As a Pentax user from the days of MF, I've wanted a DSLR for a while, and a bit of a windfall allowed me to return a borrowed model from another manufacturer, and buy this cracker.

Steve's SnapShot Cons Bottom Line Pick This Up If...

High image quality; Customizable buttons; Two well-placed dials; Good high ISO performance; Burst modes perform well; Sensor-shift shake and dust reduction; Big pentaprism viewfinder; Live view on high-resolution LCD; Rugged; weather-sealed body; Can run on AA batteries; Comes in 120 different...

Auto focus is slow when using Live View; No continuous auto focus in video mode; Li-ion battery life could be better; LCD does not tilt or swivel; No HDMI port; No external microphone jack

Essentially a K-30 with a less-sculpted body and a wide variety of color combinations, the new Pentax K-50 offers a lot at an entry-level price.

Pentax's cameras are always hard to compare to those from other manufacturers; it opts for more rugged designs and often eschews the trendy features du jour. With the K-50, Pentax neither pushes the limit on pixel count nor jams in as many video capabilities as possible.

For example, with the TAv mode (shutter and aperture priority mode), you set the shutter speed and aperture and the camera automatically selects an ISO speed to match. For those who prefer complete manual control, there are four pages of customizable features.

120 camera body color combinations; 6 fps burst; Thrives in temperatures down to minus-10 degrees Celsius

Short battery life; Fixed LCD screen; Average performance

Despite being one of the oldest brands in the photography world, Pentax struggles against the big names of Canon and Nikon to lure in those all important entry level customers. Although cameras at this end of the market are much cheaper than the pro gear that sits at the top, snagging somebody at...

A year since its release, Ricoh Imaging's Pentax K-50 still touts something that no other consumer grade entry-level SLR camera offers: weather sealing. While it's not enough protection to save you if you dunk the camera in a pool, this sealing should give you peace of mind while using the camera in...

Thank goodness research kept me out of the Canon/Nikon popularity contest. The performance of this beautiful piece of equipment outshines them both &

Features like the in-body Shake Reduction and weather resistance give the K-50's similarly priced rivals a real run for their money. The fast write times and speedy AF performance really impressed us and the only minor gripes we could find were the rather pedestrian user interface, slightly slippery...

The Pentax K-50 is, in its basic specifications, identical with the company's new K-500 model. Both cameras offer a 16MP sensor, a built-in stabilizer system (based on sensor shift technology), all standard exposure modes of a modern SLR system and a very large and bright optical SLR viewfinder.

+ Compact SLR system with sealed body, + Professional handling; however, a battery grip with additional shutter release button for portrait shots and an X-sync jack for a studio flash system are missing

- Missing swivel monitor; - Missing WLAN features (Eye-Fi cards are supported