Photokina 08: Pentax K-m A Blast From The Past

Back in the 1970s, Pentax had two sets of film-based SLRs.

Its K series were for professional photographers, while the M models were intended for the general public.

Hugely popular, the three M cameras were renowned for the small cases and light handling.

At Photokina today, Pentax unveiled the long-lost descendents of the two lines, the new K-m.

The model we saw in Cologne had taken plenty of features from the K side of the family, including a stabilized 10 Megapixel sensor and a pentaprism viewfinder.  It showed its more populist roots in a lightweight case, stripped of a depth-of-field detector and high-end screen, swapped out to make room for a help button just next to the shutter release.

When you get your hands on it, it's a very light camera, but the cuvy handle makes it easy to keep hold of it. 

The usual Pentax build quality is evident from the quality of images on the LCD screen, which are exceptional even using the default settings.  Modifying the configuration, meanwhile, is a doddle using the controls on the back.

The onboard sensor is the same as that found on previous Pentax digital cameras, but now sees the addition of a 3200 ISO feature, suggesting the manufacturer has made some improvements to the optical system.

We're looking forward to confirming this in a full test later, but our first impression was that these improvements haven't made the camera any slower.

In short, a snappy, entry-level digital SLR that matches the characteristics of two of Pentax's most popular lines--we can't wait to try it out for longer.