Thinking of a swap to Pentax...

<p>Hi, I have been using a Nikon D70s for 5 years and have been really happy with it, but it was stolen with the lens I most used. I bought a minimal second hand kit (Olympus e500 with kit lens) because I was abroad when my camera was stolen, but now I'd like to improve my system ;).</p>

<p>As I don't have a high amount of gear invested in either system, I have been considering different brands, and I've found the Pentax system quite interesting quality wise and at a reasonable cost. I've been looking at different combinations to start up. I mainly use standard and wideangle lengths (I previously had a 17-35mm 2,8-4 and a 50mm 1.8, which suited my style quite well). This is my projected set-up:</p>

<p>- Pentax k20d: I find this body quite interesting and the build quality seems to be really high.</p>

<p>- Tamron 17-50mm 2.8: I prefer to spend a bit more over the standard kit lens in a larger aperture lens, as I like to take photos in available light. I have read quite good reviews about this lens, and combined with the SR and the quite good high ISO performance (yes, I'm aware of the so called banding, but I don't find it to be such a big problem in the k20d) it should be really interesting.</p>

<p>- Tamron or Sigma 70-300: I don't use these focal lengths so often, so I feel any of these lenses should suit my needs. I have looked at the Pentax 55-300, but I think it is quite expensive to the use I'll give to it. However, I could sell the Tamron/Sigma in the future in order to buy that lens if I don't feel confortable with it.</p>

<p>So, what do you think about my "project"? I am willing to start using whatever I decide to buy now that the weather starts to become better!<br>

Thanks for reading and any suggestions are really welcome.</p>

<p>Loritz (are you Basque, by the way?),</p>

<p>It's not like anyone here is going to tell you <strong><em>DON'T BUY PENTAX!!!!!!!</em> </strong> This is, after all, a Pentax forum. If you've researched your options and you feel Pentax is a good option for your needs, then go ahead. The K20D is certainly a great camera that will not fade away in 1 or 2 years, either mechanically or technologically, and the price is certainly right at the moment (and you get a 3 year warranty to boot).</p>

<p>As for lens choice, I will only comment on the 70-300mm choice. Back in the days before Pentax had the DA 55-300mm, I bought the Sigma 70-300mm APO. It's a good lens, and I have few complaints about it, but if I were making the same decision today, I would choose the Pentax over the Sigma (or Tamron). For $100 or so more, I think it's worth it. I don't say this because I'm a fanboy (I have plenty of 3rd party lenses), but because I believe you should buy the best you can afford that will fulfil your needs.</p>

<p>Let us know what you decide to purchase, and if you do go with Pentax, don't be afraid to ask questions and post some pics. We're a nice bunch :-)</p>

<p>Hi, Miserere, actually, my name is Ioritz, and I am Basque!!! How did you discover it? I'm amazed :-0.</p>

<p>Thanks for your suggestions. I have been looking at the Pentax DA 55-300, but I can't find it for less than 400€, wheareas the Sigma/Tamron can be found for around 150€, so the difference is quite big, and I am already stretching my initial budget with this kit... I have been thinking about another kit including the Pentax lens and the kit standard zoom (18-55), which is cheaper than what I have projected, but in the end I felt it was more interesting to cover correctly the lengths I most use. For now I don't use so long lenses too much, so I think I could follow your same track if I find using those focal lengths a lot.</p>

<p>Regarding the Pentax community, I find it really helpful (as is the Nikon community). Comparing both (even if I know this shouldn't be done...) I feel in the Nikon related forums, quite often the answers are too "proffesional", meaning that their solutions involve expensive gear, etc. whereas as far as I've read the Pentax forums seem to be a bit more oriented towards amaterurs (I consider myself an amateur, by the way). I hope I didn't offend anyone with these satements ;-).</p>

<p>Loritz,<br>

What do you shoot? Pentax is a great camera; I recently switched (back) from Canon.</p>

<ul>

<li>Pros: Weather sealing, cost, lens compatibility, overall feel, great image quality up to about ISO 800, built-in wireless flash control (on latest and greatest models, including K20D). </li>

