On the SLR side, I had always shot with Nikon and Panasonic until the kind folks at Pentax sent me their gorgeous K50 in white and it was love at first site! The K50 is a fully weather sealed D-SLR that comes bundled with a DA-L 18.55 lens and a 16MP and PRIME M Processor. One of the main and coolest features is the ability to customize it in 120 different color combos! How awesome to be able to gift your loved one with, not only a great new camera, but one in his or her favorite colors. I choose the white one as it stands out in a sea of paparazzi on the red carpet and always gets asked about when I shoot with it. But I also love the deep chocolate and some of the other options.
The K-50 is relatively small and lightweight at 3.8x 5.1 x 2.8 inches and 1.4 pounds. One of my favorite features of the K50 is the ginormous rear LCD screen that comes in at 3 inches. I love that you can either use the rechargeable battery or get double AAs, which is handy when you are out in the field. In addition, it burst at a pretty speedy 5.9 fps and has in-body shake reduction. There is also great noise reduction and high ISO performance. With programmable functionality, the K50 is great for every level of shutterbug from beginner to professional. Beginners will dig the auto and program and scene modes, while more knowledgeable photogs can control ISO, EV and tinker with a ton of other settings. You do have to know what you are doing to try anything but auto mode, as this is not a standard point and shoot. And even in the auto mode, I initially had some missed shots. That said, this is a great camera to grow with if you are a beginner that wants to learn more about photography. While it is weather sealed, it is not advisable to submerge it in water. But you can shoot in a snowstorm or slight shower. Another great advantage to the K50 is the large range of lenses that are available. You can use any of Pentax’s large array of K-mount lens without an adapter.
For a smaller option, check out the point and shoot Pentax Q10, which is so tiny it is almost a spy camera! At a mere 2.3 by 4.0 by 1.3 inches, it is the smallest interchangeable lens camera on the market. Adorable and handy, the Q10 features 7 modes – standard Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual, Movie, and Scene modes, as well as, a blur control mode that is unique to Pentax. For such a small camera, the rear display is a 3.0 inches. The Q10 is an ideal on the everyday go camera for bloggers and anyone else that needs to regularly shoot.
