 18mm setting. If I decide to focus on landscape photography, I'll probably buy a better wide-angle lens.3. functions. After shooting in JPEG for a week or two, I switched to shooting in RAW. Both formats produce wonderful images. Many in-camera editing features (e.g. HDR) are used specifically in JPEG mode. I used them and liked the results, but for editing purposes I stuck with RAW. I will definitely come back and work with these features in the near future. What features I've used so far (bulb mode, bracketing, ISO priority mode, in-camera image stabilization) all work as expected and can really improve your ability to get the shots you really want. While the 12-second timer is only slightly longer than the usual 10 (on most cameras), those extra two seconds have proven useful on more than one occasion. Thanks to the weatherproof hardware, I don't have to break a sweat taking it out in the rain or snow. And there's the Silkypix photo studio software that's included... it's not exactly Photoshop or Lightroom, but it enhances my shots nicely, especially in RAW.4 mode. image quality and cost. The 16-megapixel density might seem a bit modest by today's standards, but I have no complaints about the image quality. Details... color... sharpness... everything just wonderful. No disappointments. In terms of cost, I researched Nikon, Canon, Samsung, Sony, Olympus, and Panasonic DSLRs and mirrorless cameras before purchasing this camera. No other camera offered as much money as this K-50 Dual Lens Kit.5. Now for the bad. There are a few caveats. The whale lens is a bit noisy for street photography or candid close-ups. The LED is fixed so you can't flip it up or out for selfies or group shots. And it's not a touchscreen. Battery life is shorter than most DSLRs in this range (but comparable to most mirrorless cameras I've tested). Far fewer lenses and accessories are available for Pentax than for Nikon and Canon (although many older Pentax lenses are compatible). Note: I was aware of all of these shortcomings before purchasing the camera, so I wasn't surprised. I included them here to highlight the camera's shortcomings. Conclusion Almost three months later, the K-50 still impresses me. I have a long road ahead of me as a photographer and it's nice to know that I have a camera that can quickly cope with what I've done so far. My confidence has skyrocketed since purchasing this instrument and it shows in my photos. I wholeheartedly recommend this camera to anyone looking in the $450-$650 price range.