<li>Cons: slow autofocus, some noise at high ISO.</li>

</ul>

<p>Get the Pentax 16-50/2.8 and don't look back. Then you won;t have to wait for good weather to go shoot.<br>

Bob</p>

 

<p>Ioritz, welcome to Pentax! </p>

<p>The cameras are durable; they last a long time; and there's a history of being able to use a wide range of lenses. Lenses 50 years old will probably fit on that contemporary DSLR. There are also a lot of lens mount adapters out there, so the selection is even wider. I know I've picked up used manual lenses for less than 25% of the cost of their contemporary autofocus equivalents. Even more lenses to choose from. </p>

<p>If you look at a lens, and you don't like it, then just shop around some more. They've got everything from underwater fisheye to super-zoom Hubble telescopes that will fit that Pentax camera. It's a matter of selection and spending; you are unlikely to have an outright availability problem.</p>

<p>You may want to check into some lens mount adapters for any older equipment that may still remain.</p>

<p>I think the equipment is so good that it's basically "a thousand dollars off" on everything. The durability alone is worth the choice. You will get weather sealing in that contemporary Pentax that is as good or better than what you would find in a camera that cost $2000 more. Once you get used to the structural strength in these cameras, others may look a little prissy.</p>

<p>For the film cameras: I've jumped out of planes with these cameras; survived crashes with these cameras; used them in environments hotter than 125F for months; dust, dirt, and immersion. Anything short of a direct hit with something strong, hard and fast is probably going to be brushed off by a lot of units. </p>

<p>You'll enjoy the durability of that camera. </p>

<p>Thanks for your comments!</p>

<p>Bob, I have looked at the excellent 16-50 2.8, but it's too expensive for my current budget. If I happen to have more "spare" money in the future I think I will consider it.</p>

<p>John, regarding older lenses, that's a field I find very attractive. I have some older Nikon mount lenses and I even bought the 105 f2.5 Nikkor "Gem" to use it with my previous Nikon body. The use of these lenses becomes quite slow, but I like "to fight" to obtain the image I want. If I finally buy the Pentax I'll look into these older lenses, for sure. By the way, I love the sturdy feel of these bodies!</p>

<p>i would second someone's rec. on the 55-300. i dont use long lenses much and just picked this up (to upgrade over the 80-320) for a trip and have played around with it a bit and am truely impressed. for a normal range zoom, i got the tamron 24-75 'beer can' - 2.8 through the entire range and only a few hundred. good deal. i have them all on the k10 but i would recommend the k20d as it is so low in price now. you'll definitely be happy with this camera</p>

<p>Loritz, with that surname you couldn't be anything but Basque :-)</p>

<p>Do you live in Spain? You're lucky, Pentax has a strong store presence in Spain which means you can go and try out equipment before buying. On the downside, you have to pay a bit more for it. The differences in price between the Sigma and Pentax lenses was here in the US, but you have to make your decisions in euros .</p>

<p>Like John said, there are a lot of old Pentax lenses in the used market, even in Spain (and many US sellers will mail to Spain) so you can pick up great optics in metal bodies for a fraction of their modern equivalents, especially if you like prime lenses (awhich most Pentax shooters do). If you're already having a look around at the used Pentax lens market, I would recommend looking for SMC-A lenses, as these have electric contacts on the mount that allow you to use all shooting modes on a K20D. The only thing you loose is autofocus and matrix metering; and unlike with Sony, you still get the benefits of in-body shake reduction.</p>

<p>Regarding your comment on the differences between Nikon and Pentax replies to questions, I think Pentax users are very price conscious, which makes us look for cheaper ways of doing the same thing. Having a mount like the K-mount that is backwards compatible all the way to M42 screw lenses helps in being cheap photographers.</p>

Wait for K7. I like my K20 just fine but it can't focus or meter worth a damn compared to the K7, to gather from people who've used both.

