Photography Hobbyists?
- Thread starter HERO
- Start date
I started dSLR with Nikon, but moved to Pentax ...
I do it for hobby, by far my most expensive hobby (but I own an old, beat up truck and generally save money elsewhere). I don't shoot many sports, just scenery. I shot my wife once in lingerie, but lost the encrypted disk array where I stored it. I had digital compacts for years (since 2000), but eventually made the move to dSLR when the Nikon D80 hit.
Nikon D80, then D300 ...
I started with a dSLR from Nikon. I originally discarded most of the entry-level dSLRs because they lacked features, and I didn't want to drop US$2K just to get started. I didn't think much at all of the Nikon D40, and I was reminded of why when I saw someone crush his D40's cheap plastic lens mount by just leaning up against it. The "crippled" features in the D40 (and, later, D60) line really make me sick, as they lack all sorts of things from AF points to various support, things that are standard in any other, entry-level dSLR from any vendor.
But then a Nikon D50 owner sold me on the mid-range (as well as higher-end) units, and I bought a D80 when it first hit, which I got for well under list. I bought several used lenses which worked (they would not work with the D40/60 bodies). It did the job for the most part. I then upgraded to the D300 when it came out, and put a large f/2.8 telephoto on it. When I was investigating fast, wide angle lenses, I went with a Tokina 16-50 f/2.8 for my D300. I really like several of the Tokina models, and was going to buy more for Nikon.
This led me to Pentax.
Pentax K10D now, pre-ordered the K7D
Pentax and Tokina share the same, latest, cutting edge lens fab build several years ago in Vietnam that really brings the costs down (and are now owned by the same parent, Hoya) -- only the Pentax lenses are weather sealed and have some real advantages with build quality (even $100 Pentax lenses have solid build quality -- as PhotoZone.DE says regularly, "build quality is typical Pentax standards, which is a good thing"), anti-flare coating (having this standard is also a major plus, I don't get flare, even on my fisheye), while retaining the other advantages (size, fab cost, etc...). By far the most impressive aspect is the true 3D (not 2D) in-body shake reduction (SR, which, along with Sony and Olympus 2D and 3D approaches, forced Canon and Nikon to drop prices on in-lens IS/VR), as well as the "expert" controls. Pentax is clearly an affordable expert amateur line, designed for hobbists and enthusiasts, and they've largely removed themselves from the high-end sport (huge aperture telephoto).
Especially when you consider that virtually all Pentax A (auto-aperture, manual focus) and FA (auto-focus) lenses ever made over the last 20-30 years work out-of-the-box with the in-body SR. The lack of having to worry about if any K mount lens would have issues was a major plus, although if not A or FA like old manuals, you have to manually input the focal length for the in-body SR. But that's still better than no SR/IS/VR/etc... at all. I was shocked how much a difference it does, indeed, make -- including at wide angle with hand-holding or even on a monopod at slower shutters.
The standard weather sealing has saved my butt, twice now, when I've had Canon users and even fellow Nikonians see their bodies messed up in bad weather at the same event. Pentax has also used stainless steel bodies as standard, and an especially tough lens mount as standard (and standard lens, even $100 lenses, from Pentax are known for their build quality), although the Mg body of my D300 was lighter for its size. I've been in the moonsoon-level drench of the southeastern US' worst storms, and never had an issue. So I finally gave in and bought a couple of their high-end lenses for the K10D.
But I wasn't so sure I made the right choice when full-frame started hitting big with Canon and Nikon. Everyone seemed to go that direction. Hoya and Samsung (Samsung fabs Pentax's CMOS sensors, they used the same Sony CCDs prior like on my K10D, and has their own GX line of the high-end Pentax offering) stated they were going to stay with APS-C, and not move to full frame (only consider even bigger 60x45mm medium format with the 24MP+ Pentax 645D which never seems to reach enough interest to ship). I was also wondering if size was an issue, if I made a mistake in not looking at Olympus 4/3rds instead. So when the K20D came out, I skipped it (although I have borrowed a friend's a few times), although I did sell my D300 and lenses. I'm glad I did.
