I rented a Pentax k-s2 with an 18-270mm lens for a trip to the Scarborough Renaissance Festival. The reason I did this was that the forecast showed a high possibility of rain. The k-s2 is weather sealed. My current camera, the Sony a6000, is not weather sealed.

Initial Impressions of the Pentax k-s2

The Pentax k-s2 is heavy. But, that is to be expected from a camera that is weather sealed and has the rugged reputation that Pentax has. Adding a 18-270mm lens to that weight doesn’t help any. I really like the menu system and the flipping screen. The exterior has a nice and grippy rubber surface. I think this is a plus when you are planning to use the camera in wet conditions.

The camera does hunt for focus occasionally. I tried testing it with an old manual focus Pentax lens and couldn’t get the shutter to work. I need to review the manual because there is probably a setting I missed. I tried using the camera with my Yongnuo 560iv flash and found that it would not work at a shutter speed higher than 1/160 of a second. Most digital cameras will max out at 1/200 with a manual flash. If I let the camera choose the focus point, it often chooses the wrong focus point.

Test Shots

I once again used my lovely model Charlotte Yeager to test the ISO noise. Based on these tests. I think the highest ISO I’m comfortable with on this camera is 1600 for prints. I think 3200 would be usable if you reduce the size of the images and do the right processing.

Using the Pentax k-s2 in real world conditions

Luckily, I didn’t need the weather resistance of the camera, so I can’t comment on that. I found the focusing to be accurate and with no hunting in the bright conditions I was in. The camera could even focus on faces through a crowd. The menu system is intuitive and easy to use.I do love the fact that the camera can save images in the Adobe DNG format. This saves time when I bring the images into my computer and edit them.

Overall it is a good camera. However, it is heavy. At the end of the day I was I did not want to life the camera and take pictures. I wanted to put it away and stop taking pictures. I would be willing to recommend this camera to friends and family. However, I will be sticking with my Sony a6000. The weight difference just makes it more difficult for me to do the photography I like to do.

Example images