<p>Yes, wait for the K7 - :) - that's the camera that's on the top of my shopping list. <br>

And, if you become an appreciator of history - get a pentax m42 adapter and try out some of the old glass. The super takumars, the old zeisses - you'll have quite an adventure ahead with a good Pentax body and accessibility to 40+ years of lenses.<br>

Welcome to our forum Ioritz. </p>

<p>Mmmmm.... talking of Basque... reminds me of a time .... well over 20 years ago, when I was away at school... there was a beautiful boy from Basque ... who's name I can't remember. He would sit and play the guitar, and sang love songs in Catalan. <br>

Back when I didn't know what Catalan was... anyway - what a day for a memory from happy times, when the young could sit and enjoy singing and music, and not think of work and life's responsibilities. <br>

I wonder what happened to that boy.</p>

 

<p>Rose, are you sure you're not confusing something? In the Basque country they speak Basque, while it's in Catalonia (Catalunya) where they speak Catalan.</p>

<p>But hey, maybe this very special, cute, guitar-strumming Romeo was a polyglot ;-)</p>

<p>Hi Ioritz,</p>

<p>Your people make the best cheese in the universe. Here in the northwestern US we only get a handful of Basque cheese styles. There are fewer finer tasting experiences than homegrown Walla Walla sweet onion soup with manchego melted atop. In fact, I'll trade you a sack of Walla Walla sweet onions for 20 lbs of Basque cheese. I'll even throw in a used polarizing filter as an incentive :)</p>

<p>Anyway, to answer your question the 17-50mm Tamron will serve you quite well. You may have to use the AF focus adjustment on the K20D to ensure accurate focus. I did, but it works OK now. The color rendition of the Tamron I find less appealing than that provided by most Pentax glass, but it is good enough and tweakable in software. Anyway the lens is super sharp and light weight and well built.</p>

<p>Either of the 70-300 lenses you are considering should serve you for a few years at least. I've had the lower-end Tamron for a few years now and it pretty much always surprises me at how well it works. Again the focusing may be a bit slow or off for sports shooting, but it is acceptable for just about everything else. That's a lot of range for the money and it will enable you to enjoy your camera.</p>

<p>The K20D is awesome. Great color and handling. I've not had metering or AF issues generally with the camera. The spot metering works quite well too. For the money it is difficult to surpass.</p>

<p>One final thought for a future Pentaxian; Pentax zooms are fine and good (expecially the DA* 50-135mm) but the special quality about Pentax are the single focal length lenses. The Limited series are very special and quite addictive. In your shopping around, beware trying out one as you may end up with several while your zooms languish on the back shelf.</p>

<p>ME</p>

<p>Hey, thanks for all the replies! This forum is really active!<br>

Well, I see we basques are a bit known over the world... nice! hehehe. Rose, that boy could have done a career in music, as we have quite a lot of famous (for us, obviously) folk singers singing their own songs while playing the guitar (Benito Lertxundi, Mikel Laboa, Xabier Lete, etc.). I am quite young (I'm 23 years old), but those singers are still famous.</p>

<p>Returning to our subject, I have been trying a k20d this afternoon and I've liked the feel and simpleness of the controls. I am quite convinced on this body... I see the K7 seems a nicer body, but I need a camera now, and it'll be a long time till it comes close to my budget, so I feel the k20d meets my demands, as I don't soot sports frequently, so AF speed isn't that critical. Regarding the 55-300, I'll see if I can stretch my budget... I'll see I'll see.</p>

<p>I see I'll have to start studying the kinds of lenses Pentax has made over the years in order to know their characteristics (after learning all the Nikon acronyms.... Ai, AiS, AF-D, AF-S, VR, and so on). No problem, I like history, hehehe.</p>

<p>Thanks and more comments are really welcome, of course!</p>

<p>It sounds like Iortiz is on a budget, and so I think the K7 with a starting price of $1300 would be too much. I would recommend the k20 as well, esp since you feel you are starting out with Pentax and esp. on a budget. However, I feel you'll quickly fall in love with the k20d and soon be wishing for a K7 like the rest of us!<br>

