PHOTO QUALITY. This 24-megapixel SLR camera captured images with good quality. Pictures were sharp though not as much as the better models, which means you can see much but not all details and subtle patterns in the image. In low-light situations without a flash, pictures were sharp. We judged this model very good for outdoor performance, such as shooting landscapes in the daytime; very good for indoor performance, such as photographing a well-lit basketball game in a gym. And very good for low-light performance without a flash, such as capturing a birthday party. Photos taken in our low-light performance tests displayed little image noise; subjects retained most of their correct detail and color.
FLASH. The K-70 w/ smc DA 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 ED AL [IF] DC WR with the 18-135mm kit lens captured flash shots that were good. In our distance test, we found the camera's flash could illuminate subjects very well, both near and far. The flash also has very good, even coverage.
LENS. This camera includes a 7.5x zoom lens, a bit more zoom than a standard 3x. The lens also has wide-angle (27mm) capability that's useful for landscapes and group portraits, although you may notice a bit of distortion when you're shooting faces up close, for instance.
IMAGE STABILIZATION. This is an important feature; taking hand-held shots at the telephoto end of the zoom range can generally blur or soften images due to the slight movement of your hands. Shooting zoom set at 4x in well-lit scenes, this model did a good job of minimizing the effects of camera shake. Shooting telephoto in well-lit scenes, this model did a good job of minimizing the effects of camera shake. In low-light settings, it performed excellently and almost never produced blurry photos. Overall, the shake reduction results from our tests were very good.
SPEED. In terms of performance, the Pentax K-70 w/ smc DA 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 ED AL [IF] DC WR powers up very quickly. It has a very short interval between shots, which can be important when shooting fast-moving or unpredictable subjects.
VIDEO. The Pentax K-70 w/ smc DA 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 ED AL [IF] DC WR takes good video. It captures full HD video at 1920 x 1080 30p. As for sound, it captures very good audio in stereo.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS. Like all SLRs, it also includes a through-the-lens viewfinder, helpful when composing in bright light; this viewfinder has excellent quality. The display also swivels; this can be helpful when shooting self-portraits or hard-to-reach shots.
![K-70 w/ smc DA 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 ED AL [IF] DC WR](https://crdms.images.consumerreports.org/f_auto,w_300/prod/products/cr/models/387418-slrcameras-pentax-k70.jpg)
![Pentax K-70 w/ smc DA 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 ED AL [IF] DC WR](https://crdms.images.consumerreports.org/f_auto,w_150,e_make_transparent:1/prod/products/cr/models/387418-slrcameras-pentax-k70.png)
