Pentax K1 Mark II Black Review

This Pentax K-1 Mark II kit is a weird, lovable dinosaur. The one thing you need to know is that it's built for a very specific person: the landscape or portrait shooter who wants a full-frame sensor and doesn't care about speed. It's a fantastic camera for taking your time, but if you ever need to photograph anything that moves, you're out of luck.

The performance here is a real mixed bag. The 36MP sensor and IBIS are great for sharp, stable shots, and the connectivity is top-notch. But the autofocus is in the 1st percentile, and the burst rate is a glacial 4.4 fps. That 0/100 score for sports and wildlife isn't a typo. It's genuinely unusable for that. The video is just 1080p, which feels ancient.

With prices swinging wildly from $1797 to over $3700, the value proposition is all over the place. At the low end, it's a quirky bargain for a full-frame DSLR with a long lens. At the high end, it's a complete rip-off. Only consider it if you find it near that $1800 mark and you know exactly what you're getting into.

Compared to the Sony a7R IV, there's no contest. The Sony has a much better sensor, vastly superior autofocus, 4K video, and it's a mirrorless body. The Pentax K-3 Mark III is a more apt comparison—it's a modern Pentax DSLR with way better autofocus and burst, but it's an APS-C sensor. If you're a Pentax loyalist with a bag of lenses, the K-3 III is the smarter buy. The Fujifilm X-S20 runs circles around this kit for video and autofocus, though it's also APS-C.

I can't recommend this kit to most people. It's too slow, too limited, and too expensive at its higher price points. The only person who should buy this is a dedicated Pentax shooter who specifically wants a full-frame body for static subjects and found it at a deep, deep discount. For everyone else, look at a modern mirrorless camera.