If the K7 is within your reach, then definitely get it!!!</p>

<p>So you know our cheeses, Michael! They are really good, I eat a piece of cheese every day and I don't even get bored... hmmmm. We could do a food interchange somday! hehehe.</p>

<p>Concerning the primes, I always have liked them (I have a 50mm f1.8, 24mm f2.5 and a 105mm f2.5 for Nikon...), so I think I could use some of those Pentax lenses someday.</p>

<p>Hi Ioritz,<br>

I think that you're doing a good decision by going into Pentax. I recently took my K100 to a boat trip to southern Utah, a camera which is not even sealed, and it went through a lot of hard treatment perfectly fine. For example, it was splashed with water from rain and the river, but the worst thing for the poor camera was being caught in a sand storm. The camera was hanging from a chair, and when the wind arrived we hurried away to secure the boats, oars, and tents. When I came back, the chair had fallen to the ground, and the camera had been lying on the sandy ground and the wind had completely blown through it and covered it with sand. What a disaster!!! I thought. But I cleaned it very well, and it kept working like new! Amazing. It reminds me of my old K1000, which also went through anything you can imagine. I'm sure the K20 should be a very good camera. Let us know what go choose for, and good luck! <br>

Martin</p>

<p>PS: You forgot to mention Joan Manuel Serrat!! (although I don't know if you were mentioning Basque or Catalunian singers...)</p>

<p>Somanna, I see what you mean. When I had my d70s, I have always looked at the higher or newer models, but I am trying to learn to be satisfied with whatever I have or can have, even if it is difficult! Damn marketing! Well, it's always nice to have a higher target, isn't it?</p>

<p>Miserere, you know that I am very politically incorrect. It comes from being a stupid american. :D ... I only know that he said he came from Spain, but he wasn't spanish. He sang in Catalan - and, I thought it and Basque were the same... so he was a beautiful Catalan boy? ... <br>

He was extremely delicious. (and I say that very innocently... ) He could really sing well - it's a shame that we didn't have American Idol back then... <br>

Ioritz, since you are still young, and have not forgotten what it is like to be free. I hope you will sit with a guitar and sing love songs. Maybe a few bills but no real worries, yet. That is quite the life! :) <br>

The K7 is a beautiful camera - but if the 'really new to market' price does not meet the budget of the young; the k20d - is equally as good (although bigger bodied) and if you are on an extremely limited budget - the k10d - is also a real pleasure. - Either way - with Pentax - you can do no wrong. ;) (Spoken with the heart of a true Pentaxian.) ;)</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Ioritz,<br>

<a href="http://kmp.bdimitrov.de/">Best place to learn Pentax gear basics.</a><br>

In case you haven't seen it already.</p>

<p>BK</p>

<p>Well, Catalonians and Basques are different people, but we have some things in common. As a matter of a fact, my mother is learning Catalan just for the pleasure of knowing it... And, by the way, most of us are naturally polyglots, as we speak Basque and Spanish, at least ;). I was mentioning Basque singers, but there are quite a lot Catalonian equivalent singers,as Joan Manuel Serrat, Luis Llach, and so on.</p>

<p>Well returning to the Pentax world (this thread is becomming quite off topic, by the way :-))), thanks for the information about the robustness of your camera, Martin, this shows the good construction of Pentax bodies, indeed.</p>

<p>Bob, thanks for the link, I didn't know that site, I think I'll learn a lot there!</p>

<p>Ioritz,<br>

Great advice you got here and great conversation.<br>

You are on the right track to having lots of fun with photography, and within your budget!<br>

Pentax cameras and glass have always been a pleasure!<br>

Welcome!</p>

<p>Ioritz - you can put the blame on me. I can't help myself - I find people so darn interesting - I tend to get everyone else turned backwards, sidewards and upside-down very easily... Like a game of twister, with cameras and lenses being the various colored circles - and the other topics all the people falling over each other reaching for them. (I'm liking the creativity of that analogy - but it may need work on the wording to make it understandable to anybody who doesn't share my braincells.) :)<br>