The new Pentax K7D, still with the 2x surface area APS-C sensor, is smaller than any Olympus 4/3 system. They also got the weight down by using Mg like the D300, and adopted a similar high-res LCD and other things like the D300, plus all the other Pentax goodies (Pentax, not even with Hoya-Samsung backing, doesn't have the budget to do everything like Canon and Nikon -- at least not while keeping the costs down so they undercut their pricing0. And although it itself is half the surface area of full frame 35mm (Olympus being a full half size, 1/4th the surface area of 35mm), the overall sensor + lens size is the "right fit" for an amateur in my book. But others will differ.
The Samsung CMOS is outstanding (K20D and, now, K7D), and in comparison, even when Nikon and Pentax lines were using the same 6MP and 10MP Sony CCD APS-C sensors, I preferred the Pentax RAW processing by far. The only thing I don't like, and most people don't like, about Pentax is the Samsung JPEG processing, it sucks in-camera, compared to Nikon. I know the newer K20D (I just have a K10D) and, now K7D, has a very low compression / ultra-high quality mode offering that a lot of people like, being close to RAW with limited loss and much smaller size. Pentax also keeps the NR low by default, which some people hate, but you can change it. Honestly, I like the output results, especially for RAW, but most people -- including myself -- do prefer the default JPEG in the Nikons.
I have only limited exposure to Canon's systems. But all-in-all, I'm glad I didn't go full frame, especially with Pentax's offerings. Pentax has virtually no marketing budget at all, which keeps them out of the superstores which are heavily funded by Canon and Nikon (I heard Nikon spends about 3x). Pentax preference is largely only by word-of-mouth and very rare Hoya expenditures on ads (like in a few nature mags over a few years), although I typically do find at least 1 employee at any Ritz or other camera store that is a major Pentax enthusiast.
Can't wait for the K7D to come in. They perfected the K20D into the smallest, expert dSLR on the market by far, without comprising build quality. Again, the only negative out of the Pentax line is default JPEG processing/settings and, if you expect it, NR is turned off by default in the K20D/K7D. Oh, and if you do sports, the 5fps (and only 3fps prior) on the K7D is going to be limiting compared to what the even the D300 can do. But I don't shot speed much at all. Again, Pentax is really focused on the expert-amateur, not the on-field sports pro, but several other pros I know use them.
I do it for hobby, by far my most expensive hobby (but I own an old, beat up truck and generally save money elsewhere). I don't shoot many sports, just scenery. I shot my wife once in lingerie, but lost the encrypted disk array where I stored it. I had digital compacts for years (since 2000), but eventually made the move to dSLR when the Nikon D80 hit.
Nikon D80, then D300 ...
I started with a dSLR from Nikon. I originally discarded most of the entry-level dSLRs because they lacked features, and I didn't want to drop US$2K just to get started. I didn't think much at all of the Nikon D40, and I was reminded of why when I saw someone crush his D40's cheap plastic lens mount by just leaning up against it. The "crippled" features in the D40 (and, later, D60) line really make me sick, as they lack all sorts of things from AF points to various support, things that are standard in any other, entry-level dSLR from any vendor.
But then a Nikon D50 owner sold me on the mid-range (as well as higher-end) units, and I bought a D80 when it first hit, which I got for well under list. I bought several used lenses which worked (they would not work with the D40/60 bodies). It did the job for the most part. I then upgraded to the D300 when it came out, and put a large f/2.8 telephoto on it. When I was investigating fast, wide angle lenses, I went with a Tokina 16-50 f/2.8 for my D300. I really like several of the Tokina models, and was going to buy more for Nikon.
This led me to Pentax.
Pentax K10D now, pre-ordered the K7D
Pentax and Tokina share the same, latest, cutting edge lens fab build several years ago in Vietnam that really brings the costs down (and are now owned by the same parent, Hoya) -- only the Pentax lenses are weather sealed and have some real advantages with build quality (even $100 Pentax lenses have solid build quality -- as PhotoZone.DE says regularly, "build quality is typical Pentax standards, which is a good thing"), anti-flare coating (having this standard is also a major plus, I don't get flare, even on my fisheye), while retaining the other advantages (size, fab cost, etc...). By far the most impressive aspect is the true 3D (not 2D) in-body shake reduction (SR, which, along with Sony and Olympus 2D and 3D approaches, forced Canon and Nikon to drop prices on in-lens IS/VR), as well as the "expert" controls. Pentax is clearly an affordable expert amateur line, designed for hobbists and enthusiasts, and they've largely removed themselves from the high-end sport (huge aperture telephoto).
