Thinking of a swap to Pentax...

[ibargureni]

<p>Thanks for all the explanations about Pentax abbreviations, Rose, It's quite interesting to know the meaning of them. I'll investigate about these primes so that when I have saved saved some money again I can make the right decission... I'll try to put my hand on the correct colour circle! hehehe.</p>

<p>I have also read good reviews about the DA 16-45 f/4, but I preffer to have the f2.8 aperture for thos low light situations. Concerning the 55-300.... I see lots of people recommending it... The Sigma 18-50 f/2.8 also seems interesting, but after reading different reviews it seems that it isn't so good wide open, even if the build quality seems to be better than the Tamron. However, I preffer to have good optical performance for the moment (I try to treat well my equipment...).</p>

[ibargureni]

<p>Hi, Justin. I agree with you in the quality of the d70s. I have been happy with it and I would continue with it if it wouldn't have been stolen... I used the high speed flash sync for some shots and it is really "real". The built-in flash and the original Nikon flashes work as far as 1/500sec (which is pretty high by itself), but due to its mechanical/electronical shutter system all the speeds (up to the 1/8000sec limit) can sync with external flashes, not needing the special FP modes other higher end flashes/bodies use. However, for those shots I needed to fire the flash at its full power for quite close subjects, so I suppose powerful flashes would be needed for more distant shots. That's a neat hidden feature of that camera.</p>

[garry_young1]

<p>Ioritz, you've recieved good advice so far. I would add one more little thing, I have the Tamron lens, and have had a few problems with it. It is terrible in low light. Now the issue may be the combination K20D autofcus struggling with the poor performance of this lens wide open. Stopped down, this lens is amzingly sharp, but even in good light I find it soft wide open.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, I bought it for low light usage, and there for would want to use it wide open, but now it just sits in my camera bag, and fills my heart with "resentful lead" everytime I look at it! I have heard a few different stories about this lens, both good and bad. Hope it works out all right for you :)</p>

[garry_young1]

<p>By the way Michael, I am curious now to try the focus adjustment on my K20D with the Tamron, I wonder whether it's bad performance is front or back in nature? The fact that it is great slightly stopped down in good light may not reflect the front or back focussing problem. Its just that it is TERRIBLE in low light, even slightly stopped down. And that makes me think it may also be the autofocus on the K20D. Sorry for moving off topic Ioritz!</p>

[michael_elenko]

<p>Garry,<br>

I don't have my notes handy, but I vaguely remember that the lens had a propensity to back focus. Reports of this lens' focusing problems on other platforms are somewhat common on user forums. Do try the AF adjustment, to me it was like getting a new lens. I've never had even mediocre performance issues in low light, but I always use it with a strobe since it is my primary "event" lens for capturing people.</p>

<p>My gripes with this lens are more about artistic rendering; I'm just "spoiled" by Limited primes, the DA* 50-135mm, and a few other good 'uns. Also relevant to Ioritz is that the Tamron doesn't have the Quickshift functionality that allows on-the-fly manual focus in AF mode. I use that a lot with the Pentax lenses.</p>

<p>ME</p>

[ibargureni]

<p>Well, I hope my unit of the Tamron lense performs well.... I'll try to adjust the focus for it in case it doesn't work correctly out-of-the-box.</p>

<p>I have already placed the order and it shoud arrive in around a week. Finally, you (evil people, by the way ;)) convinced me and I ordered the Pentax 55-300. In fact, I ordered a kit containing the K20d + 18-55 + 55-300 and the Tamron 17-50, as the price difference was somewhere around 40-50€ and I could buy the kit in a spanish store, so it should be easier to handle problems if they arise. It's curious that it's more expensive to buy the K20d + 55-300 separately than a kit containing both lenses + the 18-55. I will never understand marketing... Moreover, I thought it would be nice to have that small lense "just in case".</p>

<p>Now I'm waiting the delivery impaciently!</p>

[shaloot]

<p>The kit lens is actually quite decent Ioritz, you'll be surprised by how much you might end up liking that lens!</p>

[ibargureni]

<p>I hope I'll be able to try that kit lens in arond a week... I'm already reading the user manual of the k20d, so that I am prepared when it comes! hehehe.</p>

[hagar]

<p>Well, I think you've done well Ioritz :-) Check when you get the K20D that you have the latest firmware update on it. Pentax issued one recently, it's V 1.03. (You can check that by pressing and holding the menu button while turning the camera on).<br>

And a word of warning.. spending time around this forum, is enjoyable, addictive, informative, and a host of other adjectives.. it is also full of 'evil' people as you have already noticed! lol.<br>

I can see you already have succumbed to your first exposure to LBA (lens buying addiction).<br>

