The file-size results correspond to what we found in the K-5's video files: The best image quality is definitely achieved in its Full HD mode, but you'll need to pay the piper in terms of flash card space. Stepping up from 720p to 1080p while retaining the same frame rate and compression level literally doubles file sizes, and at the maximum quality setting, 1080p capture will chew through 2GB of card space in somewhere from 100 to 120 seconds. While the Better quality setting offered a reasonable balance between file sizes and compression artifacts in the Full HD mode, there was certainly a noticeable loss in detail, and at lower resolutions we felt that recording at anything less than the highest quality setting simply produced too many JPEG artifacts for our tastes.
When we first saw a prototype of the earlier K-7 model prior to its announcement, were excited to see that it supported contrast-detect autofocus during movie recording, something that would've been unique among prosumer DSLRs at the time. Unfortunately, this feature was absent in final production models of the K-7, and the K-5 retains the status quo in this regard. Unfortunately, digital SLR video capture has come a long way since the launch of the K-7, and many competing cameras do now offer this feature. Notably, Canon introduced the ability to perform single AF operations with its Rebel T2i in February 2010, and Nikon followed suit with full-time AF in the D3100 from August 2010, and both companies have since introduced the same in-movie AF options in their prosumer models as well. Hence, where the omission of in-video AF was merely a shame in the K-7, it now stands out as an area where the K-5 lags its main rivals.
K5 Full Hd 720p
As is the case in Live View mode, pressing the Info button on the camera's rear panel lets you zoom in up to 6x when AF is enabled, or as far as 10x when set to manual focus mode, to assist with precise focusing, but note that this is only possible before recording has started: Once the camera has begun recording, only the normal 1:1 view is available. A new function of the K-5's pre-capture contrast detection autofocus is that during the AF operation, the live view feed automatically zooms in on the focus point -- whether it is manually selected, or set using face detection -- making it much easier to see if the lock was accurate. The zoom isn't performed instantly, but rather the view gradually zooms in to help reinforce where within the frame the camera is focusing. This function is something of a mixed blessing, however, in that it can't be disabled, and operates even when in AF-C mode, where you'd expect to be shooting a moving subject. (It does return to a normal view shortly after the initial focus lock, so you do at least see the full image view in between AF operations.) The zoomed view can make it very tricky to continue to follow your subject and keep them inside the image frame while focusing, though, and we'd really like to see the option to disable this otherwise useful feature -- at the very least when Continuous AF is disabled, and preferably at any time of the photographer's choosing.
As we've noted in other SLR reviews, the good news with focusing for video is that you can get surprisingly good depth of field in video mode by stopping the lens down, thanks to the relatively low resolution of the video image. With a pixel resolution of only 2.1 megapixels in the Pentax K-5's Full HD mode, 0.9 megapixels in 720p mode, and just 0.3 megapixels in VGA mode, images that would be unacceptably blurred as 16 megapixel still shots look perfectly fine as video frames. This not only provides greater depth of field at any given aperture, but is also more forgiving of diffraction limiting at very small lens apertures. Diffraction at small apertures means you'd usually want to avoid f/16 or f/22 for still images, but again, the results generally look perfectly fine at video resolutions. Bottom line, with the K-5's lens set to f/16 or f/22 (assuming you're shooting under fairly bright conditions), you'll be surprised by how little focus adjustment is needed during a typical video recording.
The level of exposure control available when shooting video with current SLRs varies widely. Many cameras -- especially those aimed at consumer use -- still opt to keep things simple with fully automatic exposure control. Manual exposure control is also now a reasonably common option, though, especially in prosumer and professional models. Like its predecessor, the Pentax K-5 offers somewhere in between these extremes, giving you a choice of either automatic or aperture-priority exposure modes. In Auto aperture mode, the camera adjusts the aperture as needed, but just like the K-7, doesn't report the current value on the LCD screen. (We'd still like to see Pentax change this behavior to allow aperture display regardless of exposure mode, at the videographer's option.) In aperture priority mode -- referred to in the menu system as Fixed Movie Aperture Control -- the current aperture is displayed in the lower left corner of the LCD screen, and can be changed by rotating the rear command dial. You can't adjust it during recording, but whatever value you set before you begin your clip is the one the camera will use. This is a great feature that gives a fair degree of creative control over the look of videos, although it doesn't go as far as some cameras in allowing direct control over shutter speed or aperture.