Especially when you consider that virtually all Pentax A (auto-aperture, manual focus) and FA (auto-focus) lenses ever made over the last 20-30 years work out-of-the-box with the in-body SR. The lack of having to worry about if any K mount lens would have issues was a major plus, although if not A or FA like old manuals, you have to manually input the focal length for the in-body SR. But that's still better than no SR/IS/VR/etc... at all. I was shocked how much a difference it does, indeed, make -- including at wide angle with hand-holding or even on a monopod at slower shutters.
The standard weather sealing has saved my butt, twice now, when I've had Canon users and even fellow Nikonians see their bodies messed up in bad weather at the same event. Pentax has also used stainless steel bodies as standard, and an especially tough lens mount as standard (and standard lens, even $100 lenses, from Pentax are known for their build quality), although the Mg body of my D300 was lighter for its size. I've been in the moonsoon-level drench of the southeastern US' worst storms, and never had an issue. So I finally gave in and bought a couple of their high-end lenses for the K10D.
But I wasn't so sure I made the right choice when full-frame started hitting big with Canon and Nikon. Everyone seemed to go that direction. Hoya and Samsung (Samsung fabs Pentax's CMOS sensors, they used the same Sony CCDs prior like on my K10D, and has their own GX line of the high-end Pentax offering) stated they were going to stay with APS-C, and not move to full frame (only consider even bigger 60x45mm medium format with the 24MP+ Pentax 645D which never seems to reach enough interest to ship). I was also wondering if size was an issue, if I made a mistake in not looking at Olympus 4/3rds instead. So when the K20D came out, I skipped it (although I have borrowed a friend's a few times), although I did sell my D300 and lenses. I'm glad I did.
The new Pentax K7D, still with the 2x surface area APS-C sensor, is smaller than any Olympus 4/3 system. They also got the weight down by using Mg like the D300, and adopted a similar high-res LCD and other things like the D300, plus all the other Pentax goodies (Pentax, not even with Hoya-Samsung backing, doesn't have the budget to do everything like Canon and Nikon -- at least not while keeping the costs down so they undercut their pricing0. And although it itself is half the surface area of full frame 35mm (Olympus being a full half size, 1/4th the surface area of 35mm), the overall sensor + lens size is the "right fit" for an amateur in my book. But others will differ.
The Samsung CMOS is outstanding (K20D and, now, K7D), and in comparison, even when Nikon and Pentax lines were using the same 6MP and 10MP Sony CCD APS-C sensors, I preferred the Pentax RAW processing by far. The only thing I don't like, and most people don't like, about Pentax is the Samsung JPEG processing, it sucks in-camera, compared to Nikon. I know the newer K20D (I just have a K10D) and, now K7D, has a very low compression / ultra-high quality mode offering that a lot of people like, being close to RAW with limited loss and much smaller size. Pentax also keeps the NR low by default, which some people hate, but you can change it. Honestly, I like the output results, especially for RAW, but most people -- including myself -- do prefer the default JPEG in the Nikons.
I have only limited exposure to Canon's systems. But all-in-all, I'm glad I didn't go full frame, especially with Pentax's offerings. Pentax has virtually no marketing budget at all, which keeps them out of the superstores which are heavily funded by Canon and Nikon (I heard Nikon spends about 3x). Pentax preference is largely only by word-of-mouth and very rare Hoya expenditures on ads (like in a few nature mags over a few years), although I typically do find at least 1 employee at any Ritz or other camera store that is a major Pentax enthusiast.
Can't wait for the K7D to come in. They perfected the K20D into the smallest, expert dSLR on the market by far, without comprising build quality. Again, the only negative out of the Pentax line is default JPEG processing/settings and, if you expect it, NR is turned off by default in the K20D/K7D. Oh, and if you do sports, the 5fps (and only 3fps prior) on the K7D is going to be limiting compared to what the even the D300 can do. But I don't shot speed much at all. Again, Pentax is really focused on the expert-amateur, not the on-field sports pro, but several other pros I know use them.
This was the only relevant thread I could find ...
http://board.freeones.com/showthread.php?p=3284493
I try not to start new threads whenever possible.
I didn't want to tangent another thread, did a search, and this was the best thread I could find for a follow-up:
http://board.freeones.com/showthread.php?p=3284493
I try not to start new threads whenever possible.
Similar threads