Cheers, and welcome.. like the others I look forward to your photos<br>

Haig</p>

[subho basu]

<p>Hey,<br>

Why is Mis (and Bob K) calling Ioritz as Loritz ?? Time to change keyboard.</p>

<p>Ioritz - welcome to pentax world. You will not regret your decision :-) Used lenses are cheap. Consider that also while building your system.</p>

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

<p>I wouldn't invest in a system produced by a company with less than a 2% market share in their home market:</p>

<p>http://ricehigh.blogspot.com/2009/01/2008-dslr-sales-results-in-japan.html</p>

<p>And worldwide doesn't look any better:</p>

<p>http://news.cnet.com/8301-13580_3-9882670-39.html</p>

<p>Been there, done that. I adopted IBM OS/ Warp back in 1995. I ended up re-buying software when IBM put it on life support. I bought a very nice Contax N1 seveal years back and sold it after Kyocera shuttered their camera division. So I now stay with companies that are likely to survive and thrive. Lesson learned.</p>

 

[ibargureni]

<p>Hmmm, I see there is an adquisition syndrome in this world too, there is something similar in the Nikon community, called NAS (Nikon Adquisition Syndromme). In the end we all are humans...</p>

<p>Robert, I understand that if you are investing a high amount of money in a system, as some professionals do, you should think about the far future of the system, but bearing in mind that there are tons of current and old lenses available I don't think it's that "dangerous" to start a Pentax system. I would be more concerned if the system would have started recently, as do 4/3 and m4/3 systems. I know Pentax has been bought by Hoya, but Ferrari also was bought by Fiat, and it continues manufacturing incredible cars.</p>

[miserere_mei]

<p>Robert, the real problem that has us all worried is that Pentax has been "about to go bust" for 10 years now, maybe more! I'm suffering nervous breakdowns because of this. You don't know what it's like to be told by a camera store clerk that your camera brand has gone out of business, but then find out they've just released the award-winning K10D. Or the time, a few weeks ago, when stores stopped carrying Pentax because "they're going out of business" just as the new (soon to be award-winning) K-7 was announced. Cameras keep coming out, as do lenses, flashes and other accessories, but I suppose they're just ways Pentax has of torturing us as it slowly, very slowly, goes out of business.</p>

<p>Pentax isn't Canikon, and it probably never will be. There are good and bad things about that, but to assume that it will be going out of business just because it's not a market leader is ludicrous.</p>

[miserere_mei]

<p>Hey Loritz, I sent you an e-mail through p-net. Make sure it didn't end up in your spam folder.</p>

[miserere_mei]

<p>OK, one last post. Loritz, I hate to do this to you, but you should check out the FA 50mm f/1.4. It's very cheap, and very, very good. Fantastic for low-light shooting, and an extremely useful portrait lens on digital APS-C sensors.</p>

<p>I know you didn't want to spend anymore money, but...</p>

[ibargureni]

<p>Well, I have already filled my LBA for now, so I'll try to restore the health of my bank account again ;) and when that happens I'll start looking at primes. I think I have contributed enough to solve the financial crisis for the moment! hehehe.</p>

<p>By the way, I already answered your mail Miserere.</p>

[orly_andico]

<p>ditto on the FA50, the price has recently gone up...</p>

<p>One thing that will pleasantly surprise you... is that your classic Nikkor 105/2.5 <strong>will mount on Pentax cameras!</strong> it will be manual aperture, manual focus, but it will physically mount!</p>

<p>(and I have tried this.... old Nikon's will not bayonet fully on, they will just twist maybe 1 or 2mm, but it is secure enough)</p>

[michael_kuhne]

<p>My concern is that the K7 being designed to improve low noise performance will also diminish IQ in terms of detail loss, as is the case with Nikon and Canon models. The K20D and K200D as well as the K100D have the opposite approach. Without much noise suppression, they deliver exceptionally detailed images compared to other brands. They leave adding noise reduction up to the user, and can then deliver a maximum of image detail.</p>

<p>The only way I can see noise being reduced in the K7 without loss of image detail is if the new sensor produces less noise to start with. My understanding is that noise is a result of heat produced by the sensor, which is increased with higher sensitivity settings. So if less heat is produced, noise will be lower without NR being applied. I hope this turns out to be the case, and the K7's images are as crisp as the K20D. Much of its design went into the video aspect.</p>

<p>Due to such concerns, being that I know the K20D does not apply agressive NR, and does produce exceptionally crisp images, with the lower prices available it made sense to get one, since I know what it can do.</p>

<p>The market share of Nikon and Canon have been far ahead for years. Pentax has never been a success story in marketing. That does not mean Pentax equipment does not have a high standard and a good value. The charts given here are for only one Pentax model in the first chart, and the second apparently pertains to all varieties, including the bottom grade consumer P/S cameras.</p>