Ioritz, for an explanation about older lenses, if you should happen to go ebay route of finding older glass... (this generally is the cheaper way to buy glass...) Pentax uses several different abbreviations - letterings to distinguish the age and features of its glass. the way the abbreviations work is like this:<br>

SMC, SMC-M, SMC-A (are all manual lenses) - SMC stands for Super Multi-Coated.<br>

Then next we have: SMC-F, SMC-FA, SMC-DFA, and last - SMC-DA (These are automatic.)<br>

The DA glass is the newest - and was created for the pentax digital sensors. These lenses usually do not have aperture rings - meaning that they would be difficult or impossible to use with film (& full frame) cameras.<br>

The DFA glass - allows both for full frame (film) and Digital cameras. - yes, there's a aperture ring. (at least I think I remember there being one... the 100mm f2.8 macro comes in the DFA model... (very nice lens if you like to take flower pictures... ) :)<br>

FA - is what was used on the later model film cameras. - fully automatic lenses - and lovely. They work really well on the digital cameras. There's a FA model 35mm f2 and an FA model 50mm f1.4 still available - and very lovely lenses. :)<br>

If you haven't figured it out yet... I like prime lenses. I don't have much experience with the zooms... they end up being pretty bulky and I like lenses that are smaller and unobrusive.<br>

God bless me, I can be wordy when I want to! :)</p>

 

<p>The K20D is a great camera, and now at bargain prices for what you get. The K7 will be out in about one month, but at a much higher cost, though well worth that price for what it will offer. The K7 will be the most advanced, best built compact model available. Whether choosing the k200D, k20D, or forthcoming K7, Pentax now does offer very fine overall equipment at the lowest price. If you like the feel and plentiful features of the K20D, you can't go wrong at the price for such a fine camera. I have one and love it.</p>

<p>The DA 55-300mm has practical advantages. The 55mm at the short end allows more shooting opportunities without having to change lenses. It matches better with a short zoom without having a gap. Its front element does not rotate for better use of filters. It has easy-clean coatings, (though I have a multi-coated Hoya skylight filter on mine as protection), and it has instant manual focus override when using AF.</p>

<p>If you don't shoot action, especially in indoor or night lighting much, the very fine DA 16-45mm f/4 may be a good option, if you find one available. I have also read good things about the Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8, though it is not quite as wide angle.</p>

<p>I'm with Miserere on this, if you are asking the pentax forum what there advice is, they will mostly say buy Pentax and welcome to the odd ball club.</p>

<p>On the flip side if you ask the Canon or Nikon (or Sony/Oly, etc) you will get similar answers.</p>

<p>The truth is there is not a bad camera system. I guess 4/3s might be the weakest in terms of high ISO but even 4/3s has some nice advantages and features, and bang for buck.</p>

<p>As far as lenses anything A on up is fully functional on a Pentax digital body. "A" is a manual focus lens with electronic contacts, F/FA are fully functional AF.</p>

<p>Pentax is far less alphabet soup than Nikon is. Somewhat fewer limitations even though Nikon does have the longest running non crippled mount on it's top end cameras. The lower end cameras have much more limitations.</p>

<p>Overall, you will like the K20D as an upgrade over the D70s, oddly I am thinking about buying a used D70s for the high speed mechanical (well semi mechanical) sync speed. The D70 was a very good camera, as Nikon had to answer Canon's Rebel, and that it did with the D70.</p>

<p>Pentax produces great lenses, very nice well spec'd cameras, that are built well, and have the features that most people really need.</p>

<p>They always seem to be a step behind the latest and greatest in AF technology and FPS, but as a note, I shoot Nikon as well and find Pentax AF to be more accurate (not faster, more accurate).</p>

<p>As someone that shoots a little bit of everything, the K20D is all the camera 90% of photographers need 90% of the time. If you fall outside of that segment you probably are going to need to spend close to $3000 to get what you need.</p>