Pentax K-50 review

A weatherproof all-rounder well-suited to beginners

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Pentax K-50
The Pentax K-50 is a good option for those new to photography looking to shoot outside a lot.

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Pentax K-50


The K-50's metering system has struggled slightly with the high contrast scenario presented here when using the camera in general-purpose metering mode.

Pentax K-50


Colours are more deeply saturated when comparing JPEG images with raw format (DNG) files, which leaves a lot of scope for post-production editing.

Pentax K-50


The camera copes reasonably well in lower light conditions, producing images which are still full of detail without introducing too much noise.

Pentax K-50


The camera's kit lens at its widest point offers 18mm, or 27mm in 35mm terms.

Pentax K-50


At the telephoto end, the lens is 55mm, or 82.5mm in 35mm terms.

Pentax K-50


The 18-55mm kit lens is a good all-round performer for everyday shots.

Pentax K-50


You can get good shallow depth of field effects with the kit lens, despite its maximum aperture of f/3.5.

Pentax K-50


Detail reproduction is good.

Pentax K-50


Although there are a number of effects filters, those can't be shot in raw format. You can also shoot "Custom Images", which give you a number of different options such as black and white and cross processing (as seen here).

Digital filters

Pentax K-50

Toy Camera

Pentax K-50

Retro

Pentax K-50

High Contrast

Pentax K-50

Shading

Pentax K-50

Invert Color

Pentax K-50

Color
Amy Davies
Amy Davies

Amy has been writing about cameras, photography and associated tech since 2009. Amy was once part of the photography testing team for Future Publishing working across TechRadar, Digital Camera, PhotoPlus, N Photo and Photography Week. For her photography, she has won awards and has been exhibited. She often partakes in unusual projects - including one intense year where she used a different camera every single day. Amy is currently the Features Editor at Amateur Photographer magazine, and in her increasingly little spare time works across a number of high-profile publications including Wired, Stuff, Digital Camera World, Expert Reviews, and just a little off-tangent, PetsRadar.