[joe ogiba]

<p><strong>Life is short, get a Pentax K-7.</strong></p><div></div>

[ibargureni]

<p>Orlando, I read that somewhere before, but I didn't know about the compatibility of that precise lens! That's really awesome, as I love the overal rendering of that lens. When I try my Nikon lenses I'll make you know about their "mountability".</p>

<p>Concerning the NR at higher ISOs, I agree with you, Michael, in that Pentax follows another track delivering crisper images but with more noise. In fact, in the test photos in dpreview comparing the k20d side by side with the d90 I can see way more detail in the k20d shots even at 3200 and 6400. I feel this approach is more conservative as applying noise reduction in post process is quite easy nowadays.</p>

<p>I am sure the k7 will be an excellent camera, but I don't like buying cameras immediately after they are launched. It's quite common to find design or software issues in the first batchs, which will have to be solved eventually, and the price of the new gear is always a bit overpriced at first. However, looking at the specs and previews of the camera, I feel it could be the "professional" camera that some people claim the k20d shoud have been. It looks like the so much expected e3 in the Olympus 4/3 system.</p>

[jtk]

<p>Count the visits on P.N Forums. : Pentax is about twice as popular as Olympus-4/3 (even with wildly popular m4/3 from both Oly and Panasonic) and twice as popular as Sony (even with its full frame/Zeiss potential). Pentax is nearly as popular as Oly and Sony combined.</p>

<p>Good companies don't need big market share to survive. Pentax was a niche player from the beginning. Shortly after Spotmatic came out its sales were similar to those of each of these (all of them vanished): Miranda, Minolta, Argus-Cosina, Mamiya Sekor.<br>

The OS example, above, demonstrated that lousy tech dies (Vista will, every third Mac version does). The Contax example confirmed that photographers didn't like bad viewfinders and shutter lag in pretty little film cameras any more than they liked it in pretty little digicams. </p>

<p>One lesson from Microsoft/Contax disasters (above) may be to turn left when their buyers turn right :-) </p>

<p>Don't do as this unlucky guy does, do the opposite:<br>

<a href="http://www.deniskitchen.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=BP_KSP.240">http://www.deniskitchen.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=BP_KSP.240</a></p>

 

[c_wyatt]

The K20D looks like a great camera. I have the K10D and if you're on a budget I'd recommend getting that, and spend the saving on lenses. Unless the 4 mega pixels matter that much to you (and, granted, a couple of other improvements). The K10D was an award-winning camera for a reason, and the prices - now that there are two newer flagship DSLRs from Pentax - are amazing for the features of the K10D body.

[mountainvisions]

<p>Robert,</p>

<p>Just checking in from a busy sleepless weekend which is trying it's hardest to be rained out.</p>

<p>We've (they've) had rain, 35 of 45 days, 12 of the last 12, definitely not looking good for tomorrow! I think upstate we've done a bit better, but not by much.</p>

<p>You do realize the Pentax forum on this site is the 3rd or 4th most popular, also that Pentax has been going out of business since the LX was introduced. This is a long time to be going out of business. </p>

<p>It may very well happen but a few K mount DSLRs should last long enough to justify the investment.</p>

[jeremy_corbin]

<p>I agree, Pentax isn't in the business of selling as many cameras as possible with as many different models as possible in the shortest time possible. They wait and watch as their "fast" competitors make mistakes and learn from them. Then release a well built camera with the features that people need. Frankly I don't care if some @%^&*^% at cnet thinks they're going out of business. They have my business, and the business of those zealots here. (Ya guys, we're zealots, woot) </p>

<p>Ioritz, glad you're getting the k20d (I had the budget for that at 23 too!) I used the forum to decide what I was going to do too, and you're on the right track! I should be able to get a used *ist or K100d at some point soon. Even with the older cameras, you can't go wrong, cause Pentax built them well!</p>

<p>I thing I might mention about trying other lenses: Try to see online if they fit first. I have a Ricoh "P" lens and I was going to throw it on my ?*ist? when I got it. Boy am I glad I read up on it first... HERE... In the forums. (it gets stuck unless you "fix" it first)</p>

<p>As far as primes, I'm totally geeking out over the 40mm Limited... YMMV</p>

<p>Welcome to Pentax!</p>

[jpo3136b]

<p>I have filters older than CNET. Maybe they should wake up and smell the Dektol. Pentax will do just fine.</p>

<p>Don't they mostly review home computers and video games over there?</p>

<p>Here's one for you: I was at a camera store operated by a larger franchise some months ago. As I was waiting, the salesman remarked to a customer, "Oh, no. Pentax is going away." The store closed about three weeks ago. Pentax is still selling. Go figure.</p>