PHOTO QUALITY. This 24-megapixel SLR camera captured images with very good quality. Pictures were very sharp, which means you can see even tiny details and very 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 50mm F1.8 with the 50mm kit lens captured flash shots that were very 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. The lens has a fixed focal length; it has no zoom capability.
IMAGE STABILIZATION. Shooting with digital telephoto in well-lit scenes, this model did an excellent job of minimizing the effects of camera shake. In low-light settings, it performed very well and rarely 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 50mm F1.8 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 50mm F1.8 takes very good video. It captures full HD video at 1920 x 1080 30p. As for sound, it captures excellent 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.