In common with most other video-capable SLRs, the Pentax K-5 offers the full range of white balance settings in movie mode, including four different options for fluorescent lighting, and Kelvin values ranging from 2,500 to 10,000. You can also select any of the K-5's Custom Image modes, including Bright, Natural, Portrait, Landscape, Vibrant, Muted, Bleach Bypass, Reversal Film, and Monochrome. As with still-image shooting, settings for saturation, hue, high/low key adjustment and contrast can be adjusted independently for each mode. A sharpness setting is available as well, which affects the sharpness of the video images to a very noticeable degree. (Note that turning the sharpness up too high will make the JPEG compression artifacts much more evident, though.) Unlike its predecessor, the K-5 now allows a subset of its digital filter modes -- and one filter specific to the Movie mode -- to be used during video capture. Modes available for both stills and movies include the Toy Camera, Retro, High Contrast, and Extract Color, with each offering varying degrees of control over the look of the effect. The still-image Soft, Starburst, Fish-eye, and Custom filters are not available in Movie mode, but you gain a Color filter mode that allows a red, magenta, blue, cyan, green, yellow filter effect at either light, standard, or dark intensity levels. The K-5's Cross Processing function, which is also available for stills, can be used in Movie mode as well, and its effect -- which emulates a technique from the days of film photography -- can also be combined with the digital filters. If Cross Processing is active, both white balance and custom image mode must be controlled automatically, however.
A typical computer these days has little trouble dealing with still images, but high-definition video can be another matter. Depending on the file format involved, it can take a pretty beefy computer to handle HD-resolution video playback without stuttering or dropping frames. The Motion JPEG image compression used by the Pentax K-5 is one of the less compute-intensive formats, but its uprated 1,920 x 1,080 pixel resolution means there's a good bit more data to deal with in each video frame than there was with the K-7's non-standard 1,536 x 1,024 pixel maximum resolution, let alone its standard high-def 720p mode. As long as it's a relatively recent and reasonably powerful model, you should have no problem playing video files from the K-5 on your computer. We don't have a specific benchmark for this, but if your computer is less than 3 years or so old, it should have no problem with the K-5's video streams. (By contrast, to play AVCHD or other keyframe-encoded video formats at full 1,920 x 1,080 resolution can demand a very powerful CPU and video card, to keep up.)
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First things first though - that name call for a little clarification. The K5 family consists of three models so far, the plain Vibe K5, the Vibe K5 Plus we have here, and the Vibe K5 Note. While some makers use the Plus to identify a larger screen, here it denotes the Full-HD resolution as opposed to the regular K5's 720p, and a Snapdragon 616 instead of a Snapdragon 415. And that's the entire list of differences.
Speaking of full HD video player, there are tons, the popular ones such as 5KPlayer, VLC Player, KMPlayer, etc. are experts in playing full HD videos 1080p and 720p. But when comparing the capability (range of supported video audio formats), functionality (all-in-one full HD media player, downloader, AirPlay & DLNA server) as well as original video fidelity (image rendering in accordance with computer or TV monitor), 5KPlayer comes slightly better than the other full HD video players.
As one of the best full HD video players, 5KPlayer ranks as No.2 most downloaded full HD video player on Softonic, second only to VLC. That is not only because 5KPlayer is a professional full HD player for Windows 10 and Mac, but also because this full HD video player is capable of delivering true home theatre experience with crystal-clear images and HiFi sounds. 2ff7e9